Microsoft LifeCam Show (Black)

Other products by Microsoft

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.4 x 2.6 inches ; 9.9 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001DWI1F0
• Item model number: RLA-00001
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,670 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)

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  Electronics > Computers & Accessories > Webcams

• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 9, 2008

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

From the Manufacturer

Overview:

The Microsoft® LifeCam Show™ comes with a complete attachment system–desktop stand, laptop clip, and attachment discs–to make setting up and using your LifeCam a snap, no matter what type of PC you own. To show yourself, face the webcam forward. To show friends and family, simply flip it around!

Works with: Windows Live™ Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Skype

Features:

Desktop Stand		Laptop Clip		Attachment Disc
Windows Live™ Call Button		Photo Swap		Carrying Case

Additional Features: World-class High Definition Optics with a Glass Element Lens Vibrant, rich video quality, even in dim lighting High Definition 2.0 megapixel sensor with 8.0 megapixel photos (interpolated) Always focused 5× digital zoom: Realistic, up-close zoom capability Video effects: Express yourself with fun effects Built-in unidirectional microphone with noise cancellation Crystal-clear audio performance Echo-cancellation software for improved sound clarity

System Requirements: Windows Vista® Intel Pentium® 4 2.8 GHz (for Pentium Dual-Core 1.8 GHz or higher recommended), 1 GB of RAM (2 GB recommended) Hard drive 200–600 MB available or Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later Intel Pentium 4 1.8 GHz (for Pentium 4, 3 GHz or higher recommended) 256 MB of RAM (500 MB recommended) Hard drive 400–1250 MB available Windows-compatible speakers or headphones Broadband Internet access required; access fees may apply USB 1.1 (USB 2.0 recommended) CD-ROM drive Display adapter capable of 16-bit color depth or higher, 2 MB or higher video memory

Product Description

Enjoy Ultimate Mobility - The Microsoft LifeCam ShowTM comes with a complete attachment system¿desktop stand, laptop clip, and attachment discs to make setting up and using your LifeCam a snap, no matter what type of PC you own. To show yourself, face the webcam forward. To show friends and family, simply fl ip it around.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great camera for on the go...., January 5, 2009

By	Z~ - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

(What's this?)

This is by far the best "on the go" webcam I have ever owned. I can't tell you about the technical specifications, but I can tell you the picture looks great! I have another laptop that has a built in webcam and a desktop PC that I use a Logetech Quickcam and this webcam beats them in quality of picture and ease of use. The Logetech webcam has a a few more features but this also comes with fun and interactive options that will have your have family and friends laughing while they look at you via the webcam.

Installing the software did take quite a while (about 13 minutes) but once you are done installing the software, you plug in your webcam, answer a couple questions and you are all set to chat. I love the different ways you can set the camera up to your monitor. I use the clip since it fits my monitor perfectly. The stand it very sturdy and tall. The attachment discs will stick on any clean surface on your laptop cover. It also comes with an extra attachment disc in case you loose one. The magnet on the webcam is very strong and it will hold it's place securely. The webcam can also be easily adjusted to go up and down without "popping" or sliding off.

The sleek and small size of this webcam makes it easy to tuck into a laptop bag and the plastic case ensures you will not scratch or damage the lens.

The built-in microphone works perfectly and sounds crystal clear. I tried the webcam in low light conditions at first and it automatically focused and lighten the view and it was clear. I have attached pictures to the product so you can see for yourself how clearly the picture looks in low light conditions.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars low framerate, obnoxious installer and applications, February 5, 2009

By	M. M Magliaro "maxvideo" (Philipsburg, PA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Background:

I installed this on two Windows XP Professional SP2 systems.
I followed the instructions to the letter, installing the CD FIRST, before plugging in the camera.
I am a 30 year software developer who has tested dozens of webcams over the past 5 years and writes videoconferencing software for Windows using DirectX.

1. The installer is obnoxious. On the first XP system, it displayed the progress box, with the progress bar filling and emptying, for 30 minutes, and it never finished. Twice during installing, the spoolsv.exe service (part of Windows....) crashed. I never could get the installer to work.

2. On the second system, it worked, but then, lo and behold, I am besieged by badgering to install Windows Live Messenger. I unchecked the box during installation, which tells it I DO NOT WANT that installed.
And STILL it drops a shortcut for Windows Live Call on my desk top, which, when I click it, tells me I should install Windows Live Messenger.
Delete C:\Program Files\Microsoft LifeCam\icepick.exe to nuke this app, and delete the shortcut, to get rid of this.

3. Every time you log in, you get the annoying tray icon application, and sometimes a popup window from the LifeCam application. Argh!!!! Logitech does this too. You have to dig into the registry, find the "Run" folder, and delete the entry for the LifeCam in there, to stop this.

4. The EULA license agreement you have to agree to, in order to finish the installer, specifically says that you are required to let this thing automatically connect to the internet and download software updates for itself. BULL TO THAT. Right there, I do NOT want this thing on my computer.

NOW, it gets out of the realm of invasiveness and annoying behavior, into real performance problems...

5. Managing video from this camera with generic applications like Amcap causes very weird behavior. Large black blotches all over the screen, sluggish PC performance. (this is a Core 2 Duo Dell Latitude that I just got 3 months ago, with a real NVidia video module in it, and 1 Gig of RAM... it is no slouch for performance)

6. IT CAN ONLY DO 15 FRAMES PER SECOND.
That, right there, rules it out as a decent camera in my book. If you want to do sluggish webcam chats with Yahoo or something, fine. But if you want any kind of smooth video, forget it. Any decent camera these days just HAS to do 30 fps.

7. CPU load is high. A simple 15 fps 352x288 capture to the screen, like in AMCAP, consumes 15% CPU on my Core 2 Duo machine. Compare that to only 6% for a Logitech QuickCam Pro For Notebooks, which produces every bit as good video, at TWICE THE FRAMERATE (30 fps).

Summary:
Video performance poor.
Installer shoddy.
Privacy/software updating invasiveness.
Obnoxious foisting of Live Messenger onto the user.

Stick with Logitech.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Easy to use, comes with a lot of fun features but for it's price under lowlight conditions is where the LifeCam underperforms, January 1, 2009

By	Dennis A. Amith (kndy) (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

(What's this?)

With the webcam war between Microsoft and Logitech, Logitech has so far been on top with its quality web cameras especially in low light conditions and video quality.

This time around, the Microsoft LifeCam Show is now available with it's thin and sleek design. The LifeCam show comes with a 1 ft. stand, a magnetic stick and also a clip on for laptops. Also, boasting a good number of fun features, easily outnumbering the amount of features found in Logitech's QuickCam software and even Apple's visual effects.

The ease of install is simply installing the program on CD, which I tested on one Laptop and it took around 10+ minutes (which is not bad compared to other webcam software programs that have to load all the special features).

The first test was through AIM (easy to use on AIM) and video quality showed quite a bit of artifacting and noise in low light room conditions and increasing the quality in full video was about the same when viewed from a laptop. On the opposite end, I tested to see how things looked when viewed on my 24" iMac and it was soft and not as clear compared to a similarly priced Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000.

I then did a test on two well known video-streaming sites which I did a broadcast using the Microsoft LifeCam Show and overall, a similar look as I had on AIM.

On good light situation, with proper amount of sunlight in the room, thinks looked a bit better and although you have control over brightness, saturation, sharpness, etc. I was not able to come up with very clear video.

Even using the Microsoft software, in a smaller screen, things look clearer but still too dark.

Then I started to do some mobile lifecasting with the product and I wish the wire was a bit longer, so when walking around or placing your laptop in your bag and just doing a lifecast, you really need to keep the lifecam closer to you (pinned to your bag arm strap or your shirt) rather than the extra line to hold the camera up while walking.

As for the special features, their are many which were quite fun (from rain, lightning, static images to moveable images and facial changes). I must admit though, that some of the effects that require body movement hung and I was waiting for minutes. Granted, I was testing this on a 3 year old laptop with only 2GB of ram but loading some effects took much longer than I would like.

And as for software, you get the Microsoft camera program, you get the ability to install Microsoft Live chat, etc.

Overall, the product is easy to use, it looks sleek and cool, a lot of effects to keep people happy, in fact my wife and my child loved the many effects included. But for many people who are looking for a camera for lifecasting or streaming broadcasts, the camera doesn't do well in low light conditions. You definitely want to have a lot of light nearby. But otherwise, the camera may be too dark for some. Also, I wish the cord was much longer for those who want to do mobile lifecasting and tend to keep their laptops in their bag while walking or for those who want to lifecast and need the additional length.

So, overall, it's a good camera but when compared to a Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 which is similarly priced, the LifeCam show doesn't function well in low light conditions even when you have tweaked the controls.