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Logitech Quickcam Orbit

Logitech Quickcam Orbit

List Price: $129.95
Your Price: $117.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not a full videoconferencing solution for a Mac
Review: A friend bought this camera recently, and tested it with
Yahoo Messenger both on a PC and a Mac (iMac, with Mac OS X 10.2.8).

The camera was bought primarily because the text promised
the camera's usability undr Mac OS X in rather stronger
text than the text on other Logitech cameras in the same
store.

Well, our impressions are mixed. On the other hand, the
camera did indeed work on the iMac: video communication
in Yahoo Messenger (including cross-platform communication
with PC users) was possible; taking still picture was
possible as well, with the QuickCapture application that
was supplied on the CD. The video image apearance on the
Mac was worse than on a PC (looked kind of grainy, sort of
like a 1920s movie), but perhaps that had more to
do with the fact that the lighting at home, where the Mac
was, was not as good as at the office where the PC was.

On the other hand, it appears that the teleconferencing
programs that can be used on the Macintosh platform with
this camera, AND can be used for cross-platform communications
are just too few and too poor. The Yahoo Messenger 2.5.3,
which we downloaded from yahoo.com,
supports video communications -- but, surprisingly enough,
does not support voice communication at all! And the current
version of the MSN Messenger for Mac does not appear to have
any webcam or voice support whatsoever. (We have not tried iChat,
as we beleieve it is mainly desaigned for Firewire cameras.)

Although this situation is not specific for this particular
camera, this is something that potetntial camera purchasers
should be aware of.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Quality Control Problems at Logitech
Review: An odd fact: Ever since the "Made in China" sticker made its way onto Logitech products, their quality has gone downhill.

I used to be (and I still am to some degree) a big fan of Logitech products. They always seem to come up with the best ideas, both in design and functionality. I noticed, however, that their latest products are absolutely unreliable and poorly built.

QuickCam Orbit is the latest example. I got it at the local store, having read all the great magazine reviews, and couldn't wait to try it on my PC.

Installation was fairly straight forward. First thing I noticed was great image quality. QuckCam Orbit clearly beats every other webcam in that category (to the best of my knowledge). I then decided to try the much talked about face tracking technology, and that's where the problems began... The poor thing could not tilt vertically no matter what I tried.

I went back to the store for an exchange and insisted to try it on their computers before buying. Guess what, the sales rep went through 2 of these cams before finding the one that works properly!!!

This is my second bad experience with the latest and "greatest" Logitech product, and there is only one thing I can suggest. Whenever they come out with something new and good looking, wait at least a few months before shelling out your hard earned cash for it. Look at their support forums at www.logitech.com. Read Amazon reviews (do not trust magazine reviews!!!).

In other words, do your research so that you don't end up wasting your time and money.

Advice to Logitech: Improve your quality control or you will soon start losing your reputation (and customers) faster than you can say... "move-your-production-plants-the-hell-out-of-China".

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Doesn't work on Windows 2003
Review: Don't buy this if you using Windows 2003. The SUnMapLS_IP_EBP_16 error will kill you.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Logitech Quckcam Orbit Problem Fixed Tilt Pan
Review: I am a seasoned pc user, I found the features to be great. The problems started as soon as I installed the camera though. First I plugged it in... Windows XP didn't find any drivers. I unplugged the camera and installed the software from Logitech (newly downloaded of course). I always chuck the original cd, newest drivers are always on line. The computer restarted and locked up (Windows XP). Turns out this camera likes a powered usb hub, I moved it to the powered hub. I restarted again and all was working... BUT
Using the pan and tilt features I found the camera only moved a smidge at a time, although the demo had the thing zipping around freely. I read that the software should be reinstalled, NOT... after the uninstall process Norton 2004 password manager crashed. I reinstalled the software and had the same pan and tilt problem, but Norton was alive again. It dawned on me that the data transfer must be intensive and I switched the usb connector from the 1.1 hub to the 2.0 card (guess that's what the long cable is for, NICE, my computer is in the closet). Now it works PERFECTLY, I am IMPRESSED and I will keep it!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: If I could give this a zero I would.
Review: I can't review the product itself because I could never get it to install, but I will review the installation.

If your computer has a SiS or VIA Chipset I would recommend you not buy this thing. The instructions say nothing about having a problem with these chipsets and as for the instructions, they are typical instructions for products these days, none existence. The same for the live support, a real joke...

Buried in Logitech's Knowledge Base I found that if you have one of these chipsets you have to reconfigure your computer to what I would equate to standing on your head and trying to drink water. If you don't know what I am talking about when I say SiS and VIA chipset, I can just tell you that these are two very common chipsets used with USB.

I also tried to install this thing on three different computers and it didn't work on any of them. The first two computers had either the SiS and VIA chipset, but the third did not and it still didn't work on the third one. Five hours of wasted time later is when I decided that it wasn't worth my time to fool with this lousy installation and I returned the product.

Logitech's lost not mine...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: options limited
Review: I do not recommend this camera if you have a Macintosh. Software installation is painless, camera assembly is painless. Then the pain begins. As fas as I can tell, the face tracking feature, and even just the simple tilting of the lens, is not available through the Mac interface. So what's the point of spending so much money if the software doesn't fully perform on a Mac? I also found the image quality more grainy with more adjustements necessary than the Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks.

The camera base, I felt, is unnecessarily big and heavy, takes up a lot of space. The USB cord is outrageously long, and you'll get tangled if you have no place to hide it. Overall, I expected the camera to be smaller and lighter from looking at it in the box.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This is a GREAT webcam
Review: I dont know what are all those bad comments about this webcam I've just bought it and its working perfectly, perfect image quality, perfect instalation, no problems at all, my recomendation, buy it! it can looks expensive but absolutely worth it!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Not Ready For Prime Time
Review: I installed this camera several times following the instructions to the letter. Using the Camera Control, it will only rotate about 50 degrees instead of 180 degrees and only tilt about 35 degrees. It I click on the demo button it will rotate the full 180 degrees and vertical tilt of the full 60 degrees. In addition, the Home button works fine. I have read everything on Logitech's web site and found other people complaining too but no answers.

I returned my camera for a full refund after the response from Logitech was "If you determine that your device is no longer functioning correctly, the fastest form of exchange is through the point of purchase (POP). Most resellers will offer an exchange or refund option for a limited time. Please contact the POP for available exchange options."

They did not acknowledge that they have a problem, so I will look elsewhere.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Just got my money back at Sam's Club
Review: I read all the reviews and decided to gamble on the Orbit. I assumed I would have problems with it and I was right. I'm quite an expert adding equipment to computers but it took me about three hours to get my Dell XP to recognize it and it would go through it's demo motions just fine but little else. Then it lost it's vertical motion. It never had the face recognition ability. I tried everything I could think of but I could only get it to move horizontally. I followed the instructions to the letter and I tried their help center which leaves a lot to be desired. Finally I downloaded new drivers which took four hours (26500 modem speed) and nothing changed. It's now back at Sam's Club in the reject pile. I never had a webcam before and I decided today I don't think I need one. At least not until someone makes one similar to the Orbit that really works. I figured it was just too good to be true. Wake up Logitech!!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Webcam
Review: I'v been using this cam for almost a year on my Win XP Home Edt. PC. Set up was super easy, I got the cam hooked up in 5 minutes.
Video quality is excellent, even under dim light conditions; so is the picture quality. I'm using the cam with both MSN and Yahoo Messenger- works perfectly. People tell me the video quality is superb and streaming is very good (I'm on a highspeed cable connex).
I never had any probs with either the zoom or the pan/tilt function.
I give it 4 stars b/c face tracking is indeed flawed and needs improvement. I don't use this feature though.
Overall this is a great product and worth the purchase.


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