I bought two of these cameras on clearance at $6 each from a hardware department-store. At that price, I'd say they're okay; but I'd use a better-quality camera where image quality is more important or the room is sunny (my two cameras are overly light-sensitive; I have to draw the blinds to get a good picture).
These two cameras installed automatically for me today on two Windows XP computers. The plug & play installation on the second computer failed on the first attempt, but (after unplugging it from a USB hub on the computer monitor and plugging into a USB port on the back of the computer case) succeeded on the second attempt. After a successful installation, the camera was listed in the Windows Device Manager under "Imaging Devices" as "USB Video Device #2".
The PC Camera 1.1 software that came with these cameras provides only a basic webcam interface (no drivers). Windows provides the drivers, and freeware like ManyCam provides a much better interface, plus effects like text over video. NPL 85491 3MP USB 2.0 Smart Webcam w Built-in Mic
I bought this product in hopes of using it to keep in touch with some friends overseas. It is not skype or AIM compatable, and it took forever to get the software to launch. Once the software did launch, I could not get picture. I decided to return it because I could not get picture, and it did not work with the programs I intended to use it for.
We bought two of these cameras for use with Skype on two winXP PCs and are very happy with them. Negative reviews for this camera are without merit and are due to inability to get it running on a particular computer.
The camera has an attractive and even stylish design. The clamp is very reliable and convenient for the use with a notebook. Installation of software was fast and easy.
High light-sensitivity of this camera is a huge plus. I normally use Skype in the evening and don't have much light in my room. My previous camera couldn't handle it. This camera produces a decent picture with minimal light even with Leds off. Don't expect a huge effect from the Leds as they effective only from a rather short distance, but they are still useful. Unlike in some models of cameras with Leds staying on all the time this camera has a manual on/off switch. Press a button in the back to turn light on/off.
Quality of the picture is rather good for the price. Naturally it will depend on your lighting conditions but can be improved by adjusting brightness, contrast, hue, gamma, white balance, saturation and even backlight compensation. This can be done from within Skype. Go to Tools-Options-Video Settings: on the right side of the screen, in the box "select Webcam" - make sure "USB video device" is selected. Click on Webcam Settings button under the picture and make adjustments.
Quality of sound is sufficient for communication but not as good as with a headset.
If your picture is upside down - your camera is upside down. Rotate it inside the clamp so when the camera faces you the Leds are located on the right side. If you have a sound or video issues you need to look into previous installations on your computer and how it is configured. If you had other webcam drivers installed better to uninstall them. If you use virtual webcams like MagicCamera, Skype will not pick up your new camera automatically. You need to tell it to use a "USB video device" in video settings. Make sure you microphone plug is plugged, and plugged where it belongs.
Considering the design, good quality of video and price, and cannot give this camera rating less then 5, please don't blame me if you cannot get it to run.
My wife picked up two of these on clearance at a local home improvement store. One camera installed instantly on a Win7 PC and I was able to run it with Skype. It has medium quality video, however the mic gets a lot of feedback if you reach for the camera to adjust it. The clip may be reversible, but I've not figured it out yet, else if you clip it to the screen the image is upside down.
I've also been trying to install this on a WinXP PC for the past two hours w/o any luck and stumbled across this page while searching for a driver for this UNKNOWN DEVICE.
The software that comes with camera doesn't have much to offer. Sadly the instructions say to install the program first, but the program says to install the camera first. - Cheap - Bad - Webcams - Webcam'
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