Apple iSight - Best quality Webcam you'll find for PC or Mac (Apple iSight)

Member Name: Tech9

Product:	Apple iSight
Date:	16/05/09 (220 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Best picture quality I've seen on a webcam, good in low light situations

Disadvantages: No official drivers available from Apple for built in Mic, at more expensive end of market

In my job I use a wide range of equipment from many different manufacturers, we bought several of these webcams for a training session in conjuction with the local police to teach school children about the dangers of online chat systems such as iChat, Messenger etc.


***Packaging***
Like most Apple products it is very well packaged, it comes in a cube shaped box that folds in half, one half contains the camera itself and the other the accessories which there are quite a few of.


***Whats in the box***
iSight Camera.
iSight Carrying Case (clear plastic tube with lid).
Table mounting kit.
Powerbook laptop and iBook laptop mounting kit.
Flat panel display mount (for either PC TFT monitor or flat panel Apple iMac).
Firewire cable (6 pin to 6 pin).


***Performance***
Switching the camera on and off is very simple, just a slight rotation of the front lens ring until you feel the click and the lens cover opens, you know its on when the green led on the ring is lit.

I used this at work as I said earlier and that was on a group of networked Apple iBook laptops that don't have built in webcams (newer Apple laptops such as the MacBook all come with a built in iSight camera, they've managed to reduce the size of it so that it fits in just above the top of your display). The quality of the picture is without a shadow of a doubt the best I have ever seen in a webcam, the definition and clarity even in lower light conditions is simply stunning. This webcam also has a built in microphone so no need for a seperate one, the sound quality is as good as anything else I've ever used.


***Installation***
Since this is an Apple product you don't need to do much other than plug it in for it all to work properly, unfortunately this is not the case when using it with a PC. If you are using with a PC you will get the exact same stunning results from the camera side of things, without even installing a driver when running windows XP/Vista - the microphone however will not work unless you download the drivers which to my knowledge are not officially supported by Apple so install at your own risk. All in all though this webcam is the finest I have ever seen and I have tested literally dozens over the years, I bought one off eBay to use at home and just use my own mic/headset when chatting to friends, everyone who sees me when using the iSight comments on how good teh quality of the picture they receive is and they always want to know what type of webcam I have.


**Value for money?***
There are dozens of webcams available out there ranging from a few pounds to £100 - this comes in at the high end of the market and rightly so in my opinion as it is the best out there, I don't mind paying a lot for something if it is worth it and this in my opinion is.


***Summary***
If you are looking for a really good quality webcam and you don't mind spending a bit more on it then look no further.


Hope this review has been helpful

Summary: If you are looking for a really good quality webcam look no further.

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