VX-6000 Too Buggy for Release

The high resolution of this webcam, and the Microsoft label, led me to hope that finally there might be a competitor to the high quality 3-Com (aka Vicam) webcams, that were discontinued a few years ago.

The camera lists for almost $100, and I bought it for about $74.

I spent a frustrating afternoon and evening trying to install the VX-6000 on a fully updated MS XP pro system. The install took forever, because every couple of minutes the install program couldn't find a needed file (if they need it, why not put it on the install CD?). So I had to browse my system and point them to where the file was (why couldn't they design the install program to search for the file instead of making me do it?). Finally I got a successful install, and then I was informed there was an updated version, and I needed to install that. So I went through the whole time-consuming process all over again, including the schtick about searching for the location of several files. Finally it again said I had installed the program successfully. So I rebooted my PC, and clicked on the Microsoft LifeCam icon. After cranking for awhile I get "initialization error". I try rebooting again---same error. So I type in "initialization error" in the search bar of the "help" section, and I get back "no topics found." So they sell me an expensive camera, run me ragged installing it, send me a repeated error message, and provide me no clue on what to do about it. (I guess now that Bill Gates is saving the world through philanthropy, nobody's left minding the shop?)

I just boxed the camera up for return to the seller.