Logitech Quickcam Pro 5000 Webcam

Amazon Customer Reviews

(5 out of 5)

Logitech Pro 5000 Webcam

Similar spec to the Logitech Pro 4000 i.e. built in microphone and 1.3 Mega pixel CCD lens (not your inferior CMOS).

But cheaper (how does that work?) normally 49.99 pounds, but buy it from Amazon and cheaper again and free postage.

Easy to set up (Win XP SP2) install s/w first then plug in hardware.

The microphone (with echo cancelation - right sound technology) works great, so no more need for the headset and external microphone. Does however come with external headset, but have had no need to use it (perhaps only in you want a private conversation)

Excellent in low light (Right light Technology) and it has the ability to track your face/head and zoom in - if selected.

Then it has the advantage of syncing your face, lips, eyes to animation characters, known as avatars, great fun for the kids (and adults). One slight warning - it can not use this function to calibrate in poor / bad lighting conditions. Would ony work if the room was naturally lighted i.e. daylight.

Also nice mount to work either on flat surface or bend round LCD flat panel screen

Overall, excellent clear pictures and good microphone response without the annoying echo problem associated when using speakers.

Works with Skype (using external video plugin - spontania www.video4im.com and its free)

Overall excellent.

(5 out of 5)

Solid piece of kit, delivers on its promises

Superb webcam from Logitech again. Its definetly worth spending £30-£40 on an item like this.

Installation was faultless on Windows XP SP2. Make sure you install the drivers before plugging in the camera. I didn't bother installing the additional Logitech software, so can't say much about it.

All I can say is that I've tried the QuickCam Pro 5000 with Skype, and it works seamlessly. People who I've communicated with report great clarity of picture, good refresh rates (2Mb ADSL broadband), and superb sound quality. Face tracking works well, although sometimes a little delay (not problematic).

The sound quality alone is worth the price of the camera. I've not had the need to use a headset at all. No echos on either end of the line.

Hassle-free, superb buy.

(3 out of 5)

Buyer Beware!!

I bought two of these one for myself and one for girlfriend.
They work fine on her now aging HP desktop and my Sony Viao.
However when I bought her a new Dell laptop, got blue screen every time you plug it in.
Have checked out the Dell site and it appears that the audio software on new Dells is not compatible with Logitech cameras.
Also appears that neither company want to do anything about it as seems from the chat rooms that it's been going on for months.
So beware: IF YOU OWN A DELL CHECK TO SEE IF THE INCOMPATIBILTY ISSUE HAS BEEN FIXED.
Apparently Creative Labs cameras are OK, so am off to purchase one of them as replacement.

(4 out of 5)

Good camera

Having read the reviews for this webcam, I see Windows XP and Dell compatibility problems appear to be issues for some people. When I installed this camera on a Dell Inspiron 5100 laptop with XP Home, it was unusable due to blue screen crashes. However, this is now easily resolved. The camera shipped with Quickcam 9.5 software (Late August 2006), but version 10 is available for download from the logitech website (79mb). Version 10 has worked with the Quickcam Pro 5000 without crashing on Dell Inspiron 5100 and 9400 laptops and Windows XP Home and Professional.

I personally don't use the Logitech software but it is installed. I use the webcam frequently with Skype 2.5 and have tried MSN/Windows Live Messenger and Logitech VideoCall. Skype is far superior due to better video and audio quality and picture resizing ability.

As for the camera, the video quality, automatic light adjustment and colouring are very good. I'm not overawed by the face tracking and so switch it off - it simply uses a digital zoom and pan to frame your face (no physical movement of the camera). It has a fixed rather than adjustable focus but I am usually a relatively normal and constant distance from the camera so isn't an issue for me.

The built-in microphone is pretty good, it took me a while to get the laptop speaker volume/microphone sensitivity right for both parties such that I couldn't hear my own voice. The headset is fine but I don't find it necessary. The stand works well enough on a laptop monitor and can be flattened if you want to sit it on a flat surface. It sits rather than grips a laptop/flat panel screen.

As for the competition, the Logitech Quickcam Communicate STX seems to be more keenly priced and, according to the Logitech website, only differs by not having a digital zoom. Some other cheaper cameras that have lower quality CMOS sensors rather than the CCD sensors found in the Communicate STX and Pro 5000. There are webcams appearing with higher resolutions with a corresponding price tag. Keep an eye out for the specifications, many aren't true 1.3MP cameras (Creative Live! Cam Voice and Microsoft VX6000 are). Whether or not these offer an improvement in video calls over the internet is for another review.

(4 out of 5)

Great! Strange contrast however.

I have just bought this and got it up and running so can't give too many details - thought I'd write the review before I forget.

This camera is fantastic! I have already used it on Skype and MSN Messenger and it worked automatically straight away without a hitch (one thing to note is that MSN automatically mirrors the image - you can change the settings for this - just thought I'd save other people the 5 seconds of confusion I had!).

The picture is worryingly clear - I'll have to look alive when speaking to people now. The colours are vivid, unlike the green tinges I have experience using other people's webcams.

The only reason for not being 5-star is when one of my friends had a go using it, it showed his face on the screen being the colour white (as in not flesh coloured) which is not helpful. Now we put this down to there being lots of daylight in the room and him wearing a very dark coloured jumper. It seems to be something to do with the automatic colour settings.

However, the fact that it has so many automatic features such as face-tracking (where it automatically follows your face around and zooms in and out according to how far from the camera you are) and the colour alteration is frankly a relief, sorting out the colours etc could have been tricky. But for those people who don't like automatic 'things' you can (as far I can tell) override pretty much everything manually.

The frame rate is definately sufficient for webcam purposes i.e. it has lag but not slow enough to be really irritating. And for the price it is amazing value.

I haven't managed to experiment with the avatars yet - it errors when I try and suggests reboot, not entirely sure this will be successful though given what is written in other reviews.

Also in terms of practicality the webcam stand looks deceiving on the photos: Yes it does look like it will only fit a flat screen but infact it is made out of bendy rubber-stuff with what feels like some metal contraption inside. This means you can easily bend it flat to sit on top of a CRT. Additionally the webcam connects to the stand by a kind of ball-and-socket so it is easy to adjust which direction the lens points (horizontally and vertically).

All in all a very good camera and I will be recommending it to my friends.