Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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73 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mac compatible, April 20, 2007
I just want to confirm that this camera is indeed compatible with a Mac, and works reasonably well with Skype. My set up: 1.5 GHz Powerbook G4, Mac OS X 10.4.8, Skype 2.5.0.85, macam 0.9.1 driver. The refresh rate is not that high, subjectively at about 10 fps. Mic on the camera does not work, but the Powerbook built-in mic works very well. Headphones are not necessary but desirable to eliminate echo. The camera produces good focus and depth of field, and auto adjusts to different lighting conditions. Overall, video quality is not outstanding, but pretty decent and quite usable with Skype.
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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Twisted Logitech Quickcam Communicate STX Review, July 20, 2008
Length:: 0:44 Mins
This is my experience with the Logitech Quickcam Communicate STX. Maybe I got a bad one, but nothing helps. Settings, lighting, tried all suggestions. Time for a trip back to the store. I've always like Logitech, but this one didn't impress me.
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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Blurry Motion, April 4, 2007
This camera definitely has crisp picture, but the images are way too blurry during movement with low frame rate. I wasn't sure if this was due to the computer I was running it on (above minimum but slightly below recommended specs) or the camera itself.
I happened upon a Logitech UltraVision (which is Logitech's top-of-the-line webcam) for only $79. On the box, both the Communicate STX & UltraVision have the SAME minimum & recommended system requirements. But the UltraVision when installed on the same computer had no blurry images during movement, with obviously better frame rate, and better performance overall. Very odd, I thought, since UltraVision is at least 3 steps above Communicate STX in the model level, and is assumed to require greater system resources.
So my conclusion is that the Communicate STX, for whatever reason, does indeed have an unacceptable blurry motion image and ridiculously low frame rate (well below the 30 fps that's advertised on the box & elsewhere). The picture itself is crisp and handles low light well, but there is lag time in the movement, and the audio and video do not sync well. Be warned if that's a concern. Some people are more forgiving of this than others, but I personally can't stand it, and if you've ever experienced a webcam that actually responds to you instantaneously, it's really hard to settle for anything less. The built-in microphone, by the way, is excellent and very sensitive, and the unit itself is quite attractive in its silver & black.
As for the UltraVision, I believe the Rightlight2 technology (for this particular model) does not work well in low light (definitely too dark), but it can be corrected manually by increasing the gain. Hopefully, this flaw will be corrected permanently with a software fix at some future date (how hard can it be to write code that would kick the gain up a few notches when the light level falls below a certain point?). The picture on the other hand is the sharpest I've ever seen in a webcam. As for the concerns of it being a resource hog, I didn't experience that, and I don't see how people can say that when the system requirements are the same for the Communicate STX, Pro 5000, & Fusion. They may just be assuming this, since it is the most expensive camera in the line. All four of them basically use the same software as well. UltraVision is no more a resource hog than the others mentioned, in my opinion.
On a side note, I noticed a blue tinge in the skin tone when using the UltraVison in lower light. I realized that this was due to the blue illuminated ring around the Logitech logo while the camera was on. Since there was little light, the blue ring actually served as a lighting source, thus making the skin tone somewhat blue. Now if they'd just make that ring a little brighter & white in color......
Hope this helps if you were wondering about the Communicate STX's blurry motion video, or the UltraVison's capabilities. I would not buy the Communicate STX. If I had to get a Logitech, I would spend the extra money and step up to the Pro 5000 (or any of the other models with 'true high-speed' USB 2.0), which must have better frame rate and smoother video, just as the UltraVision did.
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