Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 Webcam - Black

hello. anyone reading this, will be interested in the details of actually having this item. I ordered this from amazon, after some personal debate, going from website to website, searching. finally decided on amazon. first get this home, out of the box, you start to run the software, and it asks you to install the MSN software FIRST. after you get through MSN, you get to go back to the cd-rom, to install the rest of the cd that comes with this. of course, if you do not wish to have MSN on your system, you can go to add/remove in your control panel. after I got it all installed, and started to run it, it has an auto-update in it. THIS took a LONG time to download, but I finally got it done. and I picked out my victim for trying it on first on my yahoo msngr. they say it looks good, and it sounds good, with the built-in microphone.all in all,..I like it.it is fairly cheap to buy, easy to install, and easy to get started.all the others claiming they had an issue with the cam base, must be doing something odd. mine seems to sit still and I have had no issue.I gave this a perfect 5...but maybe I am too easy to please.of all the reviews of video cams, the vx-3000 was my favorite to pick and I am not sorry.

Could of been A LOT better. I remember back in the 90's I purchased a logitech something and its image quality was comparable to this one for the same price. Only difference is this one has a mic.Bought this as an x-mas present so i can stay in better contact with loved ones. Sure it gets the job done, They can see and hear me and vice versa but the image quality is not exactly high-def...hell its not defined at all, you can make out is a person...but that's about it. The image quality is severely lacking, if this was say 7-10 years ago that would be great but considering the age we live in the quality should of been MUCH better. I know its only a 20 dollar cam but even so it should not be lacking so much in image. For 2010-2011 find a better deal this one isn't it.

I got this camera so that my kids can video chat with my parents who live in another state. It was simple to install on Windows XP and I haven't had any problems. It works well with Skype. The video quality is decent. The microphone is much clearer and louder than the one built into my laptop. I'm sure there are better cameras out there, but I didn't want to spend too much money. Plus, video quality is usually limited by your internet connection, not the camera. The only gripe, which some others have had, is that the button on top of the camera is easy to bump and it tries to load Microsoft Live Messenger. I changed it to open Skype using another reviewer's suggestion:Jrverse says:You can have the large button activate a different app (like Skype) when it's clicked.This works for me and others on the web (Advanced users only!!!):1. Open regedit.2. Navigate to the following key:[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{6BDD1FC6-810F-11D0-BEC7-08002BE2092F}\????\Settings]Where ???? is a number like 0000, 0001, 0002, 0003, 0004. You may have a few of these.3. Under each of the "\????\Settings" folders, look for the entry called "QuickStartPath", and change it from the current value (usually "C:\Program Files\Microsoft LifeCam\icepick.exe") to the path of the program you want to launch when the big button is clicked (like "C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\skype.exe") This works perfectly for me.

I got two of these over a year ago, one for my father and the other for me to communicate using Skype. I work in IT so my issues isn't through the lack of knowing what I'm doing. I set my father's camera up for him when I was in GB visiting and tried using it with Skype to communicate with my wife, and it was terrible. The video quality was poor and it made the audio poor to match. I switch off the camera and the audio was still poor and remained poor until I uninstalled it. Re the software, in true Microsoft (MS) form, it is Massive, taking up loads of MB of HDD space and it forces you to load to the C drive with no option to place it on another drive. It tries to access the internet all the time and send data I assume back to MS. Maybe part of my problem was that I blocked it from doing this, but either way, it isn't MS place to force customers to give up information even about usage and the cam was not good for the purpose intended. On getting back home I found that even after uninstalling the software, some parts were left and I had to go through the Windows Reg and manually edit the reg to stop it from messing the system up. I ended up buying 2 Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000's, more expensive but I got a deal when they were on special at Fry's. The Logitech QuickCam Pro is a far higher end cam, with a Zeiss lens and autofocus. Logitech give the option to load just the driver, or to load a very comprehensive suite of applications; I went with just the driver for my purpose and kept it simple. You get the choice, and it isn't constantly trying to access the internet taking up your PC's resources and slowing things down. I have only used it a bit with Skype, but it was great when I have. Steer clear of Microsoft cameras, and if you must use one, check what resources are being used and how much it is trying to send out on the Internet when you don't know!