iSight Alternatives?

[bagwis]

Hi folks. My wife is currently into chat and would want to utilize its video capabilities. I sought Apple's advice and they only gave me iSight which is really quite pricey, and my wife only uses a dial-up connection. I would like to ask if you have any alternatives to this very beautiful but expensive webcam?

Saw the micro iBot. Would that be ok for dial-up, or is it strictly for broadband connections?

TIA

[Adel]

Hi Al!

Any DV camera with a firewire port should work. And work better, I might add. While the iSight is a nice gadget, the optics are as good as the money you pay for it.

I use a Sony PC-100 which is loads better in quality. Just connect the camera, and tweak the iChat settings for video. I dunno about the dial-up, though. That'll most certainly be the bottleneck. Audio alone on dial-up is difficult enough, what more video?

Good luck.

Neighbor Adel

[extremyks]

Video chat on dial-up... I also don't recommend it, tried it and I hate it. You could always try it at the wee hours of the morning...

[bagwis]

Thanks neighbor Adel! I will try and tweak my video settings for my DV camera for this purpose. Thanks for the advice. But I think I should get a DSL connection first.

Thanks, too, Mike. I know. I really should get a DSL connection running in the house. My wife and I would have to discuss this because I know her chatmates are on dial-up too.

Mabuhay ang PhilMUG!

[Edited on 4-24-2004 by bagwis]

[ginoledesma]

The Apple Centers here sell the Orange Micro iBot. They sell for about P1,000 less than the iSight, so for that price, I'd rather go save up for the iSight instead. One thing I like about the iSight is you can mount it on LCD monitors, which makes it particularly handy on the go.

[bagwis]

I must agree with you Gino. The mounting is one great selling point of iSight. But I guess broadband at home should come first.

Thanks for the advice.

[bagwis]

Have any of you used the following:

Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000
Logitech Quickcam for Notebook Pro
Logitech Quickcam Zoom

All seem to be compatible with Macs (OS 9 & 10)

These are pretty cheap alternatives. Any feedback/reviews on these products?

TIA

[bagwis]

Originally posted by Henjie

My sis uses the QuickCam Pro 4000 with Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger. The iSight's video quality is definitely better. I reckon the iSight's mic is also better.

Your Mac needs to have a USB 2.0 port to fully utilize the QuickCam Pro 4000's capabilities. USB 1.1 will give probably give you .3 fps. :-)

Haven't tried installing the $9.95 iChatUSBCam application enhancer to get it to work with iChat AV yet. Maybe I'll try it one of these days. ;-)


~Henjie

Thanks Henjie! Last time I checked, the Quickcam Pro 4000 is about 4,300.00 at Villaman. Quickcam for Notebook Pro is around 4,700.00. I'm really not in a hurry because I just applied for a SKY DSL (Bayantel) connection this morning. Maybe I'll have the connection next week. Maybe then, I would decide which webcam to get.

@el camote,

I'd really like to get the iSight. But it's currently retailing at around 9,000.00 here. Based on the prices of the logitech cam, it's really quite pricey. But as Adel said, the great optics, and I guess the sound would be well worth it.

As far as compatibilty is concerned, I think iSight would work well with Macs only. As far as the quickcam pro 4000 is concerned, according to Henjie, it would only give you .3 fps if you only have a USB 1.1. Maybe a USB Hub would add that extra USB you need, but if it's still USB 1.1, it might not be well worth it. Go for firewire 400, (iSight).

I think (Mac)iSight + iChatAV and (PC)AIM+Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000 would work.

I will have to do some research on this and get back to this thread asap.

Anyone?

[Henjie]

Originally posted by bagwis
Have any of you used the following:

Logitech Quickcam Pro 4000

My sis uses the QuickCam Pro 4000 with Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger. The iSight's video quality is definitely better. I reckon the iSight's mic is also better.

Your Mac needs to have a USB 2.0 port to fully utilize the QuickCam Pro 4000's capabilities. USB 1.1 will give probably give you .3 fps. :-)

Haven't tried installing the $9.95 iChatUSBCam application enhancer to get it to work with iChat AV yet. Maybe I'll try it one of these days. ;-)


~Henjie

[El CaMOTe]

Am planning to get an ISight but most of my relatives in Singapore, Switzerland are on PC's. Dunno anything about the software for this.

Isn't it ISight + IChat AV only works on Macs ?? Is that correct ?

I have Globe DSL with the yechhy USB modem, so what should I do ??

USB 1.0 or firewire cam?? Chat software ?? I'm using a 667 TiBook

Thanks and nice to see all you guys on the 'real PhilMug!'