Excellent webcam! HIGHLY reccommended!

Hello all. I'm a junior in college and I purchased the Logitec QuickCam for Notebooks Pro about two months ago. My boyfriend, who goes to school five hours away, and I wanted a more convenient way to keep in touch. We had previously used cell phones, however, we were limited to talking after 9PM in order to take advantage of the free minutes. Also, my phone received virtually no service in my dorm room, and I was often forced to stand outside.

This webcam has met our needs perfectly. We talk online for free at any time (using MSN messenger; it provides a larger picture than AOL) and the delay is very minimal. From my experience, the microphone works very well. I can stand across the room and talk and he can still hear me. My only suggestion as to the audio capabilities would be for both parties to wear headphones when talking over the webcam, otherwise you will be hearing your own voice constantly echoing because it is picked up by the other camera's microphone.

The picture quality is very good as well. The camera has a manual focus wheel around the lense. We do not find the face tracking feature particularly useful, mainly because we are always sitting at our desks when talking. I have tried it a few times though, and it works decently enough.

Set up was painless and easy. The included software is a little cluttered with ads and promos for Logitec products as well as for various online video messenger/phone services, but it's pretty easy to ignore.

I was slightly worried before purchasing this product, after reading the other reviews on this site regarding the horrible mounting mechanism. Honestly, I have not had any problems with it at all. I think others may not have been using it correctly. All I did was swing the lense cover down, and raise up the two arms. The arms hook over the top of your screen and the lense cover rests lightly against the back of your screen. If you have problems with the camera being aimed too high up, simply fiddle around with pushing the lense cover a little further back towards the closed position, or raise the arms up higher. I think the mounting mechanism works fine, and makes the camera very convenient since it stays out of you way when mounted atop your screen.

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with this product. I will be going abroad to study in the spring. I plan to use this camera to continue to keep in touch with my boyfriend then. I have also recommended that my family buy one as well so that we will not have to purchase international calling cards. Though it is a bit on the pricey side it is definitely worth it as a long term investment . . . think of the money you'll be saving on your phone bill!