You Get What You Pay For
Written: Feb 26 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: High quality picture, also works as digital still and video camera
Cons: Annoying cable, price
The Bottom Line: Great product that works well and performs a variety of tasks. Nicely packaged little camera for not too much money.
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| kaya84's Full Review: Logitech QuickCam Pro 3000 Web Cam |
I bought this little camera about 9 months ago so that I would have a webcam when chatting on Yahoo! Messenger. There are several companies out there that make webcams, and the price ranges from under $30 to over $100. In my research and with my own experience, I believe you get what you pay for.
The greatest feature about this camera is the picture quality. I have yet to see a better looking picture when it comes to webcams on Yahoo!. It works great in the dark. In fact, I can have no lights turned on and the picture will still come out just from the illumination of my laptop screen. Having a single, bright light on will sometimes alter the contrast (my face sometimes appears completely white) but it can always be fixed or altered to give a better picture.
Some other nice features of the camera:
-Privacy Shade: A handy gray plastic shield that you can flip down over the lens of the camera to give some privacy. Also makes the camera look nicer when sitting on a desk.
-On Light: Green light turns on whenever the camera is plugged in and operational. Also handy.
-Focusing Ring: I love this feature. To focus the camera, all you have to do is twirl the gray rubber ring that surrounds the lens. It's quick, easy, and takes a good push to turn, so you don't have to worry about messing up your camera focus by accident.
-Camera Stand: This is not the camera's best facet, but works pretty well. Stand is in the shape of a "C" and the camera just pushes into it, as you can see in pictures of it. Stand has never fallen over or been unstable.
Now, onto the major fallback of the camera: the cord. The QuickCam is a USB camera, and thus has about a 3 foot USB cable protruding from the back of the camera to connect to your computer's USB port. The frustrating part is that the cable is not as flexible as the camera is. To turn the camera, you also have to work with the cable, otherwise the camera will slowly drift back to wherever the cable desires. Although this does get frustrating, I am generally able to set the camera up where I want it to be with minimal hassle. I am not aware of how other camera model or manufacturer's deal with this issue.
Software and compatability were not a problem for me. I run Windows XP on a Sony Vaio FXA48 laptop, and bought the camera specifically for use with Yahoo! Messenger. The box said that the QuickCam was compatible with both Messenger and XP, and I certainly found that to be the case. The camera comes with an installation disk, although I think it would have worked find without running the disk. However, on the disk are the many other uses for your QuickCam, which I shall list:
Create: This is the first activity available upon launching the QuickCam software. It enables you to use the camera as a digital still and video camera. It works nicely in both functions. The only downside is the resolution: 640 x 480 max. However, it takes generally good pictures and video. Audio is taken through a small microphone that is located just above the green "on" light on the camera. Audio often comes out quiet, but then again, I'm also soft-spoken.
One other handy camera feature that I forgot to mention earlier: the "take picture" button that is located on top of the camera. It looks great, however, I've never actually gotten it to take a picture. In fact, it's never done anything when I push it. Maybe I don't have it set up right.
More good features in the "Create" activity:
-Take Picture Countdown: I've used this feature many times when taking pictures of myself. The computer beeps each second as it counts down to picture time. Can set timer up to 60 seconds.
-Time/Date Stamp: Nice addition if you're used to taking film pictures that come out with the date stamped in the lower right-hand corner.
-Video Options: I really enjoy having this. You can set the camera to start recording after a certain amount of time(max. 60 secs) and also to stop recording after a certain amount of time(max. 60 secs). You also have the option to set the frame capture rate, and to include or exclude audio.
Animation: This is the second activity listed and, although I've never used it, looks quite adept at creating stop-motion animation, time-lapse video clips, and other interesting types of video.
Motion Detector: Also a feature I haven't used, but looks really cool. This feature allows the camera to start recording when it sense movement, or at a predetermined time. You can set the sensitivity to movement level quite easily. Handy lil device.
Web Album: This feature lets you post images from your camera to a webpage or other place on the internet.
Web Cam: I'm not quite sure how this is different from the "Live Video" feature below, but I believe this allows you to send pictures from your QuickCam to the web.
Live Video: This allows you to create a live broadcast from your camera to the web.
Gallery: A place to store and view images you capture through your QuickCam.
Overall, I love this camera. I've had it for almost a year and have yet to see everything that it can do. I recommend this product to anyone who's looking for a high quality webcam or a quick and easy way to take digital pictures.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kaya84
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Location: Northern California
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me:
Dirt poor college student in Davis. I've got $1.50 for food for the week!
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