Customer Rating:  
Summary: Inexpensive Cute Camera - Well worth it!
Comment: Microsoft's LifeCam VX-5000 is very small, the camera also has a colored ring that goes all the around the face. This ring comes in red, blue and green. The camera which I got has a blue ring. A blue LED is placed in the upper left hand corner of the face that turns on when the camera is in use. It is good to see that this LED is very dim. Having a Bright Blue LED flashing at you can be very annoying.
Video is recording done with the following resolutions, frame rates and bitrates in WMV video with 160kbps WMA audio.
640x480 15 fps 1900 kbps
320x240 30 fps 900 kbps
160x120 30 fps 675 kbps
Images are taken at 1280x960, 640x480, 320x240 and 160x120 in jpeg format. Audio is recorded in WMA at 48 kbps, mono
PROS:
[+] Very Small and Inexpensive camera
[+] Decent Audio and Video Quality
[+] Flexible Base which adapts to almost all places for placement of the camera
[+] The glossy black plastic looks great, feels great and looks well built.
[+] Low video and image noise with comparable USB webcams
[+] USB powered, No Need for additional power supply needs.
[+] Nice array of video overlays and effects that can be added for fun.
CONS:
[-] 640x480 video only runs at 15fps that can cause jitters on the video
[-] The software is very basic and does not have additional customizations.
[-] 1.3 megapixel (1280x960) JPEG capture is not that good as it does heavy compression.
[-] The Button on the camera works only when Windows Live Messenger software is installed.
The Webcam is recognized by Windows XP Professional (SP3) without any need for additional drivers and most applications (like Paint) could easily import the pictures as a USB video Device, But for Windows Vista (32Bit) it seems that even though it got recognized and drivers loaded it still needed the software CD to make it useable for most of the applications.
Bottom-line is that it is an inexpensive well designed Webcam which will surely serve it's purpose very well without much of a fuss. The Software is easy to use. This is a keeper, Money well spent.
Customer Rating:
Summary: do NOT buy this webcam
Comment: I bought two of these webcams - one for my parents and one for me. When I tried to install the software on my parents' computer, the installation would not complete. I went to the Microsoft Support web site, it was apparent that many people have this problem. There were five or six possible solutions listed. During the process of trying them all and not having any success, I tried to call the Microsoft support phone number. They told me they could not help me because there was no warranty on the product. A brand new webcam with known software problems and they refused to help me.
I finally got the webcam to work on my parents' computer. I spent hours installing it. Now I'm trying to install the software on my computer trying all the same suggestions from the MS web site and still no luck. I have spent even more hours on my computer.
Don't buy this webcam. It will only frustrate you and make you hate Microsoft.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great quality, great price, more features than I expected!
Comment: My children spent a few hours tonight playing on the web cam. They especially loved the silly special effects. For example, you can distort your face by making your mouth and teeth really big, or add bunny ears and a nose to your face, or wear sunglasses. There are several dozen special effects included. The cartoon special effects will follow your face, so if you move they'll move with you.
The sound quality was pretty good, we even used the webcam to record the kids playing the guitar and keyboard. The video was also clear and adjusted to the various lighting conditions we tried and even in very low light the camera did a great job.
At this price, Microsoft has made it affordable to buy a few of these for distant family members such as grandparents and cousins. It's a lot more fun than talking on the phone! This webcam also can record voice only, video and voice, or take still pictures with the included software.
My only complaint is that I wish the webcam had included a travel bag, as many of the other webcams have.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Works with my mac!
Comment: One question I have seen asked here over and over, is will this work on a mac? I took a chance, got it, and... it does!
I installed "Macam" which is an open source set of drivers that allows usb webcams to work on your mac.
I have used this webcam with photobooth, iChat, and Skype.
The webcam performs beautifully, and I notice no slow down.
The video quality is very nice, the only con I can think of for this webcam is the fact that it does not output in widescreen format.
But, this is a webcam, so I can more than live with that.
To sum it up.
On a mac, this webcam works (Mac Pro Using Leopard 10.5.6 (it did not work on 10.5.5) I installed the macam drivers (do not need to use the application), and everything is fine (you may not need to install the drivers). I note that I use leopard, because it might not work on tiger or lower. It did not work on 10.5.5 but did on 10.5.6.
Video quality is great. I notice no drops, and the quality is impressive. Looks a lot better than some other webcams I have used in the past (many which cost more than twice the price of this one).
Works well in low light or plenty of light.
Works in iChat, Photobooth and Skype with no problems. It is automatically detected, and "just works"
It is very flexible, and "shocker" looks very good! If I sit this next to my speaker, it does not look out of place, on top of my monitor, still looks good. I love this little webcam!
PS, one more thing I should mention, the audio quality is fantastic! I'm really impressed. In all honesty, i thought the webcam would either not work, look horrible, have poor image quality, would not be compatible with most applications, and the sound would be bad. The complete opposite is true. It looks amazing, the image quality is great, works with every piece of software I own, and the sound is crystal clear. It picks up from a good ways off. And I could not be happier with this product.
If you are on the fence, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. With the pros that I mentioned, and the asking price, you just cannot go wrong.
(PPS, I did not install any of the software that came with the webcam, just plugged it in, updated to the latest version of leopard, and tada!)
Customer Rating:
Summary: LifeCam VX-5000 - Great little camera
Comment: Overall, we are very happy with our new VX-5000 and would highly recommend it.
PROS
- Very light
- Very compact
- Friends we've used the camera with report a great video signal
- The built-in microphone is very handy
CONS
- Would have liked a travel pouch
- Base is not as flexible as envisioned, but it's definitely adequate.
OTHER
- This does NOT work with the PS3. I wasn't expecting it too, but in case anyone is curious.
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