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Logitech QuickCam Messenger
Logitech (
13 May, 2003 )
Electronics |
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29.99 |
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subject to change. |
usually dispatched within 24 hours. |
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Messenger Camera sold on makers reputation  |
When I chose my Logitech Messenger I think I was guided by the reputation and name of Logitech. It simply seemed like the traditional style of webcam and therefore a better buy than competing brands (of which there are not many). Id always seen Logitech as a bit of a webcam pioneer. Now that I have it, I think I am disappointed with the picture quality, as I had never seen one before and I had been led to believe by marketing that 640x480 would mean small, rather than fuzzy! However, I have come to accept that this is typical for a basic cam of any brand. Unlike at least one other reviewer, I have had no trouble with the software supplied, being version 7.30 (the latest release). It is possible to download new Quickcam software from Logitechs web-site. This is a totally different bundle to that supplied in the camera box. Many people want a web-cam to fiddle with animation or to try-stop motion animation. If you choose the Messenger model for any of these reasons, *PLEASE* be aware that the supplied Image Studio software is "feature limited", in as much as it detects that this is the basic camera and does not install some of the features you might be hoping for, such as stop-motion. In this respect, I am disappointed with the attitude of Logitech. They were unhelpful and inrepentant when I "discussed" this point with them. They said I should buy a more expensive model. Why? For purely marketing reasons, not technical. Can you imagine Epson saying "yes, your printer can output in colour, but our drivers will only let you print colour with the more expensive model". It IS possible to do stop motion with this camera, you just need the right software! Fortunately, a quick search of the web will find such freebies as "Stop Motion Animator" (and the Anasazi front-end for it - just search the net and trust me), which will do very nicely for grabbing animation frames. This camera allows onion-skinning software, such as SMA, as long as your VGA card can support it. If you dont know what OS is, you may not need it! Logitech also include time-lapse and FTP upload facilities that ONLY work with a paid-for Spotlife account. Again, take heart. XP users can get a free Powertoy called "Timershot" which does all you could wish, incremental picture naming, upload to server, etc. And I say again, its free!
There are other utilities out there at reasonable shareware prices. Look for "Conquercam" and "supervisioncam", amongst others. Regarding messenger use, dont bother with the supplied IM companion. Your MSN/Yahoo! (etc) messengers can see the camera by themselves. Delays in framerates are down to messenger services themselves. On Broadband it is much better, naturally. Yahoo messenger has a special setting for this. Dial-up users will get one or two frames-per-second only, but this is not a fault of the camera. In summary, picture is so-so and requires good lighting.
Supplied software is also so-so but can be replaced or supplemented by free or cheap alternatives. The camera installs as a TWAIN device, so almost anything can capture a still image from it, as with a scaner or TV card, and most move editors (including the free Microsoft one) can capture live footage. So its ok! So, 3 stars overall for being fuzzy and for needing a lot of extra searching (or reading of reviews like this one!) to get useful software! With that effort in mind, its worth having this camera, as its twice as expensive to get any more useful features than these. If you just want to point it at your face for messaging or snap short AVIs, and you dont mind basic quality fit for email, then for you it will be fine out of the box.
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Logiteck Quickcam Messenger  |
I ordered this webcam, and I have to say, that for the price, this is a very high quality webcam. Another reviewer commented on how it was more expensive in argos by £10 pounds, which it is, so this is a good bargain. I had absolutely no problems with the software supplied, myself having an XP machine. Other reviwers who have had problems with the software might want to think about getting a better computer, as two other people I know have this webcam and they both express the same opinion as me. The icture is good: I use on messenger a lot, and the built in microphone is a real asset. The pictures taken are a bit fuzzy but still at reasonable quality.In summary:
Picture is very good for the price
Photographs taken are at a reasonable quality (although you would obviously get better results with a proper digital camera/more expensive webcam)
Microphone works wonders! A great product, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to chat to friends over the internet!!!
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Software is crap |
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At first i thought the webcam was brilliant but after a few weeks the software kept crashing on my computer, so i tried to unistall and reinstall. but during reinstall it kept crashing and after that i could neither uninstall or reinstall! and my camera wouldnt work! had to manually remove all components and delete from my registry! have got it working in msn messenger but not using the logitech software. tried all the fixes on the logitech website and never got a response from logitech themselves. this didnt just happen on my computer i bought one for my boyfriend as well and he had the same problem! if you want to just use the camera on messenger then it is fine but if you want to use all the video making software etc buy something else!
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