Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro
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The camera itself is 6x2x2cm with the clip to fit it onto your notebook screen adding another 2cm to the 2cm depth. The camera itself is quite impressive working well in low light and not just within the range of Logitech applications supplied but also into anything that can 'acquire' I have also used it to carry on video conversations within Skype. However you also get an earpiece which you can use to carry on conversations much like most mobile phones. The unit provided plugs into the audio sockets on your PC or notebook, enabling privacy for you and relief for others not having to hear both sides of your conversations.
The specifications stated are quite high but I successfully used it on 1.3GHz system with not a great deal of memory, on occasions Skype video conversations broke up a bit and I suspect that was the lack of power and the fact that PC had only USB1.1 and not the USB 2 stated as a requirement. The figures stated on the box are Windows 2000 or XP, Intel Pentium 2.4GHz, USB2, 256MB Ram and 200MB of hard disc space.
As with most hardware these days you install the drivers and software first. Here you also need a reboot and then you are told to insert the USB lead. On the PC I usually connect things through a hub but I found the camera would not work (remember this was a USB 1.1 PC) but as soon as I connected directly to one of it's ports all was fine.
First you need to complete a short setup, even if you are not using the Logitech earpiece. Once you have satisfied the sound and video requirements you can either use any of the range of items in the Logitech QuickCam front screen (some will require further downloads) or just use it in any application that has an acquire facility.
The default video size is 320x240 and if you send a video email beware because the .avi files are large I sent a 30second message and this was over 3MB in size. The actual maximum size that video can be captured at 30FPS is 640x480.
With still images the maximum is 1.3megapixel and even though my office is not that bright the camera compensated well and the image of my two day beard growth made me decide to go and have a shave.
I tend to regard interpolation rather like digital zoom on a camera but the claimed maximum using interpolation is 4megapixel. My own thoughts are not to use interpolation and just work with a 1.3megapixel image in whatever software you might favour.
The size of the unit is the thing that really impressed me, for any notebook it would be ideal. Also a lot of my tests were on a PC that are far below those required but I was still satisfied. One word of warning is that I would not leave it plugged into a notebook when running on batteries as battery life will suffer.
The unit comes with a zip up case to enable easy transport and two small manuals that should help if you have any questions, the version of Logitech software was V9.0.1
Doing my Internet searches found the Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro at a best price of £53.90 link below. Not that cheap but it is tiny in size and quite powerful.
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=316221&cks=ASS&assoc=D8029637-0DDA-48DA-9BA1-03B0D58EDEA7
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/GB/EN,CRID=2204,CONTENTID=10561
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