I had to replace my not-so-old Logitech webcam with something new, since it did not work under 64-bit Vista. The VX-7000 does work with 64-bit Vista, and was the highest quality camera Microsoft offered that would attach to my desktop monitor. (The supposedly higher resolution NX-6000 has a much smaller monitor connector, designed for notebook-thickness screens, but also boasts a better picture.)
I installed the camera easily, the only issue being that the CD did not autoplay and I had to run the setup manually from the disc.
The software that comes with the camera is limited to drivers and a very simple “Playskool-like” camera recording program, with the cartoony buttons and foolish animated cartoon overlay features that you would use if you were a pre-teen sneaking video calls with friends. As a business user (teleconferencing with co-workers around the world) this software was useless.
I did not install the Microsoft Messenger software, which supposedly gives more conference options, because I am quite happy with other software I use for that purpose. It is disappointing that the included software doesn’t allow you to easily (if at all - I can’t find the option) set settings for the camera while you’re using it from applications that can’t control things like resolution or zoom.
The reason I bought this camera was to get the highest quality picture possible, having been disappointed with general webcam quality in the past. The quality of this camera is no better than what you would expect from something you can buy at a toy store. The resolution may be higher, but the picture is unacceptably grainy.
The quality of color in the picture and its ability to work well in low-light situations is much better than other cameras, but the quality of the picture is still low enough that you can tell it was recorded from a webcam. Why as clear of a picture can’t be taken from an external camera as from any of Apple’s notebook cameras mystifies me.
Setting the actual resolution of the video higher causes the camera to compensate by lowering the framerate, resulting in very grainy large videos that are visibly choppy.
The audio pickup of the camera is nice, although I have yet to figure out how to control the gain directly in applications outside of the capture program that comes with it. It seems to be a “telescopic” type microphone, and very cleanly separates out room noise that it does not point at. That is, you have to aim the camera at your head for it to pick up your voice. Anything outside that cylinder will not be picked up as well.
One great thing that might be overlooked about many cameras is that when this camera is recording, a bright blue (why blue and not red?) light turns on on its face. This is very reassuring to know that you are not being recorded when you don’t want to be.
In all, the drawbacks of this camera are similar to any other camera on the market, and the higher resolution capabilities of the camera allow the lower resolution to work better in low-light than others. The audio is an interesting bonus, and the included software is typically sub-expectations. This camera is probably better than many others simply because the others are so much worse.
A company that could produce a non-grainy picture in reasonable room light would make a killing in this market, but that camera cannot be found here.
