I need help picking out a webcam.

gismo

gismo

Touchdown! Greaser!
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iGismo
My daughter wants a webcam for her laptop. I assume she's going to use it for video calls to her friends. I looked at the selections at Best Buy and a couple of online stores but I'm not sure what level of "quality" would be appropriate. It appears that the imagers range from 0.3 MPxl to 1.3 MPxl to 2.0 MPxl and the prices run from around $20 to over $100. I assume that the lower resolution cameras would be adequate and probably not tax my internet bandwidth as much as the higher resolution types but I suppose the higher res images could be compressed if that was an issue.
 
We really like this one. Excellent resolution, and the software has a "follow me" feature (selectable) if the person on the other end doesn't suffer from seasickness :redface:

Edit: Maybe a bit big for a laptop but on the other hand it would work fine, it simply "rests" on top of any monitor.
 
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gismo said:
My daughter wants a webcam for her laptop. I assume she's going to use it for video calls to her friends. I looked at the selections at Best Buy and a couple of online stores but I'm not sure what level of "quality" would be appropriate. It appears that the imagers range from 0.3 MPxl to 1.3 MPxl to 2.0 MPxl and the prices run from around $20 to over $100. I assume that the lower resolution cameras would be adequate and probably not tax my internet bandwidth as much as the higher resolution types but I suppose the higher res images could be compressed if that was an issue.
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Most likely she is going to be limited by whatever chat software she is using -- not the camera. What program does she want to chat with? Look at the max res for that its generally around 640x480.
 
alaskaflyer said:
We really like this one. Excellent resolution, and the software has a "follow me" feature (selectable) if the person on the other end doesn't suffer from seasickness :redface:

Edit: Maybe a bit big for a laptop but on the other hand it would work fine, it simply "rests" on top of any monitor.
Click to expand...

I can't get your link to work. What's the model #?
 
gismo said:
I can't get your link to work. What's the model #?
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:mad2: Huh.

Well, anyway, we have the Logitech Pro 9000. We do a fair amount of videoconferencing with family and friends and have been very happy with it.

Though the C600 seems to be nice, and smaller for laptop use.
 
alaskaflyer said:
:mad2: Huh.

Well, anyway, we have the Logitech Pro 9000. We do a fair amount of videoconferencing with family and friends and have been very happy with it.

Though the C600 seems to be nice, and smaller for laptop use.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking that the C500 which I found on sale at Best Buy for $40 will be sufficient. It has the same features as the $80 C600 except for a 1.3MP imager vs 2.0MP on the C600.

BTW, I found the problem with your link, there are two "http:"s in it.
 
smigaldi said:
I got to say it...Macs come with built in cams, get a Mac!

Seriously for cheap video calls a Logitech Webcam 250 is fine.
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Most 'good' (read non-Mac - where's that pot-stirring smiley?) laptops come with a built-in webcam these days as well. If she's close to needing a system upgrade, you might be able to find a good deal on a whole new laptop and kill two birds with one stone.
 
CJones said:
Most 'good' (read non-Mac - where's that pot-stirring smiley?) laptops come with a built-in webcam these days as well. If she's close to needing a system upgrade, you might be able to find a good deal on a whole new laptop and kill two birds with one stone.
Click to expand...

Naw, she just got "upgraded" to a 2 year old Gateway last spring and it's working just fine.
 
If she plans on using Skype.
Check the models etc.. before you purchase against some of their forums.
I had a nightmare getting my moms to work with the newest version. I ended up installing an older version of skype to get it to work.
It was her computer resources I know, but just thought I would let you know.
 
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