Customer Reviews

Logitech QuickCam Messenger WebCam

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

The QuickCam Messenger is one little webcam that is totally affordable and works great. The resolution is 640x480, although the native resolution captured by the chip seems lower as at the maximum image quality is not what you'd expect from a true VGA digital camera. But that's ok. I usually run the QuickCam at a lower resolution, to improve framerate over my DSL connection. What's cool about this model is it has a built-in microphone, so you don't need to fumble with an external mic if your PC doesn't already have one built-in. (Tip: wear headset to avoid audio feedback into the mic, which will confuse the heck out of your chat companion!)

The webcam captures decent colors. The key is to have good ambient lighting: place a light behind the camera, not behind yourself! Also don't use a strong light source; something soft works best. The camera provides auto-white balance as well as auto exposure. Focus, however, is not automatic, so you need to manually turn the focus ring to get the sharpest picture of yourself. You can also snap still images of yourself, if that's what you are into.

If you run Windows XP, you don't need to install any driver. Just plug in the QuickCam Messenger, and fire up the latest version of MSN Messenger (version 6), which was compiled to work great with Logitech webcams, thanks to some marketing agreement between Microsoft and Logitech. You can also use Yahoo Messenger, but the new MSN Messenger has better video chat than Yahoo's offering. For AOL's instant messenging program, you'll need to install a utility on the companion CD-ROM. I haven't tried it since I don't use AIM, so can't comment on its quality.

For other flavors of Windows -- Win 2000, ME or 98 -- install the companion software first before you plug in the QuickCam Messenger. The installer will tell you went to plug the webcam into the USB port.

In short, this webcam gives decent image quality (esp. considering the price, before or after rebate) and has the nice touch of a built-in mic. The downside is no auto focus and so-so image quality.

Note: There's no support for Macintosh. If you use a Mac, get a Windows XP PC, or you can probably use Virtual PC 6 to make it work.

I just received this webcam yesterday and in less than ten minutes had it set up on each of my two computers (one with Win2000 Prof- Dell Latitude C610 and the other with XP Home-Dell 4400).

The installation of the software is easy, though I would suggest the custom install for those who know a bit about what programs they want and don't want loaded.

The picture is fantastic, particularly if you have a bright light or window behind you! The focus ring works well to adjust to different preferred distances from the webcam.

The software suite is easy and intuitive to use. Create an .avi movie file with sound by selecting the button and clicking start. To send it to someone simply right-click your resulting file to find the 'email' option. The built in auto-compressor is a nice feature bringing the 2Mb movie to a 60K size for sending that all but the most full email accounts can receive. It took me less than 3 minutes to send a friend a 10sec movie note.

For less than $35 including the mail-in rebate, considering it's ease of use and clear picture, it's probably your best deal on a webcam/mic/camera all-in-one.

Got this webcam today and set it up in office (bright light condition) and I cannot see much differences in video quality vs. QuickCam Pro 4000. But the similarity ends when this webcam gets home, at home's lighting condition, QuickCam Messenger cannot compete with the QuickCam Pro 4000 in video quality, not even close. (by the way, both Messenger and Pro 4000's still picture quality are pretty poor and personally, I don't care for the still picture quality since I can use a digi camera to take a picture). The CCD in QuickCam Pro 4000 really shines in low light condition. (QuickCam Messenger uses CMOS)

So, in bright light condition and all you need is just a little video in IM chatting, you might get away with this QuickCam Messenger, but for all the others, will be better off with the QuickCam Pro 4000.

All after all, this is the first time I can compare side by side with 2 webcam using different technologies (CCD vs. CMOS) and obviously, you get what you paid for. :)

My advice will be go for the QuickCam Pro 4000 or the recently introduced Orbit, but of course, more expansive. Good luck in searching for the new webcam.

The Logitech QuickCam Messenger WebCam is a great little toy for the money. I really can't compare it to other webcams because this is the first one I've ever used. However, installation is pretty easy but takes a strangely long 15-20 minutes. It integrates seamlessly into Yahoo Messenger. It also works alongside AOL IM and MSN Messenger but takes separate software (included). The only catch is the other side has to download special Logitech software to see it with AOL and MSN (I don't know if Yahoo requires an add-in or whether the webcam feature is already included). Still, when I used it with a friend they could see me in less than 5 minutes including the download. As you'd expect, the quality of the feed depends on the connection on both sides. Overall, a good product for a small investment.

Its easy and inexpensive; takes maybe 10-15 minuets to install; You just insert the software and follow the instructions; and at the right time you plug it into your USB (the software tells you when) and then you go trough a set up process, to adjust the camera and mic. It works perfectly well with Yahoo Chat.

Got this camera yesterday from Amazon, installed drivers from logitech website to avoid the spyware on the CD. Camera worked, but my McAfee Antivirus crashed. Called Logitech support, after holding for 15 min. (Toll number), was told by the person - "well if it crashes then you have to choose between the antivirus and the camera!" when I asked if that is the only solution he could offer, he says, "You can return the camera and buy some other brand, thank you for calling logitech" When I asked to speak to a supervisor, he puts me on hold, then comes back and says supervisor is also saying the same thing.

Sent an email to support hoping I will get better support, got a reply with a link. On clicking on the link, I get "Internal Error. Please try again later." I think there is an internal error in the company itself that they should fix first!!!

As for the camera quality, it is as bad as the quickcam express that I put in trash. Image does not focus and is grainy.

I would like to speak to the guys who gave 5* to this product.

The camera it self is small and compact and for the price is a good value...but what good is it if the software malfunctions.First of all the software disk is loaded with 3rd party software which means it contains "ADWARE"...the reasoning they tell you this is installed is for automatic updates....now seriously,how many updates do you get for a web cam?..wouldn"t it be simpler just to go to there site and check,instead of having a third party tracing your internet movements?...if you have SPYBOT or ADWARE on your PC run after you install the software and you will see what i mean....with the disk they supplied SPYBOT found 22 traces of "ADWARE"..so i unistalled the software disk and went to the LOGITECH site and downloaded the software from there..(one positive note the disk takes up over 200mb of space while downloading from the site only uses 125mb) and they state "no third party " from there site download...well low and behold when i ran SPYBOT and ADWARE i found none...but just for backup i used SPYSWEEPER which is a purchased program...and guess what...it located 7 traces of adware...the name of the adware that is installed is called"BACKWEB" ..now the real problem every once in awhile my PC will for no reason shut down...the problem arises from a bad driver issue within the LOGITECH software....they are well aware of the situation, but as of now they have not resolved it...bottom line is i will never purchase another LOGITECH product.

What I ran it on: My computer was a 600MHz AMD, 768MB RAM, 128MB ATI Radeon, running Win98SE, with an AT&T Broadband Internet connection.

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.

grainy photos, slow jerky movement. But worse than that is the program NEVER completely uninstalled. Support has head up rectum - after informing them I uninstalled the program but the program never fully uninstalled, I was informed that I must have done something wrong. Suddenly its my fault that parts of the program remain. Also NOTE: Software that comes with camera includes BACKWEB - if you are unfamiliar with backweb - it is SPYWARE. Would NOT recommend this or any other logitech product now. My real rating is -5 stars.

I have Windows 98 ME and I like mine. I like to buy and test various products and don't understand why others are having problems. Perhaps their PC doesn't meet the minimum requirements for this product; and one shouldn't complain about all the software or the process one needs to go through to get started. I ran mine on Windows ME with an AMD Duron processor. You can't beat the price and a built in microphone. Sure its a cheap webcam, I bought mine thru a third part of Amazon at around 25 bux and it was shipped fast too. The following is off the box.

Minimum System Requirements for windows.
* Windows 98, 2000 ME 0r XP
* Pentium 400
* Pentium II 400, Celeron AMD (my system) Atlon processor or
higher (Pentium III 500 Celeron AMD Anthlon processor
RECOMMENED)
* 64 MB RAM (or minimum OS requirement, Whichever is higher)
* 200 MB free hard drive space
* CD-ROM drive
* 16-bit color display adapter
* Windows compatible sound card and speakers (full duplex sound
card recommend)
* available 1.1 or 2.0 USB port

THE CAMERA

* Logitech QuickCam Messenger Camera
* Built in microphone
* Monitor base
* High-quality CMOS sensor
* Manual focus
* Thin 6ft. USB cable

Specs.

* Video capture up to 640x480 pixels
* Still image capture: Up to Same
* Frame rate: up to 30 frames per second

Application.

* Live video integrated with MSN Messenger
* Works with video-enabled Yahoo Messenger
* Live calls with Windows Messenger
* QuickCapture photos & videos software
* One click video e-mail software
* Web camming

Support.

* Getting Started Setup Guide
* 2 YEAR WARRANTY
*