Very basic webcam, sub-VGA res

I bought the Microsoft VX-1000 webcam as a replacement for my VX-3000, which I gave away recently. I still needed a basic webcam for video chat, and the VX-1000 was on sale pretty cheap. I figured I could use it right away with the already-installed Microsoft Lifecam software package, which turned out to be correct (the original Microsoft Lifecam installation package installed common software and drivers for several models, including the VX-1000).

The VX-1000 claims to be a 640 x 480 VGA resolution camera (take a look at the specs posted here on Epinions for example), but I guessed from the way that Microsoft carefully avoided the issue of physical sensor resolution in their own specifications that it was actually a lower-res sensor masquerading as VGA-res by interpolation. That proved to be the case when I got it installed and tested it. It looks like the native sensor resolution is 352 x 288, although you won't find that anywhere in Microsoft's specifications. That was ok with me since I only need it for video chat. But shame on Microsoft for attempting to mislead customers! I wouldn't normally be so critical of simple marketing hype, but I think in this case I think Microsoft strays perilously close to outright deception, and they should be criticized for it. This appears to be a pattern with Microsoft's webcams - I pointed out several similarly-misleading specifications in the product information of the VX-3000 in my earlier review of that webcam.

The VX-1000 looks identical to the VX-3000, aside from being all black instead of having a dark silver case. It has the same flexible mount which can sit flat on a monitor or desktop, or hang off an LCD panel, and allows you to tilt and swivel the lens. The other physical design features are also pretty much identical to the VX-3000:
- adjustable manual focus ring
- built-in microphone
- green "on" LED
- Messenger trigger button on top
- 6-foot attached USB cable.

Compared to the VX-3000 (which does have a 640x480 sensor), the image resolution is noticeably lower, but it's still perfectly acceptable for video chat, which is normally at a reduced resolution anyway. The color is decent for a webcam, and it adjusts well to varying room lighting, although an odd green grid appears over the picture for a moment each time the camera is re-initialized.

The VX-3000 preferred to be on a dedicated USB port rather than a shared USB hub to avoid USB bandwidth problems, so I use the VX-1000 on a dedicated port as well. With 640x480 resolution selected in the camera settings the live picture lags a bit, and fast movement gets jerky. I would guess that's an interpolation performance issue, since the VX-3000 was faster at the same resolution on the same USB port. When 352 x 288 resolution is selected on the VX-1000, it gets a lot snappier. Since that's probably the native sensor resolution, it would be best choice for most purposes. Video capture is jerky at 640 x 480, but improves at 352 x 288, and the video picture quality remains as good as the still image capture.

There’s a built in microphone on the front of the webcam, which can be a nice feature to have when you don't want to fumble around with a headset. As with the VX-3000, the microphone volume is low and it picks up a lot of hiss and ambient noise when turned up. It is also quite sensitive to electrical noise pickup from noisy USB power and nearby interfering devices, the same problem that affects the VX-3000 microphone on some PCs. I would still recommend a headset if you need clear audio for voice chat.

There’s a button on the top of the webcam intended to pop up the Windows Live Messenger chat application, but it only works if you keep the Microsoft driver running in the background all the time. Microsoft seems determined to promote Live Messenger, to the point of not providing any option to change the button function, but you can hack into it by substituting your own application for IcePick.exe in the LifeCam program directory if you want. The camera appears as a standard video and audio device in Windows, and it works fine with Skype and other video chat applications.

A software CD is included with a lot of bloatware, or you can download the basics from Microsoft's web site. LifeCam is the main application program provided for the camera. It's a fairly simple app that shows the camera live picture and allows you to capture photos or videos or sound recordings, and change camera settings. The camera settings include color and exposure adjustments, resolution, and USB bandwith adjustments. And there's the Dashboard application to apply funny special effects to video recordings like having animated ladybugs crawl around the frame. The face-tracking and digital zoom/pan features of the LifeCam software that are supported for the VX-3000 are not displayed for the VX-1000, which I guess makes sense since it doesn't have enough resolution to zoom in on the frame. The software is supposed to be Vista-compatible, but I couldn't say since all the computers I use it on run WinXP. There isn't much documentation, and Microsoft does not appear to have any online product support forums for webcams.

Overall it works fine as a basic webcam for video chat, with the bonus of a built-in microphone. I would rate it a good buy for that purpose as long as it's discounted to the same price range as other sub-VGA-resolution webcams. Just don't believe everything you read in the misleading specifications.