INTENDED USE
I was looking for a webcam that would be used in videoconferencing via NetMeeting or Yahoo Messenger. I found the Quickcam Express on offer at $34, which I thought was a good buy.

SYSTEM SPECS
The system that I was going to use it on has the following specifications:
Pentium 4 1.8 with 256 MB RAM, MSI GeForce 4 64 MB RAM display card, Windows ME and a 17" NEC monitor.

CAMERA SPECS
640x480 resolution, 30 frames per second, bundled software and drivers, USB interface

BOX CONTENTS
Out of the box the Quickcam Express had the following:
- Quickcam Express (golfball shaped) attached to USB cable
- Triangular stand
- Installation CD
- Instruction leaflet

INSTALLATION
The instructions on installation are very clear; install drivers first BEFORE inserting the USB cable into the USB port. Once the driver install is complete, a reboot is necessary. Upon reboot, the installation continues and the install screen actually prompts for you to insert the USB cable. Overall, installation was straightforward and problem-free.

WEBCAM IN ACTION
The golfball-shaped camera is mounted into the triangular stand which has a slot. The slot enables you to slide the camera back-and-forth, thus changing the camera angle. The webcam is best placed on top of the PC monitor. There is a focusing ring on the lens which can be used to focus. I found the focusing ring to be imprecise and had to try a few times to get it focused.

Logitech bundles in some interesting software which allows you to capture still images, videos in AVI format and also update images to web sites. For the AVI videos you can also enable sound if you have a microphone attached to your PC. There is a snap button on top of the webcam which snaps a picture. Overall, the software was easy to use and attractive. You can change the image size from 640x480 downwards to 320x240 and lower and change the frame rate from 30 frames per second downwards. The camera controls enable you to change the brightness, contrast, saturation, backlighting, color boost, saturation, frames per second, etc. Leaving the brightness on automatic is helpful.

The webcam drivers are also used by NetMeeting and Yahoo Messenger. So far so good.

IMAGE QUALITY
This is where I started having problems with the Quickcam Express. The picture was fuzzy, had very poor low light performance and had color noise all over. I made every adjustment I could in the camera controls and even set up a desklamp to make the image brighter but could not get an acceptable image. The picture also suffered from a strobe effect caused by florescent lights which would not go away despite changing settings.

When I tried using the webcam on NetMeeting and Yahoo Messenger, the smaller images used did not make the picture any better. It was fuzzy with poor color and resolution.

I took it back to the shop were they tested it and offered a new unit. They said the interference from my computer monitor was fuzzing up the image. I found the replacement unit had the same picture problems which I had encountered and decided to pay them $7 more for a Creative Video Blaster Webcam which works much better.

CONCLUSION
Based on my experience with the product, I would not recommend it. However, you should check it out yourself and if possible, have the shop demo the product before buying to see if you find the video images acceptable.

Recommended: No