One of the toys I put on my Christmas wish-list this year, was a webcam, as I’ve never actually owned one… Sad story, I know, but finally, I now have one!
Anyway, I’ve got the webcam that I asked for, and that my in-laws kindly bought for me, which is a Microsoft LifeCam Cinema, and it’s great!
Amongst all the tech-specs about how good it is, its says it’s a HD Widescreen webcam, filming in 720p HD, up to 30 frames per second. But the much better item on the list, is that it’s got a built-in microphone. So, no need to sit there with the geeky telephone-operator-style headset for me, I can just sit there and jabber away!
Although at £50 it’s not the cheapest webcam on the market, it certainly does feel like it’s worth the money, as it gives the impression that it was made properly and will work forever.
One very nice touch, is that it’s got a really good autofocus feature, like normal digital cameras, meaning that you don’t need to keep adjusting the lens when you change where you sit, nor do you get a general focus-on-everything approach to it.
I did contemplate the Logitech equivalent, which is the Quickcam Fusion Webcam, but I’m really pleased with what I’ve got.
In terms of use so far, I’ve been talking to my mum and sister on it using Skype’s video-chat and it works really well. I’ve also been using Skype to make normal telephone calls through it too, as the microphone is that good and it means that you don’t have to hold a phone to your ear all the time. (And because I wanted to really, as it would have been cheaper to use the free minutes that come with my mobile phone contract.)
Summary: Definitely good fun and a classy toy nonetheless.
Marks out of 5: 
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