CompleteMartialArts.com - Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000
List Price: $99.99
Our Price: $75.99
Your Save: $ 24.00 ( 24% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Logitech
Average Customer Rating:
Binding: Electronics Brand: Logitech Color: Black EAN: 0097855044914 Feature: Box Contents - Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, USB cable (6-feet), QuickCam Software CD including Logitech Video Effects, one-click video e-mail, QuickCapture for photos, Windows Live Messenger, Skype with free full-screen video calling, video-enabled AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, HP Photosmart Essential application for capturing, editing, customizing, and printing images (Web download required) and Quick-start guide Is Autographed: 0 Is Memorabilia: 0 Label: Logitech Manufacturer: Logitech Model: 960-000048 Publisher: Logitech Studio: Logitech Warranty: 2 years warranty
Features
Box Contents - Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, USB cable (6-feet), QuickCam Software CD including Logitech Video Effects, one-click video e-mail, QuickCapture for photos, Windows Live Messenger, Skype with free full-screen video calling, video-enabled AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, HP Photosmart Essential application for capturing, editing, customizing, and printing images (Web download required) and Quick-start guide Conveniently clips to virtually any flat-panel monitor or notebook Logitech Video Effects - Personalize your conversations with hundreds of avatars and face accessories that mirror expressions and motion using Fun Filters to add playful photographic effects such as fisheye, '50s Movie Reel, neonize, and more Universal monitor clip mounts easily on any type of display or notebook computer Carl Zeiss optics
Enjoy image-perfect detail and clarity plus motorized tracking. Ultra-wide field of view and intelligent face tracking keeps you right in the middle of the action. Get more detail and clarity from Logitech's glass lens designed in collaboration with Carl Zeiss, the global leader in camera optics. Your images stay razor sharp, even in closeups. HD video and images have never looked so real at 960 by 720 pixels. A true 2-Megapixel sensor, with up to 8-megapixel photos. RightLight 2 Technology adjusts intelligently to produce the best possible images in dim or poorly backlight settings. Integrated microphone with RightSound Technology lets you enjoy crystal clear conversations, free from annoying background noise. Autofocus system Ultra-high resolution 2-megapixel sensor with RightLight 2 Technology Color depth - 24-bit true color Video capture - Up to 1600 by 1200 pixels (HD quality, Video 960x720 pixels) Frame rate - Up to 30 frames per second Still-image capture - 8-Megapixels with software enhancement Built-in microphone with RightSound Technology System Requirements - Windows XP, Pentium 4 or compatible processor 1.4 GHz, 128 MB RAM, 200 MB free space, 16-bit color display adapter, Windows-compatible sound card and speakers (full-duplex sound card recommended), USB port and CD-ROM drive / Also works with Windows Vista
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Nice, but a bit broken Comment: The webcam works well enough, it does what it's supposed to do, and that is video chat, and it does that very well.
However, most of the extra features regularly break and force me to reinstall the software if I want to use the avatars and amusing graphics. I've yet to figure out how to fix these problems without having to pop in the install disc again.
A nice webcam, but worth $70? I doubt it. Customer Rating: Summary: The Best Webcam Comment: This is the first webcam I have purchased, but from what I have seen from other webcam users online, this seems to be the best video quality available. The Pro 9000 is used by me on Skype and the parties on the other line can't believe the quality of the video coming to them.
It is a great buy for the money! Customer Rating: Summary: Good Optic but Waiting for Software/Driver Upgrade Comment: Pros
Pro 9000 has Carl Zeiss lens. The image quality, if adjusted, is very nice even in poorly-lit room. This is obviously the most important for webcam.
It does everything automatically, but I stop autofocus and adjust the image manually in order to avoid frequent image disturbances by auto-adjustment. I usually adjust only exposure and gain.
It captures technically up to 1600x1200 pixel movie, but actually it depends on your PC's spec. My PC (XP, Pentium-M 1.4GHz, 1G RAM) can capture without any trouble up to 640x480.
Cons
You should be cautious when you Skype using this camera. If both your PC and your chat-partner's PC are powerful enough (at least above my PC's spec), there will be no problem. Otherwise, your Skype and your OS itself may become unstable and unfunctional in a few minutes. In other words, Pro 9000 is NOT perfectlly compatible with Skype and may cause annoying trouble. (I also tried Yahoo Messenger and this camera didn't work well on it.)
It is my understanding that this defect at least partially stems from Logitech's poor driver or software. Plus, there is no shortcut-key in its software, which may disappoint those manually adjust the image. I believe many users are waiting for Logitech's upgrade of the driver and software immediately.
Built-in mic is I think a junk. If you speak near the mic or speak just a little bit loudly, the sound easily cracks. My old cheap mic doesn't have such a problem. So, you need to use your mic or headset separately.
The stand soundly rests on display but not so on table.
Anything else
Video effects are fun just once and you'll never use them again. You need to get rid of the webcam software from startup by yourself. Don't expect "High Definition" video chatting unless you and all your chatting-partners have powerful Core2Duo PC.
The optic itself is great. I recommend the webcam if Logitech would listen to users' voice and improve the driver and software. Customer Rating: Summary: Blows away the rest - best video AND audio Comment: I used to not care much about Logitech - since I'd associated them with the cheaper type of keyboards and a 3 button clumsy mouse that I could not care for. I guess the company has really turned around and is bringing into the market great products at reasonable prices. Now when I see "Logitech" - I'm reasonably confident that I'll find something I like.
I have a wireless Logitech keyboard and mouse (works flawlessly) and a speaker/subwoofer set - that also work rather well.
This webcam though has exceeded expectations when used with Skype and a high power computer. Skype automatically detected that I have a "high quality webcam" and set me up for "high resolution" video. (UPDATE for those of you without dual core CPU's - Skype mentions that you need a dual core CPU - I tried a 3.2 Ghz hyperthreading pentium 4 CPU - worked flawlessly.)
Costs less than what my CS330 Intel webcam did (and which I used all these years - since no other webcam quite gave me the same level of performance - a creative VGA webcam I tried gave me skin color that was dyed pink - awful).
Until now that is -
Whats to like -
1) Great image quality (good color, contrast, brightness). Its basically like a decent quality 2 MP camera. The color is a bit washed out at the default setting, but the saturation levels can easily be adjusted.
2) Has a mic that is extremely high quality and very sensitive. If a sound can be heared at its microphone - it will be transmitted to Skype with full fidelity. We are always being surprised by what the other parties are able to hear - like a baby sucking on the bottle - even though the baby is many feet away.
3) I don't know about "RightLight" but I do have to do manual adjustments to brightness/contrast..
4) Captures video directly into WMV - if you need to. Video quality is quite good actually. Probably better than an SD camcorder.
5) Autofocus seems to work well.
6) I loaded the latest software/driver from Logitech site - clear instructions and everything worked first time around - no issues at all. You do need the software+drivers to make full use of the product.
7) Lens is much wider angle than my earlier webcam. Make a big difference.
8) Echo cancellation is perfect (Apparently Logitech software also has some kind of Echo Cancellation built in).
9) Used with Skype - we've had no problems with high resolution video half way around the world and we don't even notice a lag.
Flaws and negatives -
1)The stand is flimsy. Unit topples over easily if kept on a table. I'll be modding the stand a little bit with a "heavy" weight.
2) If you place the camera alone on the table, the perspective is tilted because the mic end is lower than the camera end. Camera cannot rest horizontally. I'll be sticking some foam to the Mic end of the camera to make it rest horizontally instead of giving grandparents a tilted view of our home. I need to make the camera rest on a table sometimes - because of the stand issue (point 1 above).
3) Loading just the driver (sans software) - there weren't any options for camera adjustments.
4) Logitech webcam software installs itself as a startup. This is un-necessary and I'll now have to "disable" this rotten feature by wading through the registry. Why does software not give me the option of whether it should run anytime the computer is started? One star taken away for this issue!
Inspite of the minor flaws - product exceeded expectations. I'd have bought this earlier if I'd known about it!!
Customer Rating: Summary: Amazing Picture Quality,Great Webcam Comment: Webcams are for two purposes... a visual and audible way to connect with others. For the most part, the audio part is pretty simple because sound does not need much bandwidth to transmit. The part that mot webcams struggle with is the visual aspect. And by far, this is the webcam with the highest video quality I have seen.
It isn't so much the resolution of the camera, which this has down pact with its ability to get up to a high definition quality of video, but the ability to show color well in poor lighting conditions (which is often in an office environment) and focus on its target. It is all three of these abilities that the camera does well and which puts it in a class above everything else.
It isn't just for video conferencing or instant messaging, either. I have it set to record motion so I can see who has visited me while I'm away and it does this job wonderfully! I can also use it to record short little video emails to send to friends and family to add a personal touch when communicating over the Internet. And I'm sure I am barely scratching the surface on what this guy can do.
If you are looking for a webcam, I'd highly suggest this one. Not only does it do everything you need to do but at much lower than a hundred bucks, the price is fantastic to boot.
