LifeCam VX-3000 Win USB Port EN/NL/FR/DE EMEA Hdwr

I bought this webcam to replace an extrememly cheap webcam bought off of amazon. The webcam arrived with a cd, and instruction manual. Aesthetically, it is very pleasing; it will sit on your LCD screen, desk, or laptop screen. For those who want a webcam for chatting online and are not too concerned with sound/video syncing this is perfect for you. However if you are interesting in creating a vlog, etc- i would NOT reccommend this webcam. The microphone is very picky about whether it wants to work so perhaps it would be better to use an external mic or your CPU microphone. The picture quality is fantastic, however! up to 1.4 megapixels for static photos.

This is my second webcam, my old one being a very poor make that I bought cheap, and as expected had very low picture quality, and the mic was terrible. I use Windows Live Messenger, so when I saw that this webcam was optimised for Windows Live, I knew it was the right buy for me. Setup was a doddle, just inserted the disc, waited five minutes, then rebooted the comp and it has finished, upon reboot it brings up and Audio and Video settings menu, in which you can select which speakers/webcam/microphone you wish to use. I use Windows XP by the way, so I am not sure how this would operate on Vista. The Software is LifeCam 1.4, and includes some software in which you can take a stil picture, capture video with audio, or just capture audio, this is very simple and easy to use. Also installed is LifeCam dashboard, which only works with Windows Live, what this does is adds effects to your image, like drums/rabbit/guitar etc, so you can really have some fun with this webcam, quite a few are included as well. At the top of the webcam there is a Windows Live Call button, which is also some software that is installed, with just a flick of this button it brings up all your contacts in which you can have a Video call with, this only works with Windows Live! The webcam feels sturdy, and can be used on a flat surface, and the base turns into a clip so you can easily hang it from a flat monitor. I think this webcam is fantastic, if you have Windows Live, if you don't have Win.Live then many of the features that make this webcam stand out from the rest you will not be able to use!
UPDATE: At the time of writing this review initallily, it was based on the experience of using it on my Windows XP machine, I have since tried it on my Vista Laptop and found that it does not work, so I shall have to send it back for a refund!

Looks ok doesn't it? Not bad looking, and judging by the spec with the high resolution and video quality - for a webcam in this price range...a bargain.

How wrong...how very wrong. Basically, the picture quality is just about bearable and mine came with a pixel shaded red as it goes but there you go...

And then we move onto the microphone. Oh deary dear. It is constantly buzzing and fuzzing and about any other adjective ending with the letters 'zzing'you can think of.

You were thinking of buying this to video call on MSN or Skype? There are much better quality ones out there. You were buying this to call in general on MSN or Skype or video call WITH the microphone-then PLEASE, PLEASE trust me on this one. It is a load of bull and i would DEFINATELY rethink what you are getting yourself into. It is alot of hassle for a piece of plastic and i would certainly not expect this from microsoft. Search it on google, look at people on the forums etc. they all have the same problems with the fuzzy mic and low picture quality. But my main concern is, yes, the mic. No matter how many settings you adjust it does not fix the fuzzing and just to illustrate what im saying, when i was talking to my friend on msn the fuzzing was so loud he could not hear a worked i was saying unless i was about two inches away from it and shouting...

According to some threads on the forums i have to take the bloody thing apart to fix it-screw that! I bought it to use not to fix...

So anyway other reviewers who gave this product four and five stars you must have got very lucky because there are hundreds of other reviewers on the web which would say differently-including me.

I have never reviewed a product on Amazon before, you could probably guess that i have been delighted with all of them. That is correct. And that is why i have given this product 1 star. Because i am appalled. You think I'm over-reacting?

Go on, buy it. See for yourself.