Update - This item is the BEST product I purchased in 2007! The images seen half way around the world are just astonishing (I posted one such image).. People can read the time on the clock at the opposite end of the wall - such clarity!
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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.
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!!
Get more detail about Logitech Webcam Pro 9000.
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