Happy Cam
Written: Nov 24 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy install/setup USB interface decent quality pic's and video
Cons: low lighting problems
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| opinionated3's Full Review: Creative Labs Video Blaster WebCam 3 |
My wife and I have been taking pictures of our kids ever since they were born, and then we had to have them developed and have multiple prints made up so we could send them to all of our relatives. Then we discovered Kinko's, we can have them scanned and saved on diskette and put them in emails and send them to our family.
We were doing this scanning of pictures until we discovered the web cam, and everything has changed for us, we can take still pictures as well as full motion video. The first web cam we purchased was the Creative Labs Web Cam3, this is a neat cam. It wasn't really expensive as compared with the higher quality units. I found this web cam at my local CompUSA, and I only paid $90.00, and received a $30.00 mail-in rebate.
As with most things you buy, you get what you pay for. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of pictures and full motion video coming from this cam. Another nice thing about the quality of the images is the quality of the prints coming from the inkjet printer. The printer relies on the quality of the image file to print a good quality picture. another feature of the Web Cam3 is it can be used for video conferencing, I have not used this feature myself, but it includes software to allow you to perform this task.
My wife and I have created short video clips and sent them to our Parents who live back east, and the video quality is pretty decent, not great but more than adequate. The stills created are of very nice quality also, and it is fairly easy to use. Once the Web Cam is setup on your PC, the software is pretty easy to use. The software allows you to control all of the settings through a point and click menu. You also can take snap shots using a button on the top of the cam. Due to a short cord you are limited where you can put the web cam, we have ours on top of the monitor.
The biggest factor's for me buying this model is it works with Windows 98, as a matter of fact it requires Windows98 and the other thing is it has a USB connection, and it is the only connection that it has. So if you don't have an available USB port, I would recommend you try another model web cam.
Installation
The installation was pretty easy, it doesn't require a great deal of expertise in software setup. All you have to do is shut your PC off plug the cable connected to the Web Cam to the available USB port on the back of your PC, or on some of the newer PC's ( HP Pavilion series) have USB ports in the front of the PC. Then you turn your PC back on and the BIOS on your motherboard will recognize a device connected to it and then it's Windows 98's turn to detect the new hardware, and then it will search for the proper software driver, and that is contained on the CD that comes with the Web Cam. Once the correct driver is loaded you will be prompted to install the software that is included to control the Web Cam and also to work with the pictures once you take them, and there is also a video conferencing program included and finally a web browser to enable the video conferencing feature.
We have used all the software except for the video conferencing and we were pleased with them. I realize that this Cam is by no means a high quality Web Cam, but for our use it was perfect. The ease of use and good quality video and still pictures it is just great for us. One negative I will mention is the lighting requirements are very high, so you will need to take this into consideration when using it.
Sotware included on the CD:
Video Blaster WebCam Control
Video Blaster Web Cam Monitor
Polaroid PhotoMax
Microsoft NetMeeting
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Specifications
Requires:
Pentium 133 or faster
16 MB ram
70 MB free drive space for software
Available USB port
Graphics card able to support 16bit color at resolution 640x480 pixels
CD-ROM drive
Sound card for video conferencing
Modem or LAN Connection for Internet connection for video conferencing
Windows98 OS
I think this is a really good Web Cam for anyone looking to do simple still picture or limited full motion video, not for commercial use. I would recommend a better quality Web Cam for commercial use.
In conclusion, we are very happy with our Web Cam3 and I think you will like it also.
Recommended:
Yes
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