Customer Reviews

Logitech Quickcam Pro 3000

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I don't know much about webcams so I can't give you a professional opinion. This is the first webcam I got and I wanted something that wasn't too expensive, but still high quality. I went to [stores] and had the people working there give me some recommendations and opinions. I had also researched a little online on different webcams, prices, quality, and video resolution. I finally came and decided to buy this one. It was a little more expensive than what I was originally willing to spend on, but I have to admit, the quality and picture is crisp and clean. It even fixes difficult lightening situations and automatically corrects. It also comes with a lot of software for you to edit your pictures, or create a card and send to family and friends. It took me about 5 minutes to set up as well. All I had to do was install the software, plug in the USB cord, and the program box popped up and I was ready to go. I give it 5 stars for good quality, easy installation, and useful software. I'm actually glad I spent a little extra money. I don't want to waste my time by getting a bad quality, cheap webcam and being disappointed and eventually going out and spending even more money to get a good one. If you have the cash, GET THIS ONE!!

I went through a couple of webcams before I got this one, so I think I am qualified, at least as an amateur user, to comment on the pros and cons of the Logitech Quickcam Pro 3000.

The Pros:

1. The installation was easy--worked like a charm on the first try. That's a plus when working with any peripheral device and Windows operating systems.

2. The software that comes with the camera works well, too. It allows you to capture, edit and enhance a video.

3.It is cute-looking. Very sleek.

4. It has a built-in microphone that works well.

The Cons:

1. Only medium to high light will give you good videos. Low light is out of the question. Before you say, "Well, I am not doing any low-light video work" think about backlight. That is, if you have a bright window, the room may be too dark by contrast to get a decent image.

2. The stand is poorly designed. It is hard to adjust the camera to just the right position. The long cable hanging from the back tends to drag the camera away from how you settled it. The stalk at the base of the camera that inserts into the stand is not easy to work with--tends to twist from the position you set it.

3. It is not ideal for NetMeeting. This is because it is defaulted to zoomed mode, which means you have to be further away from the camera--giving a fuzzier picture. The camera adjustments available in the Logitech drivers are inexplicably NOT available within NetMeeting, including the zoom setting. What a pain that is. So, for NetMeeting, I cannot recommend this particular camera.

If you want to do online gabbing, video back and forth with the grandkids on the weekend, or try your hand at a few video-web ideas, this camera is good performance for the price, and nearly anyone can get it up and running easily. But for harder tasks such as NetMeeting and low-light, or any critical positioning, this is not a good choice.

Throw away the base that comes with this camera. Both the QuickCam Pro 3000 and QuickCam Pro 4000 cameras attach to its Logitech base with a little pin at the bottom of the camera. Simply unscrew this pin from the camera to remove it. Purchase an inexpensive standard 4" mini-tripod from a hanging rack in any good camera store (Ritz, National Camera Exchange, etc.) and screw the tripod into the camera. Best Buy only carries mini-tripods that don't have universal movement. Look for one that has a ball head, which will allow you to easily rotate and tilt the camera, locking a twist-pin when you are happy with your setting. No more problem with the camera popping off its base, or the heavy USB cable weighing it down and moving it out of your preferred adjustment. I bought a Quantaray brand from Ritz, but I'm sure there are many brands. The mini-tripod won't cost more than a meal for two at Burger King and you'll decide you absolutely love the camera, once these 2 little annoyances are finally the way they should have been designed in the first place! (I bought the 4000, so I'll post this message there as well.)

I upgraded to this cam from my IBM PC Camera Pro Max. I was having trouble getting my other cam to work with chat programs (namely Yahoo! IM) and I wasn't too impressed with my other cam's washed out picture, so I felt it was time to upgrade. I went with this cam even though some people weren't happy with it (i.e. Amazon reviews). I am fully satisfied with this camera. It has the best picture you'll find in this price range and the software that comes with it is both powerful and user friendly. The Logitech IM Video Companion is for MSN and AOL IM cam support. The motion detector is great for spying on others in the house, or a security cam our your window. Logitech still makes the best cams bar-none. I took a tip from a previous reviewer and bought my own Ambico tripod at [local store]. If you're looking for one, it's about 4 inches in length and comes in a small package that hangs on a wall in the camera department. Don't look for a big box, you'll not find it. It's well worth the investment. Why struggle with the flawed stand that comes with it? I had my tripod ready and waiting when my cam arrived---works great! I went with the refurbished one which has worked flawlessly so far. If you're looking for a cam with great picture quality and a nice software package look no further. Sure, there are lesser cams, but you get what you pay for.

The Logitech Quickcam Pro 3000 is a great webcam--great picture quality, great feature package (I find the motion detector and built-in mic particularly useful). As noted in several other reviews, however, the stand that comes packaged with the Quickcam Pro 3000 leaves something to be desired. To be blunt: the stand is functionally worthless, and Logitech should know better than to pair a top-of-the-line webcam with such seriously flawed accessory equipment.
If you own this cam (or any cam with a standard female screw-mount base) an excellent and inexpensive mounting option is the Ambico V-0615 Multi-Purpose Mini-Tripod. This 4.25 inch tripod fits the cam perfectly and allows free rotation and swivel, yet is also able to be locked into position. I'd recommend this as an absolute "must have" accessory to anyone purchasing this cam. With the addition of the tripod, the cam is near perfect; without the tripod, using the cam is extremely tedious at best.

As a lifelong technophobe it's taken me a while to get used to computers and the internet but I'm getting there. This is the first webcam I've bought and after using it for a few weeks with no problems, I'm very impressed with what it can do.

Much to my relief I was able to install the Quickcam software without a hitch, and after connecting the USB cable to my pc the webcam was fully operational within minutes (I have an Intel 650MHz processor and am running MS Windows 98 SE). The picture quality is excellent compared to other webcams I've seen and taking photos and recording video clips couldn't be simpler. Once you've created them, you can edit and enhance your images using PhotoSuite III SE or VideoWave III SE, and sending the results by email is also remarkably easy.

The QuickCam Pro 3000 has a built-in mic, which is especially useful for video conferencing over the web. Here the performance quality can vary greatly, but this is to some extent inevitable regardless of which webcam you use. Yahoo Messenger is bundled in with the software and installs automatically whether you like it or not, which wasn't a problem for me, but if you're already using another package you might find this a bit irritating. I tried using the webcam with MSN Messenger/Netmeeting and it worked just as well.

One possible drawback is the fact that the Quickcam software will only allow you to broadcast video and audio over the web via a third party host site (Spotlife.com). So if you're buying a webcam with a view to doing this via your own website, you'd be better off getting one which includes this functionality by default.

But I'm personally very happy with the Quickcam Pro 3000 (call me shallow, but it also looks pretty cool) and it was definitely money well spent.

I got Quickcam Pro 3000 a few weeks ago. First, what I don't like about it:
- The stand is not very adjustable. The stiff and heavy cable tends to pull the camera out of adjustment unless the cable is carefully positioned. You can't adjust the tension of the stand. It would be nice to have the ability to disconnect the cam from its stand and attach it to a standard tripod.
- The webcam software is worthless, allowing you to only upload images to a particular webcam hosting site (spotlife.com). I recommend Webcam32 if you are going to work with your own web site.
- When installing, I had to have my OS CD (Win98 SE, in my case) on hand, probably for certain drivers. I didn't have the option to install from anything other than the Win98 CD (e.g., from a win98 directory or from the internet).

What I like about it:
- Picture quality is pretty good.
- Small.
- USB.

Be aware that you have to have a powered USB hub if you are going to plug in the cam to that hub.

All in all, a fun little cam. I'd give it 3.5 stars if Amazon would let me. ;-)

ps: Works w/Win2000, too.

Ok guys im gonna give it you straight... down and dirty. I have a Gateway AMD-K6 500Mhz processor with 56Ram. I was a little skeptical of buying this camera because the previous reviews were full of mixed opinions and didnt help me very much. But people, this camera is a must if you want to buy a pc camera. When i first opened the package, the software was all nice and neatly package for easy installation as well as storage. Secondly, installation was a piece of cake. I had no problems and was using my camera in a matter of minutes. I've heard that most people with Windows2000 have problems with the Logitech cams, but with this one i dont think thats true. I have WindowsME and even though i hate ME, as far as the compatibility is concerned, the camera work absolutely wonderful. Its small, the picture clarity is amazing, and the software is so easy to use that even beginners can make videos in a snap. You can also use it for Netmeeting video conferencing (which is a plus), and motion sensor buy itself sells the camera. Im telling you... if there is any review that you feel you should get advice from...choose mine. Because this camera is absolutely a must buy.

But of course their is one con about the camera: You have to pay to use the cam for live video feeds and for webcam webpages. So if you are look for a camera to use over the internet as for your voyuerism goes or just to have a webcam over the net... i would "strongly" suggest another cam. Other than that... buy the cam and i promise you wont be disapointed.

The Logitech Quickcam Pro 3000 is simple to use as well as versatile. The camera can be set on a flat surface with its curved, removable shoe attachment. It can also be affixed to the top of a notebook PC utilizing an included adjustable mini tripod that resembles an elongated claw. Once configured the USB cam is easily focused by adjusting the concentric collar of the lense. I found Logitech's software a bit troublesome however. At first I wasn't able to install the camera on my laptop using the version of Quick Cam that came with my Pro 3000 and had to download a newer version from Logitech's website in order to get the unit up and running. It worked fine until I recently upgraded to the newest version of the software from their website. Now I face the same problem: the camera just won't work. Even worse, the older version of the software is no longer available on the websight. I am now "cam-less".

I bought htis web cam about a month ago and use it for chatting online and also the occasional snapshot.

pros
====
- The picture quality is good in various light conditions, inlcuding low light. I do occasionally have to adjust the light in the room if there is a light directly behind or in front of the cam, but I just turn off 1 light and turn on another in a different spot in the room.
- It takes pretty good snapshots. Great if you want to take a picture of something and put it on the web (great for ebay).
- The software that comes with it is very easy to use, and useful. You can organize pictures in albums, make edits and notes on pics, can create short videos. and they make it very easy to attach them to an email. The cam settings are also very easy to adjust.
- Installed the first time right. Took 5 minutes from opening the box to chatting on yahoo via web cam
- Web cam also has a built in mic, but I havent used this feature yet.

Cons (most of these are minor annoyances)
====
- The usb cable on the cam is heavy and pulls down the back of the cam. so any time you move the cam, the cam angle will change. all thy need to do to fix this is make the ball joint on the base a little stiffer.
- I use the cam with my laptop and the attachment to clip onto a laptop is pretty useless if you have your laptop on your lap. Any movement of your laptop cause the cam to change angles (due to the heavy cable).

Overall, I'd recommend the camera to anyone who is looking for a web cam with good video quality. I havent tried others, but all the reviews i read say dont waste your time due to poor video quality in anything but optimum light. The extra 20-30 bucks is worth it.