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Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000 (Blue)
See it at Amazon.com for $26.00Average Customer Rating
(4.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First | + ShareGreat little webcam!
(5 out of 5) by J. Boysen on Jan 6, 2009 (Sacramento, CA -USA)OK - the MS Lifecam VX-5000 is the only webcam I've tried (other than the $2000 Sonys I installed at work). For $35 or so its great. Simply to install - nice quality picture - software is pretty straight forward. Bought each of my adult kids one for Christmas so now we can all video chat - for free! This is way cool - even a baby boomer can do it!
Great quality, great price, more features than I expected!
(4 out of 5) by Modern Blue Argonaut on Jan 1, 2009 (In my spaceship)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.
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.
Works with my mac!
(5 out of 5) by Jason on Dec 30, 2008 (NC, USA)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!)
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!)
Skype video
(5 out of 5) by Big Dave on Dec 25, 2008 (White Plains, NY United States)The Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000 is a great product. Easy to install and easy to use. The flexible stand makes it a breeze to set up on your desktop or on the edge of your laptop. Pictures are adequate and for the money, you can't beat it. Great for Skyping, this product is not meant for high quality photography. If that's what your are looking for, you need to pay bigger bucks.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Good Quality, Great Price, wish it had a built in Microphone
(4 out of 5) by A. Distenfeld on Jun 11, 2009Very good quality and cheap price, but would have liked Microsoft to spend a buck or two more and include a microphone.