Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP Webcam (961422-0403)

I had two of these web cams in 2007 and, at the time they gave beautiful images, but were temperamental, cpu intensive and difficult to install. Recently I tried again to use one of them on a windows 7 system for internal surveillance of my second home. The cam is exquisite. You can move it remotely and the image is clear. You can even zoom. Thus I decided to buy more of these old web cams. However, there are some caveats. The orb cam is capricious to install. You need to make sure that your windows system has all the last updates. You then boot without the web cam usb inserted. When the computer is stabilized you plug in the usb and wait (forever) that it finds the drivers automatically. I tried to manually download the drivers from the Logitech website, to be frustrated with finding out that there are no official drivers for windows 7. The automatic drivers installation, however, works for me. I think it works by running a Windows Vista shell. I was very upset by all those glib comments that I read on various forums that advised to just buy a new cam. A final note. If you run the orb on a very long usb cable, or the cable is not good, you will get a usb error message. This is because the orb requires short of 400 mA, and the current falls on long usb cables because of resistance. A self-powered usb hub (placed away, not near the computer) will help. Finally, you may have to disconnect the virus checker during instsllation, because it may feel that the drivers--which write on the registry--are some kind of malware. Oh, I was forgetting to say that one should never force the globe to turn manually: it will break.

The instructions/directions are not very helpful, and we had to download the software because the cd did not work. But once we got it installed -- which ended up being super fast and easy, we use it all the time with NO problems. It changed our lives and allowed grandparents to be a regular part of our lives, even though they live across the country. I would recommend this product to anyone with highspeed internet access who has long distance family or close friends.

The lack of a good manual made this a tough set up. I had a hard time with how to turn off the the auto record feature, and figure out how the avitars work. Once figured out however, it worked really well. Picture quality is great It is the only camera that follows you if you move around the room, and it works extremely well. what really makes this camera fun are the "Avatars" and Picture effects. For U tubing, it is excellent.Summation, documentation sucks, but the camera itself is well worth the patience of playing with. You do have to go to Logitecs web site to download the latest drivers. It fixes the most common complaints about this camera. After downloading this softwaer, it has been the best one I've owned.

I have about three different logitech webcams, one for my laptop, it is the small clip on one, and the other two are for my desktop computers at work and home. Why three, because I got them all at a good price. The orbit can just sit on the desk, so as to not be in the way on the lcd screen. I purchased this one without software becaused I already had some from my other webcams. I think webcams are cool for communicating with friends and family you don't get to see often, so I would say, 'get this one' so you can stay in touch.Thanks for reading my review.

orbit mp cam itself is very good. Installing the software is another story. Quickcam software from cd never installed properly, only partial install so the video effects didnt work. I had to go the website and wait for a newer version of the software to fix the problem. The video effects is the only reason I bought the camera. Since then, two more updates to the software have been released, each one with their own set of problems from not installing properly to 100% cpu usage during web effects.I have never had so many problems with webcam software. I am afraid to upgrade software due to the fact that it might break something. Good thing I have a Creative Labs Live Motion cam too.I will never buy another Logitec cam. The Creative Labs cam software installed correctly the first time and updates are very simple and dont break anything. For my money Creative Labs cams is the way to go. Don't waste your time or money on a Logitech Cam. Their support is very bad too.

I thought it would be neat to converse with relatives using webcam. So I looked into Skype and saw that it recommended Logitech. I ordered two of the best webcams Logitech offered and shipped one to me and one to my sister. My sister and I are both IT professionals.We wasted - I don't know how many hours trying to get this thing to work. It is very flakey. It would work and then not work. You uninstall everything, reinstall everything, it works once - and then back to not working. I would caution you to do your research carefully before ordering this item. Google "logitech QuickCam problems" and similar searches and you will see major problems.Now that the webcams are opened - we can't return them and have lost several hundred dollars.

A webcam, pretty good

The software for this item does not support Windows 8,1, which was not mentioned in the description, Logitech were unhelpful in the extreme such that I shall not purchase their products again