Sharpest picture available on a USB camera - bar none!
Written: Sep 20 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Astounding image quality, incredible compensation for low-light environments, can run multiple cameras
Cons: Driver software from 3Com could use a bit of work
The Bottom Line: If image quality is important to you, this unit will give you the best image available. And for under $100!
|
|
|
| dtoombs's Full Review: 3Com HomeConnect PC Digital Camera |
For quite a while, I have been using Logitech quickcam cameras on my computers ... thinking that their standard images were acceptable and "Hey, it's just a $99 camera, what can one expect?" Well, I'm happy to say that 3Com has raised the bar for all other camera makers to meet - the imaging quality on my 3Com HomeConnect PC Camera is astounding!
First, let me tell you a bit about why I bought a camera, and why this one. I am running some security software on the computers in my home that can detect motion when I'm away from home and email the images to me. So, in a sense it's a cheap security system that can not only keep an eye on my house while I'm away, but also email me video evidence of anyone who enters the house. If anyone does try to come in and steal my stuff, they better not have their face on file with the police!
Anyway, I originally had a logitech camera handling this task for my main entrance. But in the evenings, before I came home, it would take horrible images if the sun started to go down. "Oh well," I thought to myself, "what can I expect for $99?"
Well, one day I was at work setting up one of these 3Com HomeConnect cameras in a conference room to be used for videoconferencing. I set it up with NetMeeting, and it worked quite well. I was impressed with the image quality. Just for kicks, I decided to turn out the lights in the conference room and see what happened. There was no light in the room, other than a bit of light coming in from the hallway.
Initially, the image in NetMeeting was pretty dark. But then, second by second it started getting lighter. I knew the room wasn't getting any lighter, but like magic the image on the screen was! The 3Com camera was quickly changing to the new lighting conditions. Slowly but surely, the image kept getting better and better - lighter and lighter. Finally, the image stabilized, and it was almost as good as when the lights were on. I was working with another techie in our company when we did this, and we were both absolutely floored. "This camera rocks!" he said to me. He was right.
So, on my way home that day, I stopped at BestBuy and spent the $99 to pick one of these units up. The image quality I get from the camera is nothing short of simply amazing. 3Com prints two pictures on the back of the cardboard box that the camera comes in - one showing what "other" cameras typically see, and then a crystal clear image of what their camera sees. I was sure they were exaggerating, but the depiction on the box is absolutely accurate - the image quality is simply amazing.
This camera installed with little or no difficulty in Windows 98, and will run on any Windows computer that supports USB devices. The included software looks to be ok, but to be honest I haven't really tried any of it as there are specific programs that I like to use.
One feature that this camera has over other cameras is that the drivers that support the camera can be "loaded re-entrantly". Now, if you don't work on computers, that may sound like a pretty foreign term. Here's the translation - it means you can run multiple cameras on the same computer without crazy driver problems. Most cameras have problems if you try and run two of them on the same computer. Not this camera. I know this is an important feature for those of you running webcams. Got 3 cameras all pointing to different areas of the house? No problem, the drivers for this camera will let you install multiple devices in the system.
All in all, I'm extremely pleased with this camera and would recommend it to anyone.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
dtoombs
|
|
Location: Washington, DC
Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Technology consultant and part-time author.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.