More than a month ago, I used my tickets on Live Search Club to get a Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000. There were only two choices, the 3000 or 6000 - obviously I chose the 6000. I did already have a webcam, but my Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 wouldn’t work with Vista.

The Logitech webcam I had is really good, almost clear video (in small resolution only though), but would still recommend for XP and earlier.

Last week the webcam arrived and of course I tried it out right away. As the instructions said, I installed the software first (which took a long time), then plugged the webcam into the USB port. Opened up the software to see how the video looked. It crashed and closed out! Something about ffdshow needed to be installed, according to Vista. The first thing I thought was: “Doesn’t everything I need come included on the CD?”

So, I installed ffdshow and the webcam software worked just fine. But, the video quality was really poor. It was like watching a station on TV that doesn’t come in very well, a lot of static. This webcam was claimed to have good video quality!

After playing with the ffdshow settings that made no difference at all, I uninstalled it. The webcam software worked fine even after uninstalling ffdshow. Weird. I looked up reviews online and eventually came across one person saying to not install from the CD, but to download the software/drivers from Microsoft and to change the USB bandwidth to a lower number.

I re-installed (just to be sure), switched the USB bandwidth to a lower number and noticed a change. But, a lower USB bandwidth number means slower video. Picture quality though for the most part is really good.

Here are some features of this webcam from the back of the box; my notes in italics:

• High Definition video (1.3 megapixels) and photos (5.0 megapixels interpolated) (Logitech webcam quality wasn’t as good)
• Wide-angle lens (Logitech webcam didn’t have this)
• 3x digital zoom (Logitech webcam has this)
• Automatic face tracking software (Logitech webcam comes with this too)
• Automatically adjust for low-light conditions for superior video quality (Not any better than the Logitech webcam)
• Read more features of the webcam on the Microsoft product page.

One thing I don’t like is if there is a light in the view of the webcam, it just makes that area completely white, rather than showing what is really there. The Logitech webcam didn’t do that.

Below is a very short clip of what the video looks like with the high definition video (1.3 megapixels) and the USB bandwidth set at 6. (Windows Media Player only, sorry.)

Link to video if you can’t view it above: Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000

I like that the webcam can sit on top of my monitor, unlike the Logitech that wasn’t designed to. I may have to put some double-sided tape on part of it so it doesn’t move when my monitor is bumped though.

Overall, I guess it’s an okay webcam. You get what you pay for right?

I don’t plan on purchasing a new webcam anytime soon, but if you know of one that has really good quality videos, I’d like to hear about it!

Image is a modified screenshot from the Microsoft product page.