Spec me a webcam, please

[FnG]magnolia · 2 Aug 2008 at 21:27

Hi all,

First post in this part of the forum woo

Anyway, I wondered if anyone could recommend a good webcam for a virgin webcam buyer. Me and the better half are due our first child in January and we want to be able to inflict - I mean share - our joy with my better half's parents over in New Zealand.

We use a 24" TFT and a large computer desk (if either of those things make any difference to how the webcam is positioned) and just need something which has good picture quality, tracking and focus. Does that sound reasonable for a budget of up to £40 or so?

Oh, can I also get the wife to agree to a new pair of Senny 166's or do webcams come with microphones these days?

Any tips and help welcomed

radderfire · 2 Aug 2008 at 21:37

A while back I bought a Philips SPC900NC for approx £60. The picture quality is good, the face tracking works well ... but I was very disappointed with the Philips software for stuff like movement detection because it kept crashing.

Rgds

jbloggs · 2 Aug 2008 at 22:49

Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX - can be had for around £25, probably the best "budget" webcam around...

Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 - an excellent webcam, can be had for around £45 (or less), and certainly worth it if you are looking for quality...

Both have build in microphones...

To do webcam conf. a couple of excellent utilities are, ooVoo and VSee....especially VSee, both of these utilities can be used with up to six different persons.

[FnG]magnolia · 3 Aug 2008 at 02:02

Thanks radderfire and jbloggs, much appreciated

[Any way to get the Sennheiser 166's? How good is the mic on the Quickcam Pro 9000?]

jbloggs · 3 Aug 2008 at 16:51

[FnG]magnolia;12209201 said:
...How good is the mic on the Quickcam Pro 9000?

You might want to have a look at This review, especially the Verdict:

An impressive webcam that easily justifies its premium price. It can capture and record high resolution images, and gives excellent pictures and sound in video calls. Being that bit more portable than the bulky Ultra Vision, the Pro 9000 is my new favourite webcam. Also, hats off to Logitech for an excellent performance from technical support.