Logitech QuickCam Messenger WebCam
by Logitech

List Price: $49.95
Our Price: $12.94
You Save: $37.01 (74%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: CE
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Digital Photo Product Details

• 640 x 480 video and photo resolution
• Built-in microphone
• USB 1.1 interface
• Includes a full suite of camera utility software
• Compatible with Windows 98, 2000, Me, and XP

• AmazonBasics Ultra-High-Speed HDMI Cable Braided (9.8 Feet/3.0 Meters)
• AmazonBasics USB 2.0 A-Male to A-Female Extension Cable (3.3 Feet/1.0 Meter)
• AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (9.8 Feet/3.0 Meters) [Supports 3D + Audio Return Channel]
• AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Braided Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters)
• AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters)[Supports 3D + Audio Return Channel][OLD MODEL]

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech QuickCam Messenger WebCam

Customer Review: Good hardware, but unreliable software
Summary: 2 Stars

The Install: The installation appeared to go without a hitch. If you don't follow the very specific instructions that the software provides then you will probably run into problems.

The Picture: The picture on the Quickcam Messenger was surprisingly good. The friend I was having a Video chat with through Yahoo Messenger had a webcam from a different vendor that cost about half as much and her picture quality was consistently poor.

The Framerate: While recording a video to my hard drive the framerate was more than adequate. Over the internet was another story, but I question whether any other webcam could have done better.

Reliability: This is where everything goes bad. In the 60 minutes I spent video-chatting with my friend I had to reboot my computer more than 6 times. Even when I wasn't broadcasting images over the Internet, and simply stared at myself on my desktop, the camera (or software) consistently locked up. The software provided is loaded with bugs and merrily installs itself everywhere on your computer (quick-start toolbar, desktop, program menu). I finally gave up on the camera after 2 days of trying to get it to work reliably (updating drivers and such) and returned it. My guess is the camera works great, but the software was thrown together as an after thought. After un-installing the software my computer has never been the same. I can no longer play Windows Media files and I can no longer run graphic intensive applications. I ended up having to re-format my hard-drive, I used this as an opportunity to install Windows XP... 98 is outdated now anyways.

Annoyances: If you bought a monitor, and the monitor manufacturer said "You need to subscribe to a 3rd party service in order to view the Internet through your new monitor." I bet you'd be pretty annoyed. Well that is essentially what Logitech did when they teamed up with SpotLife. You can use the webcam to broadcast video over messenger services such as MSN Messenger, ICQ, Yahoo, etc... But, if you want to broadcast live video from your computer to a web host (as a browser accessible nanny-cam or something) then you'll need to do so through SpotLife. SpotLife gives you a free trial period of course, but the freedom of doing what you want with the streaming images generated on YOUR computer has been taken away from you.

Summary: I waited a week after returning my Quickcam Messenger before I wrote this review. I knew that I should let my emotions cool down a little so I could try to write something informative and objective. The webcam may have performed reliably on a system with a different OS and some people might like the idea of SpotLife (it's actually a good idea for people that can't write HTML). If you can buy it from someplace with a flexible return policy then give it a whirl... just have your OS CD handy... for the install... and for when you need to re-format your hard-drive after the un-install.

The Bottom Line: I will be buying another webcam, but I'm going to avoid products by Logitech. That's too bad because I used to really like Logitech.