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"Not worth the money!" on by NavyMustang
Pros: Easy to install and good mic quality.
Cons: Everything else!
Summary: I purchased this camera at Best Buy yesterday, and have already decided to return it. I'm a bit surprised that there aren't more reviews here on C-Net about this camera, but I hope this one helps prospective buyers!
Out of the box, the camera and software are extremely easy to install. The quality of the built-in mic seems to be very good. That's about where I have to stop saying good things about it.
1) The base does NOT "securely" attach to an LCD monitor like the C-Net review stated. It doesn't even really "attach", it just sits there perched like most other webcams do. Definitely not a show-stopper, but I wanted to let readers know that it doesn't fit "snugly" onto LCD's.
2) Overall video quality is extremely poor, especially during video conferencing. The video was fuzzy, and could not be corrected by focusing. The camera's ability to handle different background lighting is notably poor. I had a light in front of me on my computer desk and the video was overly-bright on my face and head while the rest of the room looked ok. I had to turn on the overhead light just to get the video to within acceptable viewing. The colors are not bright and vivid, and are far from an accurate visual representation of what the naked-eye sees.
3) The software is not as "user-friendly" as the review leads you to believe. You cannot seem to set different video resolutions within video teleconferencing. It's as if while you are in Messenger Live or Yahoo, the resolution is set FOR you and you cannot increase or decrease it. (And note that the claimed 1.3mp video is NOT during teleconferencing.) IF there is a way to adjust the resolution during teleconferencing, then it is NOT an easy thing to figure out. The only options available on the camera settings are lighting, B&W, and the other basics.
Adding to the software not being user-friendly, the digital face tracking is VERY jerky and annoying. It's pretty much a useless feature. I couldn't even get it to work during teleconferencing, only during video capture!
BOTTOM LINE...
My wife and I sat nearly side-by-side to do a teleconferencing test. I was armed with my new VX-6000 attached to my top-of-the-line desktop which is connected via CAT5 to my wireless DSL router. My wife was armed with my Logitech Quickcam for Notebooks Pro and my HP laptop, connected via 802.11G wireless to my router.
Same lighting of course.
We teleconferenced using both Messenger Live and Yahoo Messenger. My Quickcam blew the VX-6000 out of the water. Overall video quality was much better than the VX-6000, and the lighting was EXCELLENT (probably as a result of Logitech's "RightLight" technology.) Video on the VX-6000 remained fuzzy and "color-challenged" while the Quickcam had sharp images and vivid lighting.
I hope this helps. -
"Great image/audio quality." on by techconsumer
Pros: Image Quality, Audio Quality, Industrial Design
Cons: Could be more clear there is a focus ring and that camera needs dedicated High Speed USB for optimal performance
Summary: The image quality is as good as anything I have seen. So I have a hard time reconciling why others are so adamant that the IQ is poor - perhaps they didn’t realize the camera has a focus ring?
Also having a hard time understanding why some would report audio/video lag – I haven’t seen any of the same issues and I tested under various scenarios to see if I could repro. I came to the conclusion those users must be over taxing their system in some manner: possibly trying to record 1.3MP video with the camera plugged into shared USB hubs/roots or over USB 1.1.
If you want to see this thing perform to the max give it a dedicated High Speed USB 2.0 root (1.3MP is a lot of data to stream over USB, give it a freeway travel) and reach up and focus the camera. -
"Like to hear more about the high resolution video modes" on by flydef
Pros: 1280x1024 SXGA High Definition Video
Cons: FPS. Could someone please post FPS specs?
Summary: Suprised more was not mentioned about this models 1280x1024 SXGA high definition video mode, the image quality and frames per second.
The reviewer states that "Video records at a maximum 30 frames per second at resolutions ranging from 160x120 to 1.3 megapixels, which is standard for this class of Webcam"
This is perhaps the first consumer webcam to offer that kind of resolution, it is the first in it's class. There is nothing standard about it. That's also a pretty ambiguous statement about the FPS. I know microsoft doesn't even mention FPS on their specificaion sheet. Could you please let us know the specific max FPS for each resolution? Thank you. -
"Very poorly done review" on by BjornLo
Pros: not a review of the camera, but the review itself
Cons: not a review of the camera, but the review itself
Summary: This review is not very informative nor helpful. The reviewer should be ashamed. This simply isn't up to CNET standards.
It mentions a best in class resolution and says it is normal. It says nothing about FPS except that it has a maximum of 30 frames per second at a tiny resolution, and that it can scale very high. What is the FPS at 320x240? At 640x480? etc....
What is the image quality like through the various resolutions?
How about putting actual specs on the specs page?
How about talking about the hardware? We aren't likely to use the bundled software, but the hardware is extremely important.
What is the audio like? How does it compare to the Logitech 4000pro? Is it built into the camera like the logitech? (good) Or a seperate boom mike like the Creative Labs (bad)? How much extra junk are we forced to install if all we want to do is video chat? Is it as bad as Logictech which installs a host of useless stuff and changes lots of system settings?
How well does it work on a USB bus? As good as a Creative, as bad as a logitech? etc....
This review answers almost none of the questions we potential buyers are likely to ask.
Finally, I entered a 9 value only to not change the average review score by the others readers. -
"Anyone know anything about this product?" on by surf808
Pros: Good specs.
Cons: Do not know about the product.
Summary: Can someone from Cnet review this product? So far the review from Cnet talks about the software features. When people want to buy a webcam they don't care much for software it comes with. So can someone do an actual review of the webcam and not the software? People want to know if the picture and video is good. The logitech cam 4000 got a good video review and it has lower specs. Can this webcam get a review of it's audio and video soon?
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