Customer Reviews

Logitech Quickcam for Notebooks Pro

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

B. Friedlander is right on some accounts:

* The webcam DOES get hot for some odd reason.
* The clip is MUCH, MUCH better than the previous model

The design of the unit is typical of Logitech's world class designs.

The performance of the device is wonderful.

DO NOT INSTALL the software that comes with the CD! It's full of bloat and crap. Download the bare drivers off the Internet and it will work just fine!

The main thing that people need to know when looking at this product is that it is designed for laptops. It has a very sleek and compact design with a nice carrying case to go with it. The microphone/headset is also a very attractive piece. But asthetics aside, here are a few key points regarding this this product:

Pros:
- Compact and easy to take anywhere your laptop goes
- Good video quality (as tested with MSN Messenger). I compared this to other webcams which tauted a true 1.3 megapixel image. The lighting adjustments that are available and the face-tracking are also a helpful addition. I cannot seem to get the frame rate all the way up to 30 fps, but that may be due to my computer and my connection.
- Easy installation. It is very easy to set up.

Cons:
- I think webcams in general are stil a little complex for users who are not technologically savy. I tried have a couple older relatives install it on their own. No go. But this would be true of any webcam.
- The USB cord which comes out of the camera is short. I have a small laptop... but for users with mega-media-laptops, depending on the USB port location, the cord will probably be just long enough, without much extra give.
- The carrying case does not fit the camera and headset neatly. (Or at least I can't figure it out).

Additional notes on the software: The video effects are nice, but it doesn't seem to do well with my face. It actually does better with my wife's face. It essentially tracks your facial structures and moves and changes the 3D animated image to match it. It is a really nice touch. But it may be more or less effective depending on your facial features.

About the hardware: The headset itself is average. I like that it is very compact. The ear piece fits nicely on my ear. But it's not the best quality microphone for use with programs such as Skype.

Summary: All in all, I am pleased with the product - mainly because I had reasonable expectations on what a notebook webcame would be. I recommend this product for those who, like me, need to use it on the go.

If You own an IBM T - Series NoteBook ( or any IBM NoteBook with the raised Edge from the Flat surface of the LCD Screen ), you can ignore this product because of the clip which is used to attach this Cam to the top of your IBM NoteBook Screen.

The Clip will slip on the outer surface of your Laptop Screen and you'll end up with a camera pointing downwards onto your keyboard everytime.

The other person who gave the review above : " Calijoe " must be using one of the Compact and slim IBM 10 - 12 inch LCD Notebooks;
or he must be working for Logitech and is pulling a fast one on all of us.

Buy at your own peril.

Get the Logitech Fusion instead, although it's not really too portable, if you are a Road Warrior.

And like A. Vezirian "stisev" has mentioned, download the QuickCam Software from the Logitech WebSite instead of using the one on the CD.

Hope this was useful.

Yes, it is small and wonderful. I was apprehensive about its over heating reviews. Yes, it gets hot but so far that has not impacted its performance. The built-in microphone is powerful enough to pick up sounds from the room so no one really needs to be close to it while speaking. So I never really use the handsfree that came with it.

The profile is small enough to carry it in your laptop bag. It easily connects to Instant Messengers as well so you do not need to worry about configuring it to a yahoo, msn or skype.

I bought this webcam hoping for an overall improvement from their previous Quickcam for Notebooks Pro, but I was so disappointed I had to return it. Pro's in con's, in comparison to the previous model:

Pro: Clips onto my lapto better than the previous model, which always fell backwards. Slight more compact, smaller carrying case.

Cons: When using camera in super mode (i.e. full motion video), anything moving becomes very blury. Didn't have this problem with prior version (or with the Orbit). Users on the other end report heavily compressed or pixelated images. Could be a problem with the other users connection, but we never had this problem before with the older version webcam. The colors suck. Worse than the previous version. The camera gets pretty hot.

Can anyone out there make a decent notebook webcam? I guess I am going to throw some darts and try another brand.

I purchased this camera to use when traveling. I also have and use a Logitech QuickCam 5000 Pro (see my review for that camera), so I take this camera (the Notebook Pro) with me on trips.

It comes with a small, rigid case to protect it as well as a wired earpiece (headset with microphone). The camera works with the driver/software to automatically manage the image (color balancing and exposure) as well as the audio (eliminating most of the echo).

I have used it with MS Communicator (the corporate version of MSN Messenger) as well as Skype. Works well with both; the image is clear and colorful and the audio is clear and clean. The clip it comes with to hold on to the screen is somewhat unstable to use with the IBM Thinkpads given that the screens on these notebooks have a wider edge. However, if you don't play around too much with the camera it holds on well.

Overall, it is a pleasure to work with.

Everything about this little camera I expected. It worked fine right out of the box and the software loaded without any problems. The image is good and the Logitech software fun to use. I do agree that the camera for some unknown reason does run hot. It doesn't seem to affect the performance, but it seems to heat up more than you would expect.

Camera, mic, drivers, and software all worked fine. The clip will not hold properly on the rather wide edge of the Thinkpad T-series laptop. This caused the unit to constantly slip around and fall off. This is somewhat surprising from Logitech considering popularity of T-series laptops. Logitech Support acknowledged repeated emails but did not offer any solution or resolution.

Overall, I am happy with the purchase. I'd recommend it to anyone who cares about the quality of the pics/video they want to send. If you expect to use it infrequently, I'd buy something cheaper.

Pros: Easy to set up, excellent software package, great picture and video quality (have yet to try the microphone yet). The software has some cool avatars and you can get more from Logitech's website. A face tracking feature keeps the camera focused on you and allows the avatars to mimic you. It's easy to adjust the camera specs for different environments. The semi-hard case is cool to have.

Cons: It was pricey, but it's balanced by the quality. The clip could be a little better. It takes a little fiddling to get it to sit on the lip of my T series ThinkPad. Also, the cord could be longer. I could see someone with USB ports towards the front of the machine having trouble with the cord length, but it's not a problem for me.

This is a very nice little package - and the emphasis is on "little". About 3/4ths of an inch wide, maybe a half inch thick (exclusive of the clip) and two inches long. The clip is simpler than Logitech's previous laptop camera designs, but may still be a problem for some. It has a round moulding on one side that may cause it to slide out of position on some laptops. Not a major problem, but could be an occasional annoyance.

As with all Logitech devices, do not use the drivers on the supplied CD. Logitech drivers change often and you'll always want to use the most recent version from their web site.

Image quality is excellent for a webcam. Low-light images are okay, though somewhat noisy (grainy). The lens is wide angle and you may actually find yourself applying a bit of digital zoom to enchance the image size of single figure. Diminishes image quality a bit, but better than being a seemingly tiny part of the view.

The webcam's internal microphone is excellent and Logitech's echo cancellation technology is truly cool. A small earphone and microphone are supplied with the package. A very nice carrying case will hold both the webcam and the headphone/microphone.

The unit works well with all the major IM and VoIP services.

All in all, a very nice package. The camera does tend to get hot, but this shouldn't be a problem. A nice item for anyone who travels, even if it's only to the local library with a WiFi connection or internet cafe. For long distance travel, it's wonderful: a tiny little package that delivers great results.

Jerry