Creative Labs WebCam Instant

This is a piece of junk, especially the software. It hung up twice on trying to install the software, and the video portion got hung up so badly I finally had to simply shut down my computer to turn it loose. I sent it back pronto!

This webcam is good for anyone who wants to skype or IM with video. The resolution is okay and the webcam works pretty well even in poor lighting. The only downside to this product is the software that comes with it. I couldn't get the software to run on my computer even when plugged into the USB 2.0 ports at the back. The software looks nifty but is slow.

I can't believe how generous other reviewers have been in assessing this cam's awful performance. The images are sooooooooo blurry and dull - maybe it works better in very bright light but for normal lighting conditions forget it. I have a 5 year old Intel web cam that works a milion times better than this piece of junk. Some friends of mine in the Philippines just bought a cam from A4Tech for about $15 equivalent and that produces a very nice picture so there is no way one can put this cam's abysmal performance down to low price. Please don't waste your time or money with this terrible cam. I would really have liked to have awarded it no stars whatsoever.

worked well but then the one of the clasp broke. so cannot hold on to the screen and hence now useless to me
the clasp joint is very fragile
not a good purchase !!

Ordered the Creative Labs WebCam Instant and paid quickly, but received the wrong item. Shipping was fast, but item was wrong. Girlfriend received the Logitech QuickCam Chat webcam instead and showed poorer quality. Was really unsatisfied, but didn't want to hassle with sending item back. Sorry for responding so late. Will NOT be ordering from again.

I've only had the opportunity to use it once or twice, but the picture was clear, and the lag wasn't bad.

The Webcam,mike and headset are good.the product in combination of these three is really a good one.

The webcam is cheap and best. It works instantly and if one is using the Windows XP or Windows vista the driver CD is also not required (unless one needs to use the software which creative gives).

i have a notebook webcam from creative. i love it because it's so small that it fits on top of the screen and the resolution is very good. but this new product is better in terms of resolution. awesome quality with respect to a webcam. it has got the advantage that it can be used both with desktop and laptop (mine only fits with a laptop). if you have both types of computer, buy this one. creative deserves credit. i paid amazon $25.54 (which included S&H).

I bought this camera to monitor my dog's actions when I'm at work. I don't need the picture quality to be great, as long as I can see what she's doing, so that was not important to me. The best part about this webcam is the software that came with it. It has various modes... the one I was most interested in was the motion detection mode that will send an email to alert you and also broadcast a video over Yahoo Messenger. Only problem with that is I can't use Yahoo Messenger at work, so I set it up instead for the remote monitoring mode which sends still pictures to an FTP site every 10 seconds (or whatever time interval you set it for). For some reason, this triggers some Trojan horse alert in Norton Anitvirus, and when this happens, it stops updating the web image. I haven't figured out what to do about that yet or why it's happening. But it seems to right itself after a couple seconds or a minute.

I do wish, though, that I could do the remote monitoring mode AND the motion detection, that way it would send me an email to alert me to check the ftp site, seeing as I can't use the Yahoo messenger to receive the video. I thought I remembered reading on the "updates" for the new version that the FTP function in the motion detection mode was taken out, which is too bad.

Its a nice cam, you probably wont expect anything more than this for this much money. The quality sometimes depends on the internet speed. Didn't try the photo feature.

All together a very good buy.

This camera works perfectly for windows xp as well as Windows XP x64 and has some nice software included. Also the image quality is great and setup is very simple.

I recently bought this product and I had a hard time installing the software. I could open the webcam center once and then after that it wouldn't open anymore. However, the picture quality is pretty good and only minor delay.

Extremely sturdy. Very well designed. You can turn it and twist it in any desired angle. The quality is great. Does not have the fancy features of the more expensive varieties but I do not need them. The software that comes with this is also fairly good. Highly recommend this especially if you simply want to use a webcam for online chatting.

Got one recently, not used it much. Guess am ok with the quality condiering I am supposed to get my money back in rebates (bought it with my notebook purchase from compusa).

I observed that it does not clamp tight with my IBM T-40 laptop screen.
The Hinged lever on the back does not clamp or grasp proplery it slips off and I have to adjust the base to get the correct view. Not sure if anyone else experienced this or there is something wrong with the lever on mine....?


It's interesting that most folks base the performance of the web cam based on the device alone and discount other important factors like the lighting, bandwidth (connection speed) and the particular chat program in use. I also think that most folks expect too much with the current web cam technology which, in my opinion, have not seen a bleeding edge development and progress over the years.

Creative Webcam Instant does its job well and comes at a reasonable price. With Yahoo, I experienced 2-second delay. With MSN, it was about 1 second. Still good enough for home use. With T1 connection at work, it was almost real-time. Smooth movement and great quality. No jerky movements. Overhead lighting at my office helped, too. Again, for other buyers, this webcam may not have performed so well due to their PC performance, DSL/cable speed, etc. For you, Yahoo may work better than MSN. I have not tried this with other IM apps. I also noticed that this web cam sits (or grabs) better with the laptop and LCD monitor than CRT monitor, but again, some people are more or less tolerant about minor details.

If you have the extra cash, want the built-in microphone, extra imaging software and always want the very best, both Logitech and Creative offer good products. For video monitoring in real time, Labtec seems to offer some solid products. But in the end, you have to ask how well it will perform over the Internet or LAN with your existing PC/network setup. $30 web cam may do just as well as $100 web cam.

If your goal is to see someone you care while chatting, this is a good buy for your money.

I'm sure there are better cameras out there but for $25, this is a bargain. It works well, although it's not too hot in dim lighting. Overall I am very impressed with the low price, image quality, and ease of setup.


The web camera from creative is very easy to install and the tripod design hooks on to my laptop screen very conveniently. This is definitely a worth buy product.

I have been using it for like month now. And it is working great. Online video chat or creating videos, just great.

This product is good and cheap.It is also easy to use.
But u have to wait for long time to get moneyback.
I have not recevied yet.

I found the webcam very good and I like the resolution also.

Webcam that reduces the space between the people that are in miles away.
Perfect cam to keep on laptop/desktop any where.Easily adjustable with flexible stand and with adjustable grip.

the cam was defective so i returned back to Amazon..but i m willing to buy a good one and i will see to it..thanx for everything


I second the first reviewer's opinion. This is a total piece of sh*t. First I had trouble getting it to work on my WinXP desktop. After a couple reboots it finally worked, and the image quality was a total joke, even in the webcam capacity. The video quality was visibly worse than my 5-year-old Logitech webcam which had cost me about the same amount at CompUSA five years ago. In the end I returned this POS and will keep using my Logitech until it dies.

I guess for the price this isn't a bad webcam, but don't expect much. Images are very blurry and if you plan on using this webcam to take pictures as well, don't even bother. The quality is so poor that it is embarassing to share the photos with others. I was expecting more, considering the webcam display on the box is as clear as can be! Spend the extra money and get a good webcam. Don't waste it on this junk.