Wheelin Rev
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- Aug 9, 2006
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I just picked up a Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 for $20. The MSRP seems to be $50 and Office Depot is selling it this week in my area for $30 with a $10 mail-in rebate. So the $20 price was right for me. If it doesn't work; I can toss it in the circular file.
The Microsoft product information can be found here:
LifeCam VX-3000
Google this product for some net reviews and you'll find that users either love the webcam or hate the webcam. You'll also find that the video drivers have not been compatible with everyone's computers so be careful. After all, the software that came with my webcam is Version 1.00.270.0 so I would expect some bugs. On the other hand, the software does manually "phone home" via the Internet for updates so let's hope Microsoft follows through with posting updates to make things a little more stable. One day, maybe it will check automatically for the updates without user intervention.
Installation went fairly smooth on a 3 GHz Pentium IV running the Microsoft XP Media Center OS. It got hung once and has crashed a few times when opening the webcam software. That's OK, it is version 1.0 so as a computer geek and fellow net addict, I can handle it. In the back of my mind, I know this only set me back $20.
For the most part, everything integrates smoothly with all of my IM software like AIM, Skype, etc. The software has plenty of manual controls to fiddle with and one was called "USB Bandwidth" which impacts video delay in a major way. Once I set that control to full throttle, the video is pretty close to real time with minimal blur on fast movements. The software also has "automatic face tracking" capabilities and that works pretty good. It's a cool feature anyway. The camera lens does not move but rather the software zooms in on the face and tracks it based on movements within the len's field of vision. That feature can be turned on or off.
I just thought I'd post this little review in case anybody was interested here. I have not used it to sign with anybody live so I don't have any feedback from the far end. I'm sure, as time goes on, I'll have some other comments. For now, I just wanted to get this posted so if any of you have been thinking about a webcam, now might be the time to buy. But first, be sure to check the system requirements on the Microsoft link above. And second, remember, this is a fairly new product with a very low software version. So don't expect perfection. But since it does report crashes back to its home base; perhaps this thing will improve on every new update. Stay tuned...
Let me know if you've got any questions. I'll do my best to answer them for you.
Dave
The Microsoft product information can be found here:
LifeCam VX-3000
Google this product for some net reviews and you'll find that users either love the webcam or hate the webcam. You'll also find that the video drivers have not been compatible with everyone's computers so be careful. After all, the software that came with my webcam is Version 1.00.270.0 so I would expect some bugs. On the other hand, the software does manually "phone home" via the Internet for updates so let's hope Microsoft follows through with posting updates to make things a little more stable. One day, maybe it will check automatically for the updates without user intervention.
Installation went fairly smooth on a 3 GHz Pentium IV running the Microsoft XP Media Center OS. It got hung once and has crashed a few times when opening the webcam software. That's OK, it is version 1.0 so as a computer geek and fellow net addict, I can handle it. In the back of my mind, I know this only set me back $20.
For the most part, everything integrates smoothly with all of my IM software like AIM, Skype, etc. The software has plenty of manual controls to fiddle with and one was called "USB Bandwidth" which impacts video delay in a major way. Once I set that control to full throttle, the video is pretty close to real time with minimal blur on fast movements. The software also has "automatic face tracking" capabilities and that works pretty good. It's a cool feature anyway. The camera lens does not move but rather the software zooms in on the face and tracks it based on movements within the len's field of vision. That feature can be turned on or off.
I just thought I'd post this little review in case anybody was interested here. I have not used it to sign with anybody live so I don't have any feedback from the far end. I'm sure, as time goes on, I'll have some other comments. For now, I just wanted to get this posted so if any of you have been thinking about a webcam, now might be the time to buy. But first, be sure to check the system requirements on the Microsoft link above. And second, remember, this is a fairly new product with a very low software version. So don't expect perfection. But since it does report crashes back to its home base; perhaps this thing will improve on every new update. Stay tuned...
Let me know if you've got any questions. I'll do my best to answer them for you.
Dave
