Creative Labs Live! camera offers you a webcam with sharp video quality, high-speed connectivity and a reasonable price.

Features and Options of the Creative Labs Live Webcam

The Creative Labs Live! webcam gives you a high quality 640 x 480 VGA sensor, delivered at 30 frames per second. With Live! View Auto Tuning technology, the camera will give you sharp images with accurate white balance, as well as better light exposure than other webcams.

Software Features Included with Camera

Creative Advanced Video FX software also allows you to add additional effects to your video broadcasts, including backgrounds and special effects.  I like the fact that included with the camera is the Live! Cam Suite that allows you to edit, change, and organize the footage that you take.

Webcam System Requirements

The system requirements for this camera are:

• An Intel Pentium III 850MHz or above (with Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz or higher recommended)
• Windows 2000 or XP
• 128MB RAM (256MB recommended)
• 300MB free disk space, a CD-ROM drive
• USB 2.0 and 1.1
• Display adaptor capable of 16-bit color

Video Review of the Creative Labs Live Webcam

Other Online Reviews of the Creative Labs Live Webcam

Tomsguide offered a decent review, commenting of the good design and some of the audio and video effects, and also noted that this webcam requires no driver installation, allowing for easier user setup.  The review on CNET offered a positive review of the design and cost of the Creative Labs Live, but spoke negatively about the audio and video quality.

Creative Labs Live Webcam – Prices, Deals and Discounts

On Amazon:
Available to buy at Amazon

On eBay:

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The HP Elite offers the user an affordable and quality webcam with a 3 megapixel sensor giving the user a webcam with a sharp picture.

Features of the HP Elite

The HP Elite webcam offers HD video as well as the ability to capture still photos, with up to 12-Megapixel still image capture with software interpolation. This webcam comes with a microphone. The camera stand allows it to set on the monitor, and with a tilt and pan option can easily be pivoted to the user’s preference.

Straight-forward Webcam Setup

To get started with the HP Elite, the webcam needs only to be unpack-aged, Attached to the monitor (using the HP Easy Clip system) and then plugged into the USB port (1.1 or 2.0).

Other HP Elite Features

In addition to an auto-focus feature, this camera also comes with a variety of software applications. The camera allows the user to create videos to post on the web or chat face-to-face online. Quick launch buttons can also be programmed to save time.

HP Elite Software Compatibility

With the push of the HP Instant Chat button, the preferred Instant Messaging program will automatically be launched. This camera works with AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Skype, and Yahoo Messenger software.

Video Review of the HP Elite Webcam

Reviews from the Blogosphere for the HP Elite Webcam

Techware Labs noted it’s ease of setup, and also offered an image-comprehensive overview of the packaging of this particular webcam.

Geek.com, noting that HP is not normally known for it’s webcams, pointed out that the HP Elite did a good job and offered a solid project, but was not the best in the field.

Reviews on the HP site were otherwise favorable, but did identify that there are issues with the design of the stand and the hinges, making it difficult to hold the camera in one position.

HP Elite Webcam – Prices, Deals and Discounts

On Amazon:
Available to buy at Amazon

On eBay:

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• Hercules Deluxe Optical Glass Webcam is another excellent webcam option
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The Hercules Deluxe Optical Glass Webcam, with built-in microphone, offers quality video resolution and an affordable price.

Built-in LED Lighting for Enhanced Video Quality

The Hercules comes with a VGA sensor with glass lens, that offers enhanced optical performance. In addition to features such as digital zoom, the four built-in lighting LEDs for rooms that are darker or don’t have the most ideal lighting.

This helps produce clearer webcam images for the user. In addition to standard video capture, this webcam also offers up to 30 images per second at 800 x 600.

Software Included with the Hercules Deluxe

The Hercules Webcam comes with it’s own software, that includes three different capture modes (single, burst, and self-timer) as well as software for automatic conversion of captures so that this can be sent by email.

Video Chat Software Compatibility

The Hercules is also compatible with most of the standard videoconferencing programs today (Windows Live Messenger, MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, etc.) No additional software is required, and the webcam connects to the PC via a standard hi-speed USB port.

Video Review of the Hercules Deluxe Webcam

Reviews & Feedback

Buy.com customers offered a number of reviews praising the easy of use with this webcam, especially in terms of using it with existing software like Skype.

PCMag offered another equally-favorable review, praising how much this camera offered at the price, but it did ding the Hercules on being “lightweight in the resolution department”.

Reviews on NewEgg spoke well of the affordability and convenience of this webcam, but like PCMag reviewers also made mention of the lower-quality resolution.

Prices, Deals and Discounts for the Hercules Deluxe Optical Glass Webcam

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Available to buy at Amazon

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• The Ecamm Network iMage USB Webcam for Mac & Windows is another great choice
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The Macally IceCam2 USB 2.0 Video Web Camera with Built-in Microphone offers a convenient and affordable video conferencing option with an easy plug and play option.

Webcam Features & Options

The Macally IceMan2 offers an affordable option for capturing video and audio for video conferencing. The webcam offers up to 30 frames per second with a VGA 640 x 480 Resolution.

What is noteworthy about this particular webcam is that it offers an adjustable and flexible goose-neck for the camera mount, giving the user fully-adjustable pointing angles (360 degrees of horizontal rotation and 135 degree tilt back and forth).

The camera can be mounted on top of a LCD screen, a laptop, or just be set on the desktop.

Mac & Windows Compatibility

The Macally IceCam2, being windows compatible, is immediately recognized by your computer and doesn’t require any additional software. The Macally IceCam2 will work with Yahoo! Messenger, aMSN (for the Mac) and Live Messenger (for Windows).

Video Review of the Macally IceCam2

Opinions From the Blogosphere

Pocket-Lint gave a good review of the video quality, but wasn’t as positive about the sound.

MacUser more or less agreed, citing that the video was reasonable while the audio was less than impressive (while also observing that the IceCam 2 bears a slight resemblance Pixar’s “Wall-E” character, a fair comparison).

Macally IceCam2 Webcam – Prices, Deals & Discounts:

On Amazon:
Available for under $30

On eBay:

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• Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 is an excellent alternative to the IceCam2
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But most of the attention has been on webcams designed for use with PCs and laptops, but not for Apple Macs. Now it’s time to redress the balance.

The Ecamm Network iMage USB Webcam for Mac and Windows, does, by definition of its title, work on both Macs and Windows-based PCs, but by design and usability, it definitely owes more to the Apple products.

Horrible Design

However, while all of the variations of the Apple Mac, and most other Apple products, are nicely designed, with smooth lines, and a refreshingly simple layout, the iMage looks horrible.

This webcam is tiny, being just 2 inches wide, and is also lightweight, being designed to be ultra-portable. The iMage mounts on to the screens of the PowerBook and iBook with a magnetic mount.

No Drivers

The beauty of this webcam, designed to work on both Mac OS X (10.4.3 or higher) and Windows systems, is it’s driverless technology, with no driver software needed to get the camera working on your machine.

By plugging it in to your Mac’s USB 2.0 port, you can start video chatting on Skype, MSN Messenger, AIM or any of the other options for communicating with friends and family in real-time.

Video Blogging Career

Or, you could start a new career as a video blogger, which has proved profitable for A-List bloggers such as Natali Del Conte. Whatever you choose to do with your new purchase, the iMage will do the job, despite being one of the ugliest webcams on the market.

[Buy the 'Ecamm Network iMage USB Webcam' On Amazon]

Things have moved on a bit since the days of good old fashioned text chats though, and video is now all the rage. Lucky then that there are some brilliant, yet affordable webcams on the market made for just that purpose.

Microsoft Lifecam VX-3000

The Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 is one such contender, and comes from a brand you can trust (assuming you haven’t suffered an Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death of course) in Microsoft.

These cameras are currently being sold on Amazon either separately or as a pair, with the idea of the twin pack being to enable friends and family members to each own one and be able to stay in contact wherever they are around the world.

Features

This webcam is currently amongst the best selling on Amazon, and cheap enough to enable everyone to own one. It also comes with an amazing array of features to give all buyers optima performance.

The camera works straight out of the box with all Microsoft enabled computers, and is virtually plug-and-play. It also has a very clean install, with none of the spyware included with some other brands.

The Lifecam VX-3000 offers crystal clear audio and a brilliantly sharp image. There is also automatic face tracking software and low-light adjustment to ensure clarity and the best possible picture at all times.

Conclusions

The camera fits to most monitors, including flat panel ones, or can alternatively just sit on the desk next to your tower. There are pan, tilt, and zoom controls as well as a number of video effects to mess around with and adjust to suit.

The Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 is perfect for anyone wanting to use video chat to stay in touch with people around the world, and for just $50 for a pair, you you never fell alone again.

[Buy A Microsoft Lifecam VX-3000 Twin Pack On Amazon]