Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 (68A-00001)

This webcam is great, just bought it and am excited!
- SHOCKING quality / resolution - picture is crystal clear
- Fits all kinds of monitors
- Funky video effects from inside Messenger - very cool

They could produce it in nicer colors like white, blue or green...

Denitely recommend it!

The new VX-3000 is one of the best webcams I've used. I considered the $99 VX-6000, too, but decided it was too expensive for my needs. The best thing with the VX-3000, compared to Logitech and Creative models, is it does *not* install tons of hidden drivers, hidden DLLs, and hidden spyware; the Logitech and Creative installation utilities place tons of hidden stuff on your hard drive. The VX-3000's was a very clean installation.

I use Windows Live Messenger (aka MSN Messenger 9.0) so I get seamless integration, although I've seen people use it painlessly with Skype. It has the best webcam image quality I've seen. Windows Live Messenger has been rated by various PC magazines to be the best video chat client software, and I always had good results with Creative and Logitech cameras in the past (using MSN Messenger, which has been rebranded as Windows Live Messenger, or WLM). The VX-3000 bests them all in terms of ease of use and video quality. The built-in mic is also lightyears ahead of the yesteryear models.

In short, this is a great webcam that won't disappoint you (unless you are a fanatical anti-American or anti-Microsoftie.)

I've tinkered with all of the "Dashboard" settings in various combinations, & I find that while the video properties aren't completely absent, they are sparse & spartan. I discovered that its "live video" option looks a whole lot like the "1.3 megapixel, interpolated" setting (ie. "digital guesswork") to the point of being undiscernable. Each looks equally grainy, even in normal daylight. And unfortunately, no amount of photo software enhancement will ever clear up & edit out the grainy, pixellated, digital mess it makes of the still shots in the .jpg images it grabs. Sharpening the grainy pictures mine takes tends to sharpen the pixellation vs. clarifying & refining the overall image. I'm embarrassed to email these pics out to friends. Also, there are a number of frequently used lighting settings that could be added that are not present in the driver software, such as settings for incandescent & flourescent lighting. Logitech included a home security recorded motion detection aspect to its software for the Quick Cam Pro 3000 which was handy & useful. I'd rather they scrap the pointless kiddie stuff in the software - the Dashboard is dominated by cartooned plants & candy & bugs, ect. while useful features are buried in a pull down menu - & include some practical software with this camera that serves a real purpose.

Some features the MS LifeCam has in common with my old Logitech Quick Cam Pro 3000 it replaces are... It falls over just as easily on it's stand due to the weight of it's own cord - & the way the cord out of the back raises the center of gravity too high causes it to constantly get jerked around way too much for its own good - just like the Logitech did. On that point, it's just like old times. Except that I can't unscrew the base & attach it to my tripod to get away from this chronic design problem, like I could with the Logitech Pro. I don't plant a web cam in front of my face & leave it there indefinitely. I like to move the camera around at times & set it near my pet, or capture the view from the window. I don't have the type of monitor I can snap a camera onto, it would set on top at an unsafe angle. The weight of the cord wants to tug it off of anything I set it on. So I hot glued the base to a heavy marble coaster at the lowest setting so as not to damage the base - dramatically increasing it's stability & ease of adjustment. Whatever you do - do not try to take out the screw that attaches the camera to its base to see if it is capable of reattachment to anything else - this camera is not made for attachment to professional tripods or any other device, & once that little screw lets loose - tiny, delicate parts will fall apart at you that go back together in a way that is a real adventure to reassemble.

One extremely irritating aspect of the MS LifeCam is how easy it is to hit that click button on the top of the camera - during repositioning, focusing, & when its own cord unbalances it yet one more time, pulls it over, & I have to pick the cam back up again. Instead of the button taking an instant picture, as did the Logitech if its camera software was open - LifeCam starts up "Windows Live Messenger" - & there seems no way to disable it from launching this program, or reassigning the button to a different task. The solution was uninstalling it, which I did in less than 24 hours. It's an annoying program with gaudy buttons, flashing graphics, & tons of paid features plastered all over it to bait sales. So far as I can determine, Windows Live Messenger does nothing Skype & other Windows messenger programs can't do much more practically & peacefully with a more streamlined, non-sales oriented, less trashy appearance. Now whenever the top button is accidentally hit, it displays an offer to reinstall the WLM junkware - vs. automatically loading it to the screen. I wish there were a way to disable the button altogether.

Some features I do like about this camera are... The automatic light adjustment. As the light brightens or dims in a room (ie. time of day changes, turning on an overhead light) - the camera automatically does the opposite video to compensate & maintain more even lighting. Also, the video flicker some older cameras had to manage is absent in the LifeCam. The manual focus ring is a real plus. Because after you get frustrated with the randomly chaotic tracking feature & finally give in & shut it off, you'll need to use it if you want to reset your focus. Some aspects of the camera don't work very well, such as the automatic face tracking feature...which keeps tracking off with movement & zooming out & then back in on irrelevant, at times embarrassing points. The best thing about the auto tracking is that it can be turned off. After which the manual focus feature then becomes indispensable if you're going to relocate your cam. To it's credit, the audio is actually decent in the .wma audio files the MS LifeCam 3000 generates. The Logitech Pro 3000 was always tinny, loud, & distorted in chats except at the lowest settings. Decent audio is certainly worth something.

And, it does have a very classy silver & black with chrome design. As far as looks go, it looks professional, even if it doesn't operate as such. It fits right in with the rest of my hardware & other electronic equipment, & would look nice in any office or professional environment. There are plenty enough gaudily colored plastic cams out there that look just like the junk they really are - & this is not one of them. I'll leave the gaudy looking cams to kids to marvel over.

One peculiarity unique to the LifeCam 3000 is that odd bright electric green pixel that constantly appears in the upper right quadrant of the video screen that turns up in all the live streaming or recorded video & still shots...that never goes away on any setting, nor with any camera positioning/lighting, & cannot be cleaned off the lense or altered in the environment. It's about the color of the LED light on the front of the camera, but I don't think that's the source, there is nothing in the environment reflecting it back into the lense no matter where it sets.

There is a MS Life Cam VX-6000 model of this same camera coming out soon for twice the price of the 3000 - & one would hope paying twice the price will get the end user a better quality web camera from the manufacturer. I paid $50 retail for mine. Don't pay that price... At the risk of sounding "un-American" as someone said (what? did I put down the war somewhere...??) - it's just not $50 worth of technology.


PS --- Oh yes, & I also would mention "the LAG" in the camera's recorded a/v input...!! :) And the very jumpy, disjointed, rough start each & every .wma video begins with which shows up on playback. Setting the picture resolution below 640x480 before recording helps to make this effect, & the grainy image, less pronounced.

needed a simple webcam to communicate with extended family. It installed easy enough, but our extended family was not using windows and that took some time to figure out. Worked fine till we shutdown our computer, never worked again. When we started the computer it no longer recognized the webcam. Tried to repair and got the "unknown error" message. Tried uninstalling and reinstalling but that was a "no-go". Couldn't find the driver at the Microsoft website which worried me since Microsoft is printed all over the box. We are taking it back tomorrow, and might give the 6000 a try.

I bought this as a full-VGA upgrade to my old QIF IBM Webcam. I also needed to fix some annoying feedback problems with the Labtec microphone on Windows Live Messenger, and judging from the reviews the LifeCam should help. The feedback problem was fixed with one of my Messenger contacts, but it wasn't fully eliminated with another contact.
I always hit the Windows Live Call button on top of the webcam by accident while repositioning the webcam, but I haven't figured out how to disable or remap it to something benign. The video quality is very nice, and I'm impressed with how well it handles low light, especially when the low light mode is selected. It integrates well with Windows Live Messenger, and that's all I use it for.
It has met my expectations, and I would have given it 5 stars if given the ability to remap or disable the Windows Live Call button.

I live in the West, family lives out East. I bought three of these and had them all working within an hour at different homes. My other family members are not so computer savvy yet were able to do the installation without my help. Once installed, and hooked into Windows Live Messenger, the video calling is very clear and the sound is good. I'm not expecting perfect for the price, but this is well worth it. I now get to virtually visit the family weekly. Recommended for a cheap and easy solution to see distant friends and family.

It is an excellent web cam . Video is clear and sharp, and software installation is painless easy. Sound quality is excellent. I have no problem install it on my windows xp professional and media center version machine. The reason I purchased this web cams is that Logitech web cams does not work on my media center xp machine. Vx-3000 can easily integrate with Skype. I am so happy this product.

Here is a lesson, don't buy anything(especially MS stuff) without checking the review on Amazon.

I was feeling lucky and bought the LiveCam VX-3000 from a retail store, but it is going back tomorrow. The problem is the driver software shipped with package does not work at all. I have Windows Media Center 2005 update 2, everything up to date.

Does not work if I install through the setup or manually tring to upgrade the driver through Device Manager(couldn't find the driver from the CD in the pacakge). Everytime you plug in your webcam, windows does not recognize it. The LifeCam software successfully installed but won't work, because simply it cannot find the webcam although it is pluged-in and the USB port is just fine with other devices.

The worst part is that, you cannot even find the driver software from microsoft web site. Looks very very fishy.

My conclusion, the driver somehow will not work for certain people's XP. Saw another reviewer's comment here(I feel you, buddy!) and several others in circuitcit* reivew as well, so I am not alone. Maybe there is conflict in system, maybe there is mispackaging with wrong software version. And maybe you are the lucky one as well, so don't buy it.

Okay i didn't talk to their support, because i don't want to waste my time. It is over. The buying experience of this product is just BAD, even if there is workaround now or future, I won't recommend it.

I cannot believe for a big company like MS will sell such a product, even if this maybe just some random packaging mistake. Bill, learn it from Intel, you have to play the pink slip game to make sure your people are awake during work.

Bought this for Windows XP. Works Great. My computer is actually a bit out of date (533 mhz!), doesn't seem to be a problem though. Sound is great. Brightness/contrast excellent. Video slightly choppy (probably cos my computer is ancient) Otherwise, It's a great product. Does the job!

I want my four hours back.

Driver shipped with unit doesn't match device. Device is detected but windows device manager doesn't think the driver files that came with it have anything to do with the camera. Maybe they changed their rom ID without updating the driver? Dunno, and neither does MS apparently.

It takes a half hour to get through to MS, (didn't know they were routing their calls to India now, dont get me wrong, I love Indians but the phone reception wasn't good at all and some of them were a little hard to understand.) They get nowhere in an hour long call and tell me they will research it and call me back,,, they don't. When I call them back finally they put me on hold again and go to 'research.' They come back on the line 20 minutes later and tell me that their 'specialist' will call me back in 2 days.

No thanks guys, why dont you try testing your products before you ship them. This thing shipped with driver version 1.0 and it was almost a year old, no updates available on the website. They are launching a brand new product with a driver that is a year old?

So let me just some up:

Video Quality - Five Stars! or so I have heard
Sound Quailty - Four Stars! supposedly
Frustration Factor - Eleventy billion

I guess maybe that annoying, smug kid in the Mac commercials has a point.

I guess I should have known better than to buy a microsoft product. They didn't even bother to write drivers for Win2k. God knows I wouldn't expect it to work with my Mac, but their own operating system? Now I'm stuck with a camera I can't use.

Video is clear, audio is okay, but did I mention the lag? The video lags the audio. The lag while talking is worse than a cheap 1960's foreign flick with english voice overs. Did I mention the lag? If you are trying to impress someone, this unit will do the opposite due to the video lag. Did I mention the lag? I double checked my hardware requirments, and my hardware far exceeded the hardware requirments for the unit. Did I mention the lag? I guess if you are not trying to match video up with audio; then, the lag will not matter. Did I mention the lag? How on earth could the other reviews not mention the lag. Did I mention the lag? If there is a chance for lag between video and audio, why is there not an adjustment to sync them up? Did I mention the lag? I am returning this thing and just use my camcorder--for now.

I have 2 of these vx-3000's. When I talk to my wife on them it seems that sometimes one will not have picture or sound. Its not always the same one. I can't figure it out. When they are working right they are great, but that's not often enough. I still give them thumbs up for their picture quality and face tracking. I am sure it is a software issue, I just haven't had a chance to solve it yet. I'd give it a 5 if it had sound and pic on both every time.

This is my first experience with a webcam on my Compaq Pentium 4 Laptop.
Setup was pretty easy and it works great when you consider it only cost $35. For the money this is really great.
Movements are a little jerky but when you just sit there and talk it works fine.
I would recommend it to anybody looking to get started before you spend 3-4 times more.

I purchased the Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 primarily to make video calls through Windows Live Messenger. I wanted grandma who lives in Pennslvania to be able to see and talk to the great grandkids in New Jersey. I was pleasantly surprised how well it worked. Voice and video quality was fine using a DSL internet connection.

I like this cam. Has excellent video quality even in low light situations. I downloaded and installed a software upgrede for this, and it seems to work just fine. I haven't tested the mic, since I use my own.

Microsoft shipped this product with inadequately tested software. I have bought a few. The software is improving, but it still requires a large download of a software update pack to get it current. Figure on a 20-30 installation and update process, which doesn't include your Video Messaging software (Windows Live Messenger expected by Microsoft).

The low price was the main driver behind my decision to purchase this product. However, once I got it installed I was less than impressed with the "crystal clear" audio that the box claimed the camera had. The sound was muddled and the volume control had to be cranked up to the maximum in order for it to pick up my voice.

Also, any attempt to optimize the settings really dragged down performance. Audio and video quickly became out of synch. I thought I was watching an old Godzilla movie.

So why the two stars in my rating? Cute snowflakes and other graphics to animate the video. However, that didn't cut it and I returned this in exchange for a Logitech product which has been fantastic. Spend another $15 and you can find something better.

Just purchased and configured the cam. Configuration was more laborious that it should be but it worked.
The camera is fine but the microphone picks up a distinct and annoying hum when the camera is active. I am returning this item and do not recommend purchasing it if you plan to use the microphone and camera at the same time.
This defect is written up in usenet and elsewhere - so I suspect another camera of this model would have the same problem. The video circuitry must be generating interference to the audio circuitry.

My brother-in-law got one of these for Christmas because a family member ordered one but uses a Mac and it doesn't work with Macintosh.

After seeing him and his kids through AIM, we decided to order one and found it on Amazon.com.

it came in the mail after about a week using the Super Saver shipping. I took it out of the box, installed the software (you have to do this first) and then the camera. It sits fine up on top of the monitor.

All in all it took maybe 10 minutes to get it set up. Then I called my brother-in-law and we were using the cameras with Windows Messenger in short order. The video and audio quality is very good. The only annoying thing is that we can hear our voices coming back through his end. He doesn't have that from our end, so we should have that figured out pretty quick. If it weren't for that, I'd give it 5 stars right away.

Today my wife was talking with her sister and I think she's going to order one of these little gems. I'd recommend it.

Been using this with Yahoo Messenger and it works pretty well. I haven't figured out how to use face-tracking with Yahoo, though. Picture quality is a LOT better than some cheap webcams that you can buy -- so spend a couple more bucks, it's worth it. My only REAL problem is it wouldn't work with Windows 2000. (What do you expect? It's a Microsoft product) I still have a decent desktop with W2k so it's a bummer.

Product works as described. The one issue is the darn button on the top in order to launch a Microsoft Messenger Live session. I use Yahoo Messenger, and the button is easy to hit and always asks me to install Microsoft Messenger. Other than that one annoying feature and placement of the button, it works well. Easy to install.

At one of the online stores through Amazon. I payed less than thirty dollars, including shipping, and it is way more than worth that.

First - The Video and picture quality is amazing for such an inexpensive webcam. This is my first one, and so far it's been awesome. The video is incredibly smooth, (gets the advertised 30 FPS) and is almost lagless when there's no audio being recorded with it, which could be fixed if it were designed to be used with a firewire port, but I wouldn't think so highly of MS haha... The pictures at 1.3 Mp interpolated are mediocre, so just taking them at 640x480 is definately the best, since I wouldn't expect anyone to expect that this could be used for very high quality pictures, even at the retail price. When I'm video chatting (I have a seperate mic, which I highly recommend) I get a pretty smooth 20FPS through Windows Live Messenger over a 3mbps cable internet connection, which is expected since the D/U speeds are 3Mbps/512Kbps. Over all, this is what I expected with this cam and it actually exceeds what I expected, with it being from MS. You can fix most of the grainyness if you actually make an effort to adjust the settings correctly. Why would anyone expect a piece of hardware to work perfectly without adjusting its settings and stuff?

Second - The sound quality sucks. I don't even bother using the USB mic in the cam because obviously USB ports do not have enough bandwidth to support a decent quality video feed with an additional sound feed. I've disabled the USB audio portion of this device and it's dandy.

Third - The software that comes with this device is good. I guess I'm lucky or something and got the right version of the software packaged in with the product, even though you really should not EVER have to worry about getting the right software for a device in a retail package. The software is very clean, and is not clunky and slow like the Logitech software I have seen. They definately did a good thing with the software portion of this device. The video effects are pretty retarded and are not really worth using but could definately provide some entertainment and laughs once in a while :P People that are complaining, look harder for the driver. You can find it here: http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/digitalcommunication/downloads/default.mspx, if you havn't already taken the cam back.

Over all - This cam is a good investment. I'll upgrade to a better one in the future, but this one will do fine for quite a while.

System specs:

Pentium 4 3.2 w/HT
1 Gb PC3200 DDR400 OC'ed to 422Mhz
ATi Radeon X700 Pro 256 Mb GDDR3

Good camera. Easy setup and it works well with Skype. Little pricey though.

I haven't used many webcams - I'm sure there are a lot better ones, but I just wanted an inexpensive one that I could talk to friends and family with. This one is easy to setup and use with existing IM programs like Yahoo Messenger. Decent picture, not a lot of picture quality adjustment settings available. Has a feature to auto zoom and pan to a face. Decent built in mic. My frame rate was poor, like 1 fps, but I imagine that is due to my connection speed, since upload speeds are usually a lot slower than download. All in all, no complaints, good decent webcam for basic use.

I was willing to pay extra bucks thinking Microsoft make better product but after 2 months of use, still I was disappointed mostly because of their voice software that triggers each time you touch the top button witch can be easyly done by accident. And there is no way to disactivated it. Finally I sold it on Ebay and bougth a less expensive Creative Live Cam Notebook Pro that works 10 times better. Lesson learn: "Big names don't always make better products but usually cost good dollars."

I paid a lot less for this from Amazon than in any of the stores I had checked out. Received it quickly and it was so easy to install and use that I could not believe it. Amazon came through as it does time after time!

Haven't used it a lot yet, but when I have used it, very clear picture. Very easy to install, plug and play worked fine. Was up and running in less than 10 min. Mic works well also. Only reason I couldn't give it 5 stars was that it wasn't auto-focus. Other than that, great web cam for the few bucks you will spend.

The camera itself performs as well as I expected with both my older USB1.0 and USB2.0 computers. The resolution and clarity work out very well and the settings for the camera make it simple to adjust for te room/office environments.

I have used the camera now for several 3 hour "video" conferences from my home office and it does the trick.

Likes:
Footstand. Unline the other USB camera's I have used in the past this footstand has the option of "clipping" on my LCD monitor as well as being able to hold multiple positions in a solid "grip"
Tools: I love the ability to have the camera "track" my face as I move through the presentation, it allows me to look like I have a much more expensive camera.

Dislikes:
Software: The bundled software is out dates and means you have at least a 100 meg download from the internet when you open the product up and working.
Software: The templates are fun but quickly you are limited to the pacjage of the camera addons. The free templates that came with mine ended up linking to a website that never allowed me to download additional templates.

Buying Power: I just bought 4 for my family so we could all "see" eachother over the country.

I bought this webcam for both audio and video functionality. What I like about this webcam is:
1. Good picture quality (you can set low light mode from software settings if you want to use this webcam in average room light).
2. Tracks your face (This is not very well built feature though and can create some issues in video)
3. Good quality audio with room & speaker noise cancellation.
4. Good price point.

What I didn't like:
1. This is not a plug and play camera (as one of the other reviewer claimed it is). I like plug and play cameras because I can use them between different computers without loading 50MB software in each one.

Over all if I had to I will buy it again - its worth every cent.

All over this camera gives a good quality of the image. However the software freezes the computer and you have to shut it down to make it work again. I had to eventually remove the livecam software from my computer. The camera also prompts you to install messenger but does not work properly in it. I am using this camera for Skype, it seems to be fine so far.

Its an excellent webcam i ever had, it has really very good features and the clarity of the cam is excellent like the divx movies...i would suggest you to take this cam, its not gonna disappoint you, worth for the price

Microsoft did a great job with this webcam. Video quality is great and it works well in low lighting. My favorite thing of all is that the webcams design allows it to basically sit on any type of LCD monitor imagineable. I just switched from a 20" to a 22" and it fits no problem. Love it.

Like several reviewers below, I experienced defective audio from the built-in microphone. There was a loud hum that drowned out anything I said. Microsoft tech support couldn't assist. I would rather have used their product, but I returned it and bought a Logitech camera. Worked fine.

not too expensive, but has a great picture for my purposes (talking with friends and family). easy to use. i'm happy with the purchase.

Does everything I want it to. Make sure you have a good broadband connection if you want to use the webcam for video chat.

Also, the item was shipped to me in less than 24 hours.

Received the Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000, installed the software, and had a web conference going in a matter of minutes. Very straightforward and easy to install and use.

I purchased two of these. One works great and the other had sound problems.

RECEIVED THIS ITEM WAY BEFORE MY BROTHER WHO ORDERED IT AT A LOCAL STORE, CAME IN 3 DAYS BY UPS, THANK YOU, AND YES I WILL USE YOU AGAIN.

If you purchased this camera under $20, It is pretty good.
If it employed CCD not but CMOS,
I can completely recommend it.

No problems with install or chatting with family/friends long distances! The best money I have spent and I get to see family as well. Just ordered the in laws one so we can chat with them. The best communication without being in person! Highly recommended.

I am returning this webcam to Amazon since the image is horrible. I used all the features available but the image did not get better. Other than that the microphone and the software work just fine.
In order to ensure that the problem was not my computer I bought a Logitech today and the image was excelent! Do not buy this one, buy one of the logitech webcams. Mine is a Logitech QuickCamCommunicate STX and I am very happy with it...

I think the Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 is the best pc camera out there. It's been fun using it. Simple installation (plug and play) So easy "even a cave man could do it"

This webcam has great features on it, but the quality isn't always the greatest. Sometimes it will start to make the picture fuzzy and I would have to restart it. Besides that, everything else works great.

Good product. came nicely packed. have been using since couple of months. working good . rugged in use. have dropped couple of times .. survived

My high-end Logitech Fusion webcam never worked properly on a consistent basis with my system. Logitech support wasn't able to help so I finally gave up and decided to try the LifeCam VX-3000.

The LifeCam VX-3000 is my 5th webcam since the late 90's. So far, it's the best I've ever used. My main purpose for the webcam was to communicate with my family in another state, in both video and audio. I have to say, mission accomplished.

The size of the VX-3000 is more dimunitive in size than I expected. I included a photo so people get an idea. It looks a lot bigger in the photos than it really is. It also fits a lot snugger on my Dell 19 inch LCD monitor than did the Logitech. Because of the base design, I can put it flat on the desk or hook it on top of the monitor.

The main review I read from PC Magazine states that the mic did a poor job so I was a concerned as the audio is almost as important to me as the video. The fear was unfounded as I tested it with my family for over an hour and they could hear me just fine with only a slight echo when I placed it too close to my speakers.

The video resolution is 640x480, more than enough for my needs. The VX-6000 has higher resolution, but is also more than twice as expensive. I was very satisifed with the video and the low light support was excellent and worked better than the Logitech Fusion.

The Live Call button on top of the camera is actually a nuisance when trying to adjust the angle of the camera. I don't see myself ever using it and only works with Windows Live Messenger anyways. The cam itself swivels vertically and horizontally. The vertical swivel is actually quite stiff so you need to hold the cam with both hands to adjust. I guess it's a good thing so that the cam doesn't get out of position easily. The cord is also a decent length so if you want to pick the camera up and move it around, it gives you some freedom to do so.

The only thing lacking that I would have wanted is a sliding lens cover, both to protect the lens and for privacy. I went back and forth on wanting the VX-3000 and the VX-6000. The comparison table shows that the VX-6000's only benefits are 3x digital zoom, high-speed USB and a wide angle lens. I know that the video resolution is also higher. For me, I didn't need the digital zoom. Also, I didn't know that there was a difference in USB. I thought all USB 2.0 was "high-speed." The instructions on the webcam recommend connecting to USB 2.0 so what exactly is "high-speed?" The wide angle lens would've been great, but not worth the extra cost. Certainly, the two most compelling reasons to get the VX-6000 is the wide angle lens and the higher video resolution. Based on my needs, the better value was the VX-3000.

The version of the drivers that came on CD-ROM with the cam was 1.1 but I downloaded 1.3 from Microsoft's website. I have to say that after some weeks of using Windows Live Messenger, it has a habit of getting disconnected quite often. My family has observed this as well. Until Microsoft remedies this, I may have to switch over to Google Talk with a video plug-in but the webcam itself, is exactly what I wanted.


Even Microsoft will not make its own hardware where it will work with Windows Vista. Notice in the specs, it's missing from the list of OS's.

Video quality is good. Works well with instant messaging. I like the zoom pan and face tracking features at my fingertips(mouse). Very easy setup.

Only complaint is the main screen is large and cant view the whole window. Cant seem to make smaller. I can drag it but it returns to the original position as soon as I unclick the mouse. The only real solution I found is to hide the taskbar at the bottom of screen to allow more room the cam window.

While I know that this is not the most expensive camera on the market it definitely suits my needs. My friends tell me the picture comes in nice and sharp. My only complaint would be that there is a delay in your movements and what is shown on camera. I don't know if this is common with all cameras. Overall I would definitely recommend to buy this camera if your not looking for a reasonably priced web cam.

Picture and voice are very clear and easy to use

I have had no problems with this unit so far. This is my first webcam, and I am happy with it so far. Easy to install, great picture, easy compatibility with XP, what's not to like? I recommend this for anyone wanting to stay in touch, and for the price, this webcam is hard to beat.

works great.. neat features, excellent price and better than the Labtec i used to have

I haven't used the product much after I bought it... but have found it pretty nice so far.. installation was real quick and the image quality is good as well... but yet to try out the microphone feature...

This is by far the best webcam I've used. The software includes several features, and the camera is easy to use right out of the box.

Picture is a little dark and focus is rather tricky but compatibility is excellent. Perfectly functional unit.

Picture is rather good, but problems with noises and sound are exactly as it is in previous reviews.
The only way to fix problem was to buy a microphone and to disable sound in the camera.


Hey Guys this is a nice cam to use.I like this cam its clear to use the clarity of cam is excellent

This little video cam is marvelous. There was only one drawback, and it had to do with a curious conflict between the software accompanying the LifeCam and my resident programs. After I cleaned up some unused programs and reinstalled the LifeCam software there has been no problem. In any case, the camera as such works well with clear imagery, good streaming, and it even has an automatic focus/follow feature!

I bought this camera after looking at specifications. I liked this camera very much. Espiecially with the Skype video chatting the streaming is excellent. I was talking to my parents in india and literally I felt as if they are with me right in US. I love the streaming and the quality of the video. I cannot suggest this webcam if your using dailup connection. Do research on how well it will work for other internet connectivities.

With the $[...] rebate, this is a very good product for its price. The face tracking is a cool feature. The working even in low light is not upto the promise. Turning on a lamp behind the user or keeping the window open compensates for the shortcoming.

great. Love the one touch microphone and voice conferencing.
Very clear quality.

I am very happy with the lifecam...It was a breeze to install and extremely easy to use.
I am able to see my family in NY and they said the picture is clear.
I highly recommend this product.

good camera. very easy to set up. mounting device and hinges make this very versitile, even on my thicker laptop (toshiba qosmio). only reason it is not 5 stars is because microphone on the camera is a little weaker than i would like. would be better if it is more sensitive, but its adequate.

I was looking for something simple yet affordable. This is perfect! My kids love using it! Compared to the more expensive cameras this one has my vote!!!

I got this in a deal for $20 and it's not bad for that price. This camera is good enough for some average quality video to be shared between friends and family.

Product was easy to install, good for the price ($[...] with rebate), and best of all, I get to see my nephew live weekly! Full picture is not as sharp as smaller, 2 up (you see them, and yourself at the same time), but price was right, and it's only going to be used for personal video calls.

Bought as a present for a friend, He is really having fun with it, making videos to send to others...I can see him when we chat and the picture is very good.

easy to install , good picture and microphone , effecient, very good price , amazone delivered fast thanks.

This is a great webcam for a lesser price than other products of the same specs. Easy to install and can pick up even the lightest sound. No problem whatsoever.

I ordered this web cam for my girlfriend to chat with me from a Windows PC over Skype. Some guy online who had reviewed just about every cam on the market called it "the best web cam under $50". He may just be right. While the color is sometimes off, it certainly gets the job done, and if my girlfriend could figure out how to install it herself, it certainly isn't going to befuddle most users.

It was very easy to hook up and to install software, automatically stated that I needed an update to make it work on Windows Vista. I was totally pleased with this purchase.

i bought this web cam because of the price. it's pretty easy to use. but i've had problems synching the audio and video. works for the purposes i got it for though.

After some search and comparision with couple logitech webcam model I liked vx-3000 the best in it's price range--with or without the coupon. This camera give me exactly what I need for personal online video conference -- low noise, crisp, clear video stream through adjustable focus, and good low-light capability -- without me paying extra for "high quanlity" still image capability which no matter how good, just can't compare with a good digital camera. I personally don't like Logitech webcam despite they are one of the most popular webcam manufacture (one low-end Creative model I tried in the past isn't good either). Several logitech I tried which were in vx-3000's price range come with HUGE amount of noise -- small spots that show up white where there is actually no light --- especially in low-light condition. vx-3000 got one of the best sigal to noise ratio, say you turn off the light to the entire room during night, a webcam with bad noise ratio will have image with tons of white spots flickering (though there aren't any light) while vx-3000 will show the correct pure black. Also I can't understand why some Logitech hi-end webcam came with FIXED focus, which mean you have to sit at a defined distance from camera to get the best picture. For vx-3000 you can manually adjust the focus by turning the knob surrounding the len. There are talks of softwere problem with vx-3000, i did experience that exactly just once while playing with webcam configure softwere when I'm using webcam with another program, but the problem went away after I reboot and nevered occured again (make sure you get the latest driver from internet). On the other hand, Logitech camera often come with this useless bundle software that eats up system resource. The face tracking option with vx-3000 works fine but I didn't play much with it since it's only digital zoom and only have a limited range and is considered not really useful. Overall, it's a excellent buy for the price and has great quanlity in area needed for video conference.

sound captured from the cam sucks [it cuts off] you can use a separate mic to solve that problem.

i still think the picture could be better, common it's 2007 already!! works great with msn messenger.

hello. anyone reading this, will be interested in the details of actually having this item. I ordered this from amazon, after some personal debate, going from website to website, searching. finally decided on amazon. first get this home, out of the box, you start to run the software, and it asks you to install the MSN software FIRST. after you get through MSN, you get to go back to the cd-rom, to install the rest of the cd that comes with this. of course, if you do not wish to have MSN on your system, you can go to add/remove in your control panel. after I got it all installed, and started to run it, it has an auto-update in it. THIS took a LONG time to download, but I finally got it done. and I picked out my victim for trying it on first on my yahoo msngr. they say it looks good, and it sounds good, with the built-in microphone.
all in all,..I like it.
it is fairly cheap to buy, easy to install, and easy to get started.
all the others claiming they had an issue with the cam base, must be doing something odd. mine seems to sit still and I have had no issue.
I gave this a perfect 5...but maybe I am too easy to please.
of all the reviews of video cams, the vx-3000 was my favorite to pick and I am not sorry.


Disappointed as it does not fit on Laptop, it falls down when i fix on my Dell laptop Lid and Zoom is not close ....

Not bad but the picture quality leaves a lot to be desired.

Nice experience after purchasing. Buy this, no problem at all

Performance is ok
Drivers inside the product CD is not compatible with Windows Vista.
Image quality is good.

This LifeCam has the best quality for the money. You can't go wrong. Vivid and detailed images and easy, easy set-up and installation. Works great with Vista!

This is my 3rd web cam, and at last I can say I made a good choice this time. The frame rate is quite good and voice quality over the cam mic is amezing. It works "ok" in low light but not that amezing as they promise, which made me to give 4 stars.

the cam is good...it has a special feature to show the person/object by automatic adjustment...and a very good part abt it is, it has a built in mike and helps a lot...

PURCHASED THIS VX-3000 WEBCAM AFTER READING INFORMATION ON THE BOX. IT STATED THE CHRYSTAL CLEAR MIC AND SOUND ETC.....WELL THE MIC WITHIN THE WEBCAM REALLY SUX AND MOST PEOPLE I TALK WITH CANNOT MAKE OUT WHAT I AM SAYING. PICTURE QUALITY IS VERY POOR AND NOT TO CLEAR EVEN AFTER MANY ADJUSTMENTS. EVERYTIME I TOUCH THE CAM IT UPSETS AS THERE IS BARELY ANY BASE TO IT AND IF YOU EVEN BARELY TOUCH THE TOP OF CAM IT TAKES YOU TO ANOTHER WINDOW ASKING IF YOU WANT TO INSTALL WINDOWS LIVE MESSENGER.FOR SUCH A SMALL ITEM THE MOVING PARTS ARE VERY VERY STIFF AND HARD TO MOVE TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS.......SAVE YOUR MONEY AND BUY A GOOD WEBCAM.........NOT ONE WITH MICROSOFT ON IT

A very good quality video camera (I use it with MSFT Messenger) but I discovered a nice photo camera (1.3 Mpix). Some friends living abroad now can come to my house blindfolded and still walk around without problems thanks to the sharp images they received.

This has been a great addition to my "computer" life....have a friend who is teaching me things on my computer and we use the lifecam so she can show me on her screen what I should be doing on mine....so its been great for work, but also for fun....

It's easy to use. The only thing I hate is the button on top especially if you're using it for another messenger service.Very clear and conveineient with built-in microphone. Cost evetive by not having to buy mic and camera seperately

Better than expected and with the rebate cheap enough to buy one and send it to friends and family. It comes with Windows Live Messenger, but works equally well with Skype.

A good camera with lots of options and easy to install and use. Good resolution.

The product is not that bad and I was promised a cash back of $19 but didn't recieve yet. The website is not that helpful if you anticipate cash back after purchase

I would like to comment that for the price of the Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000, I am pretty satisfied with the result. The webcam does capture the motions of my head movements, but sometimes, it jerks a little bit and stops mid-way. Besides that, this webcam is working just fine, for me. I would recommend it to my family. As a matter of fact, I am planning to get a couple of extra ones, so I could send to my sibblings.

I've had this webcam for about a month now and it has been great. I bought it for my wife's computer and it has been so good that I had my work buy one for my laptop as well. The software that comes with it is really nice. I especially like the face tracking zoom feature. I use it with Skype and it works like a charm.


I bought this camera for two of my relatives and it works great with Skype!

I took a chance and bought the VX-3000 for my wife. This is a very nice unit. You will need to take time to read the manual (installed on Harddrive). Out of the box the lighting was very dark. You will need to go to setup and turn on low light option. After this was done I could see items 20-30ft away just fine. Another nice option is to use the software to zoom and pan the camera.

Once again this is an excellant camera for the $25-$35 price range. BUT you really need to take the time to read the manual. If you do not then don't complain that is is to dark etc.

Pretty good webcam on XP, but will not work on Vista X64 (64-bit) version, despite what Microsoft claim. Widespread issues with 64 bit vista can be found on the Internet, and no response from Microsoft on the issue. Problem is going on so long now, that one has to doubt that Microsoft are going to fix this. Hopefully 1.4 or later of the drivers will resolve the issue.

Bought this and 3 others for family, the kids think its great to see g'pa and nana on the computer. Beware, the software/drivers conflicted with my Creative Zen. My computer would no longer recognize when it was docked and I lost the ability to charge and sync. After re-installation of my Zen software, all seems to be better now; although it still wants to resync all the old videos, etc and then I get errors that its already on my Zen, or that the file cannot be found.
Overall, nice to have a camera for the calls, I wish the resolution was better though.

Nice cam for the money but after using it for several days bought the VX-6000 with much higher resolution and greater subject view, and higher camera resolution.

This was our first webcam, and we are not disappointed. We purchased it to be able to chat with our family around the state, so far it's worked fabulous.
It's VISTA compatible, too! Huge bonus!
Very easy to connect, and took very little time.



I'm not a techie or anything. Just needed a good quality yet affordable product to keep in touch with loved ones across the states. This product certainly passes the test. I have Vista, so I had to go online to download the software, but even with that, installation was still a breeze. My monitor is set further back on my desk, so I have to use a separate microphone, which I already had anyway, but that was the only reason why I didn't give it a 5. Overall, reliable, easy to use, and I definately recommend it.

This is a great webcam, words don't even do justice you just have to see it for yourself.

The low light setting is extrememly useful when you want to cam at night even with no lamp available as long as your computer screen is bright it will work like a charm (but of course would be even better if u have a little light next to you like any other cam). I recently tried that out on yahoo messenger the other day and i was amazed at the quality and so was the person i was talking to. Being a dark skinned female alot of cams are very dark if i dont have a light next to me in the dark.

The built in mic is good, i've made a couple of videos so far and i can always hear myself and others in the room.

Pictures are VERY clear, just adjust the nozzle to the clearest setting and your good to go. I always have people amazed that i actually took some of my pics with my webcam and i direct them to this one on amazon.com. The pic on my amazon profile was also taken with the microsoft webcam without any enhancements (example. photoshop).

Nice and small, fits anywhere and the circle at the bottom of the cam opens up to to a sort of latch hook position to sit on top of a Laptop or Flat Screen Monitor.

It has a great variety of settings for the camera so you can adjust it to your liking. Like i said words alone can't do justice for this webcam. I'm surprised it's selling for so cheap. If you're not convinced by the reviews, just get it and see for your self.