Customer Reviews

Creative Labs WebCam Live!

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is the third Creative Labs webcam I have bought. Compared to the previous ones (a first generation webcam and a more recent Pro eX), this one produces better pictures - brighter and better color rendering. It works well in low light environment. So as far as performance is concerned, I am pretty happy. However, if you're looking for a webcam that can be SECURELY mounted on your laptop, this one is definitely not for you. This webcam does NOT have a clip or a snap-on mechanism. It does allow you to put the webcam on laptop computer's display panel without falling off if the computer is on a leveled surface without any kind of movement. Even that is little bit shaky if the dispaly panel is thin (like my Dell Inspiron 700m). I give this webcam a 4 star instead of 5 mainly for this reason.

A note about installation (Windows XP with SP2):
This is not a big deal but I thought I would just share with everyone in case someone gets confused. Like other Creaive Labs stuff I have bought before (webcams and MP3 player), the installation procedure in the manual doesn't quite match what you actually experience. The manual indicates after you finish installing the software (drivers and apps), then you plug in the webcam and Windows will discover the hardware and you go from there. In reality,you will be asked to plug in the webcam before you finish the software installation and you never go through the Windows hardware discovery process.

Please note that I bought this webcam (Creative Labs Webcam Live!) a month ago from the local store of a national office supplies chain for $10. You shouldn't be paying more than $15 or so because this is an old model and has been discontinued by Creative Labs. The follow-up models (like the "ultra" model) are barely better than than one (despite Creative's deceptive claims) and definitely not worth shelling out more than $40 for.

This is a basic webcam. It does not have auto focus; nor is it focus-free. This means you should adjust the manual focus ring on the cam to make sure your subject is in focus. The focus range is rather small, but since you probably just sit there when it's working, it doesn't matter much. It does matter, however, if you want to use it as a motion detector, since it might be capturing videos of a thief in your home or cubicle out of focus, defeating its usefulness.

The included Creative WebCam Center application is very bloated at something like 50MB on installation, plus it installs no fewer than eight start-up services (without telling you). It includes video recording, motion detection, time-lapse video, and webcam. You can choose to compress the video capture; uncompressed video (the default setting) takes up 1MB per second! That's 60MB for every minute of video, or 3.5GB for a whole hour! But the video compression in Creative WebCam Center is very inefficient. Anything less than a Pentium 4 will slow your machine down to a crawl.

My biggest beef with the software Creative throws in our face is it contains too many hidden components with uncipherable names. It also installs tons of "get AOL for free" links and icons everywhere on your hard drive. Creative Labs has no shame whatsoever. I never asked for AOL, nor will I ever use AOL, an evil company that overbills its customers and provides the worst service possible (even Verizon is better as an ISP). I really don't like installating a 50MB application with tons of hidden components just to use the webcam. (Unfortunately, it's the same for Logitech, the biggest name in webcams.)

The cam does work very well with MSN Messenger, the best video conferencing software now available (and it's free). It also clips securely on my LCD monitor. But I really hate the spyware-like behavior of the Creative software suite.

In summary: consider Logitech, because they don't install tons of annoying "get AOL!!!" links on your PC. If you have to buy this, make sure you don't pay more than $15.

I have been looking for such a webcam for a long time because I can't find a cheap product with good quality and brand.
This webcam is what I wanted although it is USB 1.1, but it doesn't influnce the speed even when I used it to talk with my friend in China. Furthermore,I get my order in only 2 days with free shipping. Easy to install and use. And I love Creative very much because it's rebate probably working. @^:^@

The only weak point of this webcam is when I set up the "banding filter" at "outdoor" model, the webcam seems to be a little dark although in this setting will make the motion without delay. So, I give it 4 stars. Hope it can help!

I bought two of these cameras, one for myself and one for my parents that live in CA (I'm in WA). I moved away recently and wanted to see them more often than I can afford to fly. This camera does a great job and the mic works well too.

A previous reviewer said the video was blurry and slow, I am using MSN messenger and the problem is the broadband connection. When I used the camera on my home LAN to have a video conference between my laptop and desktop the image was great. Clear, smooth very little delay. When I use the camera to talk to my parents there is lag and fast motion causes blurring. To me this is acceptable. If I wanted to pay hundreds of dollars for a business class connection the image would be better but thats too much money.

The voice communication is pretty much equivalent to phone. Almost no delay and very easy to hear. As far as the echo the previous reviewer mentioned his speakers are probably turned up too loud. Every time you hear someone call into a radio station and the DJ tells them to turn down their stereo it is because their speakers are up too high and are causing an echo. If you use the mic in conjuction with headphones it works great.

For $50 I couldn't be happier with this product. MSN integrates flawlessly with it and so far it is all free. The voice quality is close to a dedicated phone line and cuts down on my long distance calls.

The quality of this camera is -excellent- for this price range. I am quite satified with it. Still image captures come out clear and video captures are also clear and fast. As a webcam, I am impressed how fast it picks up movements. I use it on Yahoo messenger. Super-mode would turn on and the quality of the cam is lifelike. However, the downside about this webcam is Yahoo tends to crash once in awhile. It might be a different for other messengers with webcam features. It may be Yahoo that isn't working right and not the camera since it also kept crashing my old cam and pc. Another downside, is the camera tends to fall a lot. It does not clip well to the flat panel or notebook. It has a moveable base but is better placed on a flat surface. Other than that, if your looking for a good quality camera this would be a good one to consider. :)

This is the first webcam we have ever owned, so I cannot compare it to any other/previous models.

We bought this camera in order to have video conversations with our friends in England. They tell us that the video quality from our camera is very smooth and the sound quality is very good. They have a camera from a different manufacturer, and theirs comes across quite choppy at times.

We do not use the camera for taking pictures (I can't really imagine why anyone would), but have used it to make small "video emails", and the quality of these is quite good too.

If you are looking for a webcam to use for video conversations, you will not be disappointed with this one.

We were so pleased with it that we just ordered a second one to give as a present to my parents.

With so many webcams around ranging from $9 to $100, which one to buy can be a nightmare. My requirement was that of video chat and that is what I use it for. Pictures are excellent and very sharp. In low light conditions you can manually increase the exposure settings to really improve the pictures. BUT this one has more juice...features in the software (included) include Motion detection, time lapse video (best for capturing a flower bloom!!!), remote monitoring (pictures can be updated to a website and u can monitor from, say, your office). And yes, I received 3 colour stickers (to change the colour of the webcam) and a single earphone + mic too. This cam is a USB 1.1 and will work seamlessly with USB 2 as well.

But as I said, I use mainly to video chat. I face a small problem - but that is not a defect in the camera and may be you have a solution. I use Skype to chat but the video does not turn on (this is more a problem with skype and not the webcam) so i voice chat on skype and videos are relayed on yahoo msnger.

Web cam images can be classified, for laymen, under Standard/Good/Excellent. This webcam produces Good images and for the price it is excellent...and considering the additional features included in the software this is a good buy. I am extremely satisfied and hope this will help you decide.
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I am using this webcam since the last 6 months. No issues whatsoever.
It was easy to install, took just minutes. Plz install the software and then connect the webcam as specified in the manual.
I use it for video chat and everybody says the image quality is good.
It sits nicely on top of my laptop display. does not slip or fall.
Also got a collar mike with this webcam which was plug and play. No drivers needed.
Creative Webcam Live will not disappoint you.

Pros: The image quality is super nice, even under very dim light. Compared to other webcams that I have seen, this one is the way better. When I am video conferecing with others, they are always surprised by how good my webcam is.

Cons: The software other than the driver that came with the camera is badly engineered. It slowed down my computer toooooo much. It usually takes about 15 seconds for my windows xp to start up. After install the software, it takes 5mins. Something must be wrong with that software.

Well, finally, I uninstalled everything that came with the camera except the driver. Everything is fine.

Conslusion: It's a good webcam to buy. Be sure only install the driver from the CD, not anything else.

Like with the Logitech Communicate STX webcam I purchased (and returned), this camera had a delay of almost a 1/2 second between the audio and the video. I tried it with a Pentium 2 500 MHz, then a Pentium 3, 860 MHz, 512 MB RAM and then on an almost untouched, brand new P4 eMachine, 2.8 GHz, 768 MB RAM. In my opinion it would be better just to have audio than to have every single syllable out of synch with the video, which I find to be very distracting. In addition to this significant problem, the camera did not have a built-in mic and it had a lightwieght base which allowed it to easily slide around (and a couple times fall). However, the video display quality I did find to be good even in relatively low light conditions.

I have since returned the WebCam Live and purchased a Logitech QuickCam Fusion (which is about double the price of the Live) and I have been very satisfied. Audio and video synchronization on the Fusion seems to be just about perfect, even when running it on the P3, 860 MHz PC with a USB 1.0 port.