I can See!!! (Logitech Quickcam Pro)

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Product:	Logitech Quickcam Pro
Date:	22/05/03 (100 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great picture quality

Disadvantages: Heavey Cable!!

Foolish though it may sound I recently decided the time had come for me to show my face with a web cam. After reading lots of reviews I decided that I would go for the Logitech QuickCam Pro 3000, which I bought for just under £70 from Amazon.

~~~ Technical Specification ~~~
For all those techies out there here is the spec for you.

Sensor : high resolution 640x480 (VGA) CCD
Lens : manual focus
Microphone : built in
Video capture : up to 640 x 480 pixels
Still image capture up to 640 x 480 pixels
Number of colours : thousands of millions
Video capture rate : 30 frames per second

~~~ The Camera ~~~
The camera is very sleek looking in silver and grey. It has a built in microphone and a button on top to press for still shots. Of course said stills show you with your arm in the air pressing the button! The area around the lens swivels to allow you to focus and if you want privacy it has `sunglasses` which you flip down to cover the lens. The camera swivels fully on the base and if you are using a flat screen monitor or laptop there is a special clip you can attach to secure it firmly. It does look very nice perched up there on top of my monitor. It also comes with a 2 year guarantee instead of just the normal year.

~~~ Installation ~~~
Installation is simple with this camera as it is a USB device. You simply plug it into your USB port and then install the software to run it. Unlike other reviewers I had no problems installing the software, the installation went without a hitch. The only real drawback is that the USB cable is very heavy and tends to give you a limited position to swivel the camera to. This can make it hard to point it in the right direction.

~~~ Software ~~~
This camera comes with an impressive software bundle. To be honest I`ve only played with the software a little so I won`t give you an in depth opinion on each piece. I will give you a list though.


QuickCam image capturing software with fully integrated video email, Web album creator and Web cam software
MGI PhotoSuite III SE image editing software (fully functional version)
MGI VideoWave III SE video editing software (fully functional version)
SpotLife Internet Personal Broadcasting
Digital Radar II video monitoring software
Microsoft NetMeeting
Reality Fusion GameCam SE and screen saver software
Cresta Cards Video greeting software (light version)

~~~ NetMeeting ~~~
One of the reasons that I wanted this model was that it came with NetMeeting. I use NetMeeting a lot at work without a camera and I was aware that this is really handy software for chatting, sharing files and generally having meetings. I also know that my cousins, and a number of friends have this and I could use it to video call them. I like this method of communication as I think you get a lot more from a face to face conversation than just a simple phone call, also its cheaper to call them online than offline. Although Dave finds it a little strange that I start doing my make up when I`m going to `call` my friends. That?s what I use my camera for most often and I`ve found it excellent for this purpose as the image quality is smooth and clear. When I first got the camera though I was itching to use it so I went onto NetMeeting to see who was out there ? I soon found out there were a LOT of naked people out there. Since then I stick to private calls with my friends and family.

~~~ Video Capture ~~~
I wasn`t particularly interested in video capture but I have found it useful for video capture on the motion sensor function. I have my camera pointing at the back door and set to motion sensor constantly. If anyone ever breaks in (and doesn`t steal the PC!) I`ll have a handy video shot of them for the police. Provided they walk past the back door at some point. In the meantime I find lots of shots on there of my cats wandering aroun
d and sometimes hubby in his underwear!

~~~ Live Webcasts ~~~
The software and the camera do give me the option to have a live webcast. I don`t think me sitting in front of the PC would really be very exciting for anyone though. Also the sight of Dave running around in his boxers might bring the police running round! I would have liked to have this facility on my wedding day though as then my Internet friends would have been able to see me before I went off to church. Maybe if I ever have children I`ll webcast their antics, I know someone who did this and used to watch whilst she was at work and her friend looked after the baby. She said it made leaving him easier knowing that she could just tune in at any time.

~~~ The Bottom Line ~~~
I`ve had this camera about 4 months now and I`m still really pleased with my purchase. The software allows me to do all I want and much more. The image quality is excellent and I have yet to encounter any problems. Oh and now I know where to go when I want to see naked people, there are loads of them out there waiting to chat!

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