Webcam Reviews

Another customer, Brian O'Sullivan, wrote a review here entitled "home kit doesn't deliver", which you should read.

I would just add a couple things:

The remote control that comes with the home kit has very few functions. Play/pause/stop, forward to next track on current playlist or album, reverse to previous track on current playlist or album. It has a volume control, but that only works with the headphone jack, not the line out jack. You CANNOT use this remote to change artists, playlists, or albums.

The docking station is really not much of a convenience, especially since it doesn't come with the power adapter or cord to plug into your home stereo.

What is the docking station good for? You plug 3 things into the docking station: your unit's power cord, the line out to your home stereo, and the usb or firewire cable to your computer. Then, you can simply insert the player into the docking station (which takes about 5 seconds) instead of plugging these three cords directly into the player (which takes about 10 seconds). A savings of 5 seconds! Woo-hoo!

But if you own the leather slip case that was made for the jukebox 3, you will have to take it off to insert your player into the docking station, and put it back on when you take your player to the gym or wherever.

It would have been nice if we had the option to buy the remote separate from the docking station---you don't need the docking station to use the remote (and vice versa). But then, I'd only pay about 10 bucks for such a limited remote.

I bought 3 of these kits and was extremely disappointed. What I wanted to do, and what, in my opinion, the description of the kit led me to believe I could do, was hook up one at home, one at my ski cabin and one on my boat so I could simply unclip the Nomad 3 and easily use it at any of those 3 locations. The problem is that the unit doesn't come with either an ac adapter or a stereo mini to RCA "Y" cable. Thus if you want to use the Nomad in mulitple locations you have to trundle back to the store and purchase an ac adapter and a stereo mini to RCA "Y" cable. Since the Nomad operates on 5 volts DC, it is virtually impossible to find a dedicated plug and you have to buy a multiple voltage converter. These are expensive. The cheapest I could find was $25 (US) and I checked 4 stores. The stereo mini to RCA "Y" cable was less money, but still $5 (US). So all in all I spent $59.99 on each unit but had to spend an additional $30 (US) just to be able to connect it! I would seem that Creative Labs could have included an AC adaptor and a mini cable for a lot less than it cost me to search for them on the open market. I would also seem that they could have clearly disclosed to the potential purchaser the fact that this unit did not include these items.

The Infrared Remote works great with the Jukebox by itself or when it's in the Home Docking Station. This makes the jukebox a super addition to the home stereo.

It's handy with the computer to leave the firewire or USB cables connected and just pop the Jukebox in and out.

Having the power supply plugged into the Docking Station all the time makes it easy to keep the batteries charged too!

My CD's are going in storage.

If your low on cash,this is the camera for you,it works,but has some problems at times,it captures images very well,getting it to find your default email program like Outlook in Windows 98 is always a maybe,Check for updates aftr you brush your teeth each day!At least brush your teeth!You'll look nicer on your camera!If you find some money spend a few extra bucks for a better Logitech Camera;Don't forget to floss!WC

The QuickCam Web is a decent camera. I was suprised at the clarity of the images - even when used in low light. It comes with a lot of neat software, including time lapse photography, games, and frame-by-frame animation tools. The built-in mic also sounds pretty good for its size. However, I had a few significant problems with the camera's drivers.

When I first installed the QuickCam on my Compaq Presario 5600, the shortcut buttons on my keyboard (including the volume controls) stopped working, and I experienced a few other problems. I didn't realize these were caused by the camera until a friend borrowed it and had the same symptoms. She contacted support, and they acknowledged that the trouble could caused by the camera's drivers. (I know this problem could be unique to computers with shortcut keys, but I have to take a star off the product rating for driver conflicts like this one.)

I don't mean to discourage anyone from buying this camera; it is a lot of fun to use, reasonably priced, and Logitech may have released new drivers with the camera since I bought mine almost two years ago. Just make sure you have the newest drivers before you install it! I'm a big fan of Logitech's products (my keyboard and mouse are Logitech,) and this is the only one I've ever had problems with.

Very good product...It's very worth the price. It's very easy to set up my webcam with my sever, send video e-mails, and take quality pictures. Though we did have a problem. We bought 2 of the product and we tried to make video calls with NetMeeting and no luck. Plus, NetMeeting took a very long time to setup. You had to download MSN Messanger, sign up with Hotmail for a name and then final do the call. No luck at all. But over all it's very usefull.

I bought this camera for the price and the features but... the quality in pictures taken were very poor included the phtos taken at maximun quality. the camera needs too much light in web cam mode. in this case Creative pc-cam 880 is awful. the controls are complicated and the cursor wheel doesn't works fine. i prefer the simplicity and easy to use controls in my hp photosmart. bye and if you buy this is under your risk

Well i just got the pc-cam880 and it should be better then the 600 but that's not so the picture's i took with this cam is just not as good and clear as the pc-cam600 so i'm thinking about returning this pc-cam880.

I jus bought ths cam frm AMAZON , at first before ordering it i did some reseach on PC cameras and stuff since it was my first camers i needed it to be atleast worth for my money , i red all the reviews abt ths camera on amazon majority of reviews were against ths product , but i crossed my fingers and ordered ths camera , wen it got to me i first i red the full manual of opeation den i installed it , WHEN I SAW THE RESULT IT WAS SIMPLY MIND BLOWING FOR ME it can take upto 17 pictures in 3.0 Mega Pixel and the clarity and sharpness is amazing even in the 800 by 600 resoultion, after seeing the result i was quite shoked at first cuz the previews i red abt it were all against ths producrt , flash works really well in bad light and if used as a webcam its worth for its price , but the pictures taken it as a DIGI CAM simpy stand out , zoom is also very good the only thing i didnt lik abt ths camera is tht its functions are a but cramped up lik if u press sum button others can be pressed at the same time result in LOL anything ,
BUT ALL IN ALL A GREAT CAMERA FOR THE FIRST TIME USERS . U can mail ur querys at devil4k@yahoo.com

The manufacturer sells this item based on good hardware specifications. Although the webcam does work on USB 2.0, it performs very very poorly if you have USB 1.1.

Assuming that you are using USB 2.0, the webcam still disappoints. In particular, the drivers and software for this webcam are poorly written. No white point configuration, no zoom control, etc.

The image quality is poor -- even in a well-lit room. Images are blueish and grainy.

What is more important however, that it gives a detailed view of your eyes OR your forehead OR your mouth -- but not your whole face. To bring the whole face into the shot, one must place the camera about 6 feet from the target (you). That is one must buy an additional desk just to set this camera at a proper distance from you.

Tech support is poor: blame everything on USB ports manufacturers.

Clarity is great. Connection is quick and easy. Works in XP like a charm. All the software with exception of the video streaming software seems to function. Teveo is packaged with this unit and it doesn't seem to be functioning - the company Teveo doesn't host their site anymore for live video streaming so don't count on using this software. Not many USB 2.0 cams on the market to pick from and the couple I looked into both had Teveo packaged with it. Downloaded some free webcam streaming software and camera operates great. Noticeable difference from old Logitech USB cam. You can easily purchase streaming software online- but that was sorta the point - to have a fully functional package. Orange Micro didn't take ownership of the issue when I asked for a replacement streaming software or recommendation.

The AXIS 2100 Network Camera offers crisp, quality images and streaming video from anywhere on your network. It lets you keep a close eye on the world around you, or show your part of it through the Web. With a built-in high performance Web server, no PC is required. The network camera can operate as a standalone or can be placed wherever there is a LAN, Internet connection, or an available modem.

24-bit color and 640 x 480 resolution
8 MB RAM and 2 MB Flash PROM
Built-in Web Server

Monitor your house or office over the internet

Buyer beware! This product is sold on Amazon through Tech Depot, and Tech Depot has a NO RETURN POLICY for this camera! If it dosen't work, or you can't make it work on your network, get ready to sell it on eBay.

The Axis 2100 was easy to set-up and configure, but would not peacefully co-exist with other devices our our network.

Amazon should make the NO RETURN policies of third party vendors more evident on the item page.

This camera is great, the picture is crisp and clear. This camera have a standalone server and don't need a PC.

On the plus side, camera is tiny, and the spring loaded clip works well with notebook PCs. This makes it good for traveling.

On to the negatives... Image quality is very poor, espeically in medium to low light. Pictures are very grainy and even with a 60 watt lamp in the room, still seemed underexposed. Software controls were not as easy to figure out as one would expect.

I gave it a low rating, because I really think that image quality is the most important factor. Design is great - i only wish image quality was better.

I got this unit for use on a laptop. Something small, portable and easy to use. To that end it does it job. Setting, getting it clipped to the LCD screen, getting it positioned right is all easy enough. The Field of View is adequate for likely use.

The image quality on the other hand is not as great as others I have used (Logitech 4000 and Isight). The image is somewhat dark and grainy but still passable. The edges are not very well focused at all.

You should also note that there is no microphone either. You'll either need to shout at your laptop or get an external mic.

Installation and configuration was pretty much by the book on my windows 2000 Dell Latitude LS. No real surprises or problems.

As long as all you plan on being is a talking head and you need something fast and light this little guy will do the job. But if you want to do more than that your better off with something a bit bigger.

If you are strictly looking for a notebook/laptop webcam that only requires the minimum standards as far as quality goes, this may be your choice. I was not happy with the quality at all. Low lighting (zero lux +) gives slower fps (frames per second) and terrible resolution.

Pros:
Small and nice design
Install is easy though the program makes you go through hoops just to change some simple settings
Will work with decent quality with decent lighting.

Cons:
Just like any 'cheapie' webcam, the quality is par to sub-par as far as quality goes.
For $40 bucks, I think you may get better quality from other webcams. The reason why it costs more is because of its size.

This product is misrepresented as a 640x480 resolution camera when in fact the packaging says 352x288.

This may be a good camera - but if you are looking for a 640x480, this is NOT it.

Basically, you get for what you paid for: a cheap webcam. Here are the things that I found out:

1. XP Drivers are provided, but they aren't XP certified.
2. L shape piece felt cheap. It is hard to make it stable on the top of my laptop. Using the taped clip probably improves the stability, if you don't care about having the clip permanently attached on your laptop.
3. Some of the software came with the package don't install under XP.
4. Performance is bad, comparing to other webcams, and quality is so-so. Even at the highest frame rate, you still see the "fast-moving" object effect.

Overall, it is a cheap webcam, so don't expect too much.

THIS WEBCAM.. MICRO INNOVATIONS IC400C, IS A GREAT WEBCAM TO OWN. THE WEB PICTURE IS VERY CLEAR AND BEAUTIFUL. I LOVE IT WITH MY WINDOWS XP.

Lousy camera, period. It installed okay on a Win2000 and
a WinXP machine, but unless you have very bright light on the camera, the image is way too dark. If you enable the "low light" feature, or turn up the brightness control, the image brightens up, but the framerate drops to about 10-12 frames per second. If you want decent live-capture video at 30 fps, forget it.

Once in a while, it mysteriously "disappears" as an available video capture device on a WinXP machine, and I have to reboot to get it back.

Can only capture 160x120, 320x240, or 640x480 sizes. You really need 352x288 for videoconferencing.

Compare this to a Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000 and you'll see there is no comparison. The Logitech is better in every conceivable way.

I bought this as a replacement for a Logitech WebCam that is definitely long in the tooth ... no comparison. Much crisper images, higher resolution, faster frame rate thanks to USB2 (there's also a firewire version); better in every respect. Install under XP was quite easy, but I did have to reinstall the drivers (as flagged by XP's device manager). Incidentally, the manual supplied on CD is the same as the paper one that comes in the box. View software is a tad flaky (pop-ups blank out parts of preview - preview doesn't refresh; capture blanks out preview entirely). I checked out the ADS web-site to see if there was a more recent version of the supplied software and found on-line support for the WebCam to be either well-hidden or non-existent. As a WebCam, this one is probably worth 5 stars, but I dropped the rating to 4 because of the evident support shortcomings on the part of the manufacturer. On the plus side, the button on the camera neatly triggers a capture routine that pops-up a window with a still ready to be saved to file ... very cool (maybe that raises the rating to 4.5). I also captured a sample (.avi) movie and played it back under Media Player at full screen - the result was impressive, almost astounding given the typical limitations of a WebCam. I think this is an excellent buy for the money ... it's a keeper for me.

Most tech products now don't include a large well-written manual. Its a waste of ink and shipping weight. For the other reviewers - did you look on the CD? Theres a full manual on there! And the quick-install guide says to stick it in before installing the camera so you should have seen it!

Anyway, this is my 5th webcam and its the best so far. 99% of webcams for sale are not good. "Up to 30 frames/second" typically means you will get about "1 frame/second". Seriously. They are all bad (with the exception of a few end-of-life products namely such as IBM Webcam pro and 3com Homeconnect). This webcam provides 15 frames/second at 640x480 and I've tested that. Most webcams wont even do 640x480 and even fewer will ever hit 15 frames/second on any resolution!

As far as brightness goes, the video off this webcam is not very bright. But this sacrifice is acceptable since gamma correction usually reduces image quality so just turn on the lights when you use it. Its that simple.

It has a neat tripod that is very configurable and the webcam itself is pretty attractive. If you don't mind having a webcam which is not much better than emailing a blurry picture of yourself then this webcam is not for you. But if you like VIDEO and don't want to buy a professional $300 system, then this webcam beats the competition by a landslide. (and theres not much competition in the arena of good webcams - I've tried and read enough reviews to know!).

This was my first vid cam so I didn't have anything to compare it with. The only person whom I talked with previously on vid conference had an old vid cam so I didn't see a big difference. Then a family member called and said he just bought a new vid cam (a Logitech Quickcam 4000) and I couldn't believe the difference. I can see now why the Veo Velocity is getting such a bad rap. It's well deserved. It's very grainy and jittery, and doesn't work consistent in any light, not to mention very poor in low light, even with the 2.0 USB card. I'm not much into the vid conference thing, but since it looks like I'm going to be in touch with my family member now on a steady basis, I went out and snagged a Logitech 4000 and am very pleased with it.

Don't settle for the Veo Velocity cam. If you are communicating with someone who is using a Logitech, it will only remind you what poor quality your Veo is.

Just got the camera and read the fine print found only on the bottom of the box. It says, "Resolutions supported by hardware for third party software compatibility. Not supported by Creative Studio." The software it comes with only supports the usual 640x480 resolution. I didn't see any advantage from the optics or the USB 2.0 functionality, but then mine came with a busted focusing lens. I'm sure Amazon will take the return no problem, and the free shipping that was supposed to take 5-7 days miraculously brought me the camera in a single day, but I won't be ordering another one all the same.

The previous reviews for this product are right on the money... This cam looks great in the daytime with the shades open, but once night falls, in order to use it , my computer desk has to look like a photographers studio.. I have several lights blinding me just to get a decent picture.. also I find I am constantly having to adjust light to make my image viewable. When I bought this cam, I also fell for the impressive stats, but they all go out the window at dusk..

this camera sucks bigtime! i bought it and had a tough time installing it on my laptop (winXP).. the customer support is bad... the software has major problems...

after installation it did not quite work.. the power would go off after a few seconds.. overall a big failure... probably the worst product ever from creative!

This webcam by Creative Labs is not too good. The image quality is poor even by webcam standard, and it does *not* have auto focus, which means you have to adjust the focus ring each time you move. Unlike Logitech's ClickSmart, you cannot use this one as a take-along digital camera. And even Ezonics makes cheaper and better-quality webcams than this.

If you really just want a cam to pay around with a bit now and then this is a great affordable little camera. I have net friends who liked my camera so much they went out and bought the same one. It does a good job for the money! I know several others who have bought realitively unexpensive webcams and did not get as good a performance. I've recieved a lot of compliments on this webcam.