Engineers at Microsoft must have been getting itchy feet to come up with the design for the tech giant's first notebook-specific Webcam, the LifeCam NX-6000. But don't think that being on the move brings sacrifices (think of those old PCs in the Internet café in Peru, for instance!). Microsoft has kitted out this Webcam with the highest resolution seen yet on a Webcam â€"- 7.6 megapixels for stills and 2 megapixels for video -â€" so your memories of net cafés around the world will be crystal clear.
We do have some gripes about the LifeCam though, so like any seasoned traveller, don't get fooled by the selling points. The NX-6000 has poor sound with as much echo as a canyon and the product's loyalty to Windows means it is designed specifically for Windows Live Messenger (good thing this is found worldwide) and its design means it will only fit on notebooks with thinner LCD screens.
Design
When travelling, design can be everything, from the backpack to the iPod case, and why should a Webcam be any different? Microsoft has hence moved away from the cute, character-like design of the eyeball-shaped Webcam and come up with a great little camera that mimics a portable flash which folds down to sit in a nifty little case.
A collapsible lens folds away for portability, and the lens is protected by a flat plastic screen, meaning you can feel safe taking out your Webcam in a number of conditions -- a simple wipe will easily remove that sand or grit. And its small dimensions of 8.5 by 3 by 2cm means you won't even feel this little Webcam in your back pocket.
The exterior is made up of aluminium and gunmetal grey and silver plastic with a Microsoft logo at the front that lights up when the camera is in use.
The camera itself has a 45-degree vertical tilt -â€" something we really needed to rely on considering we were doing this review off a larger Toshiba Qosmio, which didn't fit the Webcam's relatively tight, nonadjustable mount.
Microsoft has used a CMOS sensor for reduced lens flare, which is probably good considering its limited tilt.
We did like the instant contact button to the right of the device which brings up your Messenger contacts with one simple click, but did miss the snapshot function that usually sits here. A non-directional microphone sits below this, but does little to sell the LifeCam NX-6000. While it does pick up sound amazingly well, regardless of direction, we felt its incision into the guts of the device allowed for some echo when chatting over Messenger or recording on to the notebook itself. A headset can be purchased separately; this will improve sound quality to a degree, but it doesn't make enough of a difference for us to recommend its purchase.
Features
Setting up the LifeCam is a breeze; the software navigates you through installation. As can be expected Windows Live Messenger comes with this software pack, but it does not come with too many options for customisation. As usual you can set resolution and other key areas (up to 1600 x 1190 pixels for video and 3200 x 2380 for still camera) but options for sound are minimal.
A dashboard control allows for very simple effects, such as a little crawling lady beetle, that would appeal to younger uses, and the camera has a 3x zoom, which can be quite handy, as well as a 71-degree wide angle lens.
Microsoft has made this Webcam unique though its blogging feature, which allows you to immediately post pictures from your Webcam to your Windows Live Spaces site â€"- perfect for a travelling blog.
The NX-6000 is USB 2.0, so it can handle these extra large files created with ease, but beware, even though it is backwards compatible with USB 1.1, this is not recommended for large files so pay that extra for that premium net café.
Performance
Beyond the extras already talked about, there is not too much more to the LifeCam NX-6000. So for its price you would expect all these other areas to be right on the mark. Unfortunately, in a number of circumstances this is not the case.
While the resolutions settings for video are quite high, we were concerned with the LifeCam's ability to capture movement. Image capture at the lower end of the resolution settings is excellent, but move it up to 1024 x 768 and blur will set in, even for minimal movement.
The same occurs during picture taking but it makes up for this by its great light balancing and perfect capture up to six or so metres, with very little pixelation.
We did experience a bit of lag with both camera and video but this seems to be standard with most Webcams at the moment.
A three-year warranty is incredibly good, and for those going away, it makes for good travel insurance. Microsoft also offers online support and will push out patches and updates and it has a large community user-base to feed off of with chat rooms and other services. Driver downloads can be found online anywhere in the world, making this a great model for newish users not wanting too much customisation whose main concerns are capturing great images for Web publication or for keeping in touch with friends while on the road.
It supports USB 2.0 -- we would rarely expect anything that wasn't these days. This means that 1.3-megapixel video, the maximum the NX-6000 will send using instant messaging clients, can easily stream down the line.
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antirez
14/10/2007, 06:43 AM
rating
5/10
Bad product, I purchased one today and found that the image quality is bad expecially if there is not a lot of light in the room (indoor generally is bad).
Also the clip is not very good for laptops even if it is *designed* for laptops...
The only PRO is that this cam supports the USB Video Class protocol so it works with Linux without to require a specific driver.
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znast
12/02/2007, 11:00 PM
rating
5/10
The webcam quality is rather poor, apartfrom having a higher resolution i found sensor noise to be rather bad. my 5 year old creative NX pro is getting preference over this purely for quality of image.
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