A lot of flat panels and even a few notebooks now come without a webcam, possibly as size matters more than communication so there is a place for an external webcam apart from its ability to have better resolution than most built in offerings.
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click image to enlargeThe camera and its immediate housing is 7x3x3cm with the 5x5 'L' shaped top of screen support attached to the base of the unit. This can be folded in half to provide a flat base if required which if you do allows the camera itself to rotate by 360 degrees. The outside of the cameras base has a screw that allows connection to a tripod which then lets it be used in a far wider range of places.
I tested it on both Windows 10 and Windows 11 PC's and 'plug it in and you are on' is true as neither needed any external software. The unit has a microphone built in so its ideal for the occasional 'Zoom' or other such software user.
For those who use these methods more frequently you can leave it plugged in and move the camera hide slider in case you fear being spied on, this is called a 'privacy slider'.
This FHD unit has an image capacity of 1920x1080 at up to 30 frames a second. The unit has a wider view than a lot of similar items. The USB lead is a little thicker than most and is 1.5metres long. The units total weight is just over 100 grams.
I tested it on Zoom that I used almost daily during lockdown and Microsoft Teams that seems to be coming more popular these days.
The units inbuilt microphone captured nearby sounds well and the webcam itself worked well even with less than perfect lighting conditions.
If you are an occasional 'Zoom' user having a built in microphone which on a desktop panel would need an external device is a big plus as it is truly 'plug and play'. This means you plug it in and you can use it without having to make any changes to your settings.
The HP 325 webcam is available from the link below for £25.
https://comet.co.uk/products/hp-325-webcam-pan-colour-1920-x-1080-audio-usb-2-0
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