Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP Webcam ( 961422-0403 ) Reviews

• Big step backward for Logitech

  
  By A3A0KPQ1458501 on 2005-10-12
  The video is excellent, like all the previous good Logitech cams like the QuickCam Pro 4000. In fact, the video is better than the previous generation. The built-in mic has excellent sensitivity and clarity, which is a real plus. You can stand back from it, face away from it, and it still picks you up well, while rejecting a lot of room noise.
  
  So, why did I only give it 2 stars?
  
  1. It's a CPU hog. Even with the echo cancellation turned OFF, this camera consumes a good 10% more CPU on my same test system, when videoconferencing, when compared to a QuickCam Pro 4000 or Notebooks Pro model (the OLD Notebooks Pro model... the NEW one has all the same problems that this one does). That may not sound like a big deal, but it is when you start using 65% instead of 55% on a Pentium 4 2.4 GHz machine (WinXP Pro SP1)
  
  2. The acoustic echo cancelling (AEC) is shoddy and is a MASSIVE CPU hog.
  When it's on, the CPU in the above test case jumps to 85%. And it doesn't really echo cancel very well. It does a lot of heavy gating off and on, causing sentences at each end of a conversation to frequently get cut off. And even so, it lets a lot of echo ring around and go back out.
  
  3. The installer shoves an obnoxious set of auto-startup tasks and services into your system. If you aren't afraid to turn off Windows services and delete things from the "Run" folder of your registry, you can get rid of these things. But it's either that or install the "driver only" option in the installer. These things make the camera consume even MORE CPU, even with AEC off, than the numbers I quoted above (i.e. 75% instead of 55% for a simple 2-way video conference.
  
  4. Beware of installing this if you already have other Logitech
  cameras installed on your system. The new driver installer "says" that it uninstalls these, but you'll find that the old camera either won't work anymore, or neither one will, until you uninstall both and reinstall the new one. It's best to just uninstall the old one and install the new one. The old camera will then work with the new driver. AND IT WILL USE 10% MORE CPU THAN IT USED TO!
  
  5. The pan/tilt function of the camera works, but it ONLY works with Logitech's little proprietary popup control panel, which you must enable off their tray icon. So, you have to leave some of those annoying "automatic" things running to get this to work. Further, it doesn't obey the standard DirectShow interfaces to make it move, so application writers can't very easily control the camera motion, if at all. I downloaded Logitech's SDK to do this. None of the SDK examples even run, and there is no tech support for it.
  
  Background:
  I installed the full product and let it do what it wanted (I didn't try to disable anything). I trained the AEC with their tool. It still doesn't really work.
  
  I have DirectX 9.0c (latest), and Logitech's latest driver. In fact, when I downloaded the newer driver from their website, nothing got better and the CPU usage climbed by ANOTHER 5%!
  
  I am a video programmer by trade, and have tested a large number of USB cameras and echo cancellation devices. I only tell you this to give you some level of faith that I'm not a total idiot, and I am used to evaluating these products.
  
  If you are just an average user who plugs in the camera and uses it, this camera will work well. But forget the echo cancelling; that really doesn't work. All in all, you probably would have been better off with older models, because they installed easier, used less CPU, and caused less installation interaction problems with other cameras.
  
  In other words, it's just a big step backward. If future releases of the driver improve things, great. But I give Logitech a big black eye for even putting out an initial release that ties down my machine this much.
  
  All these problems are true of the Fusion and the new-generation Quickcam for Notebooks Pro. They all share a similar, if not identical, driver. So they all have the same problems.
  
  

• Quality hardware, junky software

  
  By AIOPD46ZIV8K2 on 2005-12-18
  I echo what one of the other reviewers stated.
  The hardware is excellent: the image is NEVER grainy, even in miserable lighting conditions (monitor reflected light only, for example). Cowbofrank dot net gives some good examples of just how good the picture is in various lighting conditions. I have a wide array of cams (call me a cam fetishist) and until now I have benchmarked all cameras against my trusty old INTEL PRO which is 5 yrs old but still makes people as what I am camming with.
  This one is visibly better uin quality and the CCD sensor, for once, makes a real improvement over the CMOS sensors in the cheaper cams.
  The pan and tilt is 'cute' and gadgety (has a bit of a wow factor) but frankly, given the wide screen lens, it is not relly needed. Would have been better to work on an autofocus.
  The RightLight and RightSound technology to improve sound and pic quality in a wide range of conditions are SUPERB. Nothing to compare it with other than expensive bi-aural mics and light measurement in a more expensive digital cam.
  The fps is excellent. I really get comments that my cam seems like watching TV. And that is not just caused by the bandwith of my internet connection.
  
  The reason I also ducked a star is because the software, especially the drivers, do hog resources. And not a little. I run a P4 machine, 3+ ghz, 2gb internal, and I noticed a difference. It truly does seem to load a lot of junk in the registry. I do not think it is a real problem, given the speed of today's machines and I think Logitech will fix this in future driver updates. They are loyal to their customers...
  Also, keep in mind that this is a small trade off when you're on a quest for true video conferencing capabilities that don't give you the impression you are working with premature technology. This baby can run full screen video and do it without decline in fps.
  
  

• Downgrade from the older Orbit

  
  By A19JUC5N6DYSGV on 2006-03-18
  I upgraded from the Orbit to the Orbit MP and found that it is a major step backwards in quality.
  The software control panel is much harder to use, with very coarse and twitchy sliders. You can't type numbers into the edit boxes.
  Also, although still images are wonderful, the quality of live video for webcams and chat clients is horrendous. The subsampling algorithms used to convert the high-res camera images into low-res images for transmission cause blurring, loss of definition, and constant snow/shift patterns.
  I'm going back to my $30 low res camera that provides higher quality for video conferencing.
  
  

• Best Webcam Ever!

  
  By A3KWGGI7SWZ3QK on 2005-09-09
  Hey, I just bought this at Best Buy yesterday...I don't know if they were supposed to be selling it or not b/c Logitech.com isn't even selling it yet. Anyways, let me just say that Logitech has done it again. :) The new light and sound technology really work. The microphone is ultra-clear and sounds like its a headset even when you're over 6 ft away. You can hear whispers, yawns, and breathing at over 6ft away. Also, the lighting on the camera is excellent! You can even turn all the lights off in the room, and the picture will look great just using the light from you monitor. The face tracking stuff is cool but it's still not quite perfect. However, maybe they'll continue to refine it in future software updates. What I can say is that this is by far the best consumer webcam on the market. Get this one and you won't need another for a LONG time.
  
  

• Be careful what you wish for

  
  By A1F6PBS8KJ1S4A on 2006-01-03
  The drivers and software came with it creates problems to other programs. If I were you, I will not purchase this product until all the driver conflicts are resolved. Things I am having problems with:
  1. Drivers. Apparently, the drivers causes LINK.EXE and MIDL.EXE to freeze indefinitely (locking problems?). If you aren't a software developer, I believe it probably won't affect you. If you were using Visual Studio or Visual C++, these drivers will freeze linker or idl compiler. Uninstall the drivers fixes this problem.
  
  2. Shutdown problem. After installing these drivers/softwares, shutdown seems to take much longer than usual if not frozen.
  
  Too bad it is too late for me to return this product.
  
  
  
• I wish it would work
  By A3JUUJQOEC93WP on 2006-01-19
  This would have been a great webcam -- but it causes the Blue Screen (of Death) on my brand new Dell (Windows XP Media Edition). I researched the problem -- apparently it's known and there is no solution.
  
  I like the features of the camera (when it worked for all of 5 minutes). But this mean nothing if the camera drivers conflict with other device drivers. Logitech said "too bad", it's not their fault. Thanks! Next time I'll look for the "XP Logo" on the box -- and a webcam from a different company.
  
  
• Logitech Orbit actually better than I thought
  By AT71VTQI5JPFW on 2006-01-19
  I bought 3 of these for us, and my children who are all over the country. I was worried that the quality would be grainy and jumpy but to my surprise, it is really impressive. My daughter said it reminds her of the "eye" in Lord of the Rings!Easy to install, easy to use and works seamlessy with MSN Messenger. A great buy!
  
  
• Great WebCam
  By A15H7BHRV0C01C on 2006-01-29
  Works excellent , only needs a little light on background.Sound great . Tried with MSN messenger , with Yahoo, Skype Spontania , Great picture .
  I would buy it again.*****
  
  
• Expensive but good
  By ANOKSCZY7B055 on 2006-06-19
  This pricey webcam lives up to the hype. This camera was purchased to replace an older Logitech model several generations old. All of the features work as promised. The face tracking is a little slow, but works and slow is good as you want the camera to think before bouncing all around making the viewer on the other end ill.
  
  I use this camera on a Dell XPS 400 and Windows XP SP2. I loaded the software from the QuickCam 9.5 CD. I see none of the CPU usage or other issues others have discussed in other reviews.
  
  I primarly use Skype for conferencing, but also have used AIM and MSN with this camera with no issues at all, by I highly recommend Skype for it's features. :-)
  
  The video quality is the best I've seen for a consumer webcam and the echo canceling near perfect. I can't recommend this webcam highly enough, it is truly a great product.
  
  
• Very Cool Camera
  By A1G50K6DX7YCDN on 2006-01-30
  The Picture quality is really nice. The face tracking Is cool, along with the cartoon effects. Very Simple to Install and works great. Very Happy with this camera.
  
  
• cam = good...software = not so good
  By A19JT9R4JAC62B on 2007-01-13
  orbit mp cam itself is very good. Installing the software is another story. Quickcam software from cd never installed properly, only partial install so the video effects didnt work. I had to go the website and wait for a newer version of the software to fix the problem. The video effects is the only reason I bought the camera. Since then, two more updates to the software have been released, each one with their own set of problems from not installing properly to 100% cpu usage during web effects.
  
  I have never had so many problems with webcam software. I am afraid to upgrade software due to the fact that it might break something. Good thing I have a Creative Labs Live Motion cam too.
  
  I will never buy another Logitec cam. The Creative Labs cam software installed correctly the first time and updates are very simple and dont break anything. For my money Creative Labs cams is the way to go. Don't waste your time or money on a Logitech Cam. Their support is very bad too.
  
  
• Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP Webcam - XP failure
  By AOOHOJD8IF9MB on 2007-01-16
  I was excited to get this webcam from Amazon, but once it arrived, I had nothing but problems. I'm IT literate, I work in IT, but I just couldn't get this camera to work on my XP PC.
  
  I'm not entirely sure how Logitech can put this product on general release to the public or continue to do so.
  
  The first install (with the CD in the box) actually killed my PC. The PC would not start-up properly and blue screen during boot-up and reboot. Luckily, I was able to roll back my PC using the System Restore and Safe Mode.
  
  After reading the Logitech website support FAQs, there was an article saying that there was a new download to prevent this. I downloaded it, installed and still had huge problems with the camera. It was hit and miss whether it would work, the motorised piece didn't work and the computer would sometimes crash.
  
  I've never known one piece of software and hardware to consume so much of my time and do so much damage. Looking over various websites, it seems many others have had the same problem too.
  
  Back to Amazon it went, I'm now considering another camera. Any suggestions?
  
  
  
• Logitech Orbit MP - Review by Brad
  By A1450GGB0UZLZE on 2007-01-26
  The Logitech Orbit MP that I ordered and received through Amazon.com works exactly as expected. The webcam is capable of being aimed upwards, downwards, left, and right simply by clicking on arrow icons that appear on your computer's monitor after the software is installed. If you have a wireless mouse then you can be just about anywhere in a room and still be in the picture just by dragging the mouse on the carpet, your jeans, and just about anything else. The webcam is also capable of automatically tracking your face while you are at your PC. Better yet, the webcam can also track two or more faces while a number of people are at a PC. This little thing is amazing. The resolution is quite high and the framerate hits about 30fps at the most. On average though, the framerate of this webcam is very fast and may be used to make Internet phone calls without having to worry about choppy framerate. The framerate of this webcam may appear to be dramatically reduced by certain messenger services such as Yahoo Messenger...in this case the framerate is very choppy. One last comment about the Orbit MP can be made about the Logitech packaging it came in. The Logitech packaging containing the Orbit MP is poorly designed causing the clear plastic "bubble" protecting that protects the interior camera equipment to become scratched by slight abrasions that are directly in line with the webcam at some times. This causes a small blur from time to time when the camera pans past the scratches on the clear plastic bubble. Once again, this has nothing to do with Amazon.com, the Logitech packaging in general will cause this damage and to just about every Orbit MP webcam they have produced...unless you are lucky you may not have a small scratch in this area. Of cousre, the scratches can be removed with a professional plastic light scratch remover...which I still have not yet tried. Well, that is pretty much all you need to know about the Orbit MP.
  
  
• Logitech quickCam Orbit MP
  By A3RHJRNLUJ2R9A on 2006-05-10
  Pros:
  supurb video quality. cool effects, and motion tracking.
  Cons:
  video has a little lag in it. camera gets warm to the touch when idle. face tracking works good with a few glitches on timeing.
  uses more cpu recorces then its previous unit.
  Other:
  works with only logitech software, 3rd party controls are not supported. audio has a little noise interferance, as a small echo or static once in a while.
  Over All:
  Good Camera with lots of features. not recommended for hard core video users.
  
  
• Falls short of expectations
  By A23LPY1JFK9WCX on 2006-11-09
  I purchased one of these due to availability of other comparable units. The camera looks good, however the software falls short of what I would expect. There is no remote monitoring software, no software SDK (Logitech refuses to even consider it) No security software (such as monitoring, motion detection) and the software which is available basically allows only use for the camera as a videoconferencing unit. If your looking for a resource intensive video conferencing unit which has good video quality, with no other features, then it may work for you. The software itself seems to work (ver 10.0.0.0) only up to a limited point at 640X480. Otherwise the 1.3 MP setting is just too much for even a dual XEON 2.5Ghz with 3G of Ram, and nothing else running. Logitech comes up short on customer support, also: Basically unpleasant and interpretively rude. I'm sending it back.
  
  
• Excellent webcam - no video lag - superior clarity
  By A1DKO585M39PUE on 2006-11-18
  I tried both Microsoft's LifeCam VX-3000 and VX-6000. Had 'em both home and ran trials with my Intel Pentium D Dual Core 3.00GHz CPU with 2 gigs of ram and, with both of those, the video lagged the audio (distractingly so). Spent the better part of an hour on the phone with a friendly Microsoft customer service rep one evening (got through on their toll free line)and he pointed me to new software for the VX-6000. Downloaded the 50 meg plus file, installed it, but the VX-6000 still produced out-of-sync video vs. audio when I created a simple 640 by 480 video file for viewing on Media Player or editing in Windows Movie Maker.
  
  So, I talked to some technicians at our company and then talked to the webcam guru at the local assembler that built my, I believe, excellent computer. All recommended Logitech when buying webcams. I then marched back to Best Buy and traded my $99 Microsoft VX-6000 for a Logitech Quickcam Orbit MP for BB's price of $139.95. You can find this Logitech unit cheaper all over the place, including, of course, here at Amazon. The package I bought included an inexpensive headset, which I haven't used so far.
  
  Although I haven't tried the Orbit in a video phone call yet, from the moment I turned it on I had that satisfing good feeling that I bought a winner. Installed fairly easily with a couple of bumps. Got a "USB composite device has not passed Windows Logo testing" screen a couple of times..BUT..I received the SAME screen on, get this, the Microsoft cams! I just continued installing and have not experienced system problems so far.
  
  The audio sync with video in making a recording is right on (remember, that was primary reason for taking back the Microsoft cameras) AND the picture clarity on my LCD flat panel monitor at the 640 webcam capture setting produced a gorgeous picture. Excellent detail and smoothness of video. Besides the superior audio sync with video, the Orbit MP is remarkably better than the VX-6000 and way above the $49 Microsoft VX-3000 in all other criteria too, in my opinion after comparison testing.
  
  The Orbit's special effects are interesting and fun. The pan, tilt, etc., excellent. The face tracking is vigorous and alive - fun to watch the little Orbit camera turn - but I haven't tested in actual live conferencing yet.
  
  All in all - for webcams, I'm now saying what more experienced webcam users told me - head for Logitech. They've certianly hooked me with their apparent superior performance. The Orbit MP is a keeper! Not going to waste anymore time searching and testing. And, my advice to Microsoft, you'd better talk to the outfit that bought your name for those Lifecams. I've relied on the Microsoft name on peripherals, keyboards, etc., and I've generally been very satisfied. But, in webcams, with me, the Microsoft brand now takes a back seat to Logitech.
  
  
  
• AVERAGE PICTURE--HORRIBLE SOFTWARE
  By A11SZ1QXW5JY04 on 2006-11-24
  I want to start by saying my computer is running a Pentium 4 w/Hyper Thread Technology, CPU 3.0 GHz with 800 MHz/FSB..not a "killer" system, but no slouch either. I also have cable high speed internet. Prior to purchasing this camera two days ago, I had a Logitech Orbit and a Philips SB900 web cam running with no problems and a good clear picture with good audio when I did video conferencing through Skype. I loaded the software that came with the camera, which was Version 10.0. I started using Skype, and the first thing said to me was the pictured appeared somewhat blurred and the angle was very wide. I zoomed in some, but since the camera uses digital zoom, the picture became more blurred. The way to fix the problem was that I had to sit as closely to the desk as possible and lean in a little. When I did this, I was told that the picture was very clear. Now the bad - the software supplied with the camera is a RAM hog !! Part of the problem is that the software (not just the drivers, but the entire suite) used to run the camera is 130MB !! That is huge (for a USB webcam). The camera, while running in Skype caused my CPU usage to shoot to 85%. With the other two cameras it was normally around 25%. I then went to the Logitech site and downloaded version 10.0.4 of the Orbit MP software. While it dropped my CPU usage to around 25%-30%, my teleconferencing in Skype was terrible. The audio was distorted with bad latency, the picture was even worse than before, and my movement was extremely robotic. Then the worst thing happened...my computer rebooted on its own. After it rebooted completely, I logged back into Skype and in less that 10 minutes, it rebooted again !!! Needless to say, I disconnected the camera, uninstalled the software, and took the camera back to the store today. My recommendation is to stay away from the Orbit MP until Logitech fixes the bugs.
  
  
  
  
• Great camera , the best
  By A33VGXGBXKEMG1 on 2006-01-05
  I bought one from christmas and it has been awesome. Video quality is excellent, but may be too much for low speed broadband connections and software like MSN Messenger. I've yet to try it with specialized video conferencing software and better speed. Face tracking is tricky and not that useful.
  One of the things I like the most is that you can take snapshots and video (even 640x480 in very good full motion quality) in an instant, and then share it with friends right away!
  The megapixel stills are OK.
  
  
• Worst software ever!
  By A1OFGH7JQFR3RS on 2006-12-03
  This camera would be great if it actually worked. The software is garbage and I have thrown away 10 hours getting this to work. Too bad Logitech's cutomer service is only open during regular business hours instead of when people would actually use it and to make it worse everyone I talked to had no idea how to fix any of these problems. The online help area is garbage.
  
  
• Logitech should be ashamed
  By A1MQZ0MRWP1B9E on 2007-02-13
  I tried this camera with Skype and a 1.6 mhz p4. It had the CPU at 100% and the video and audio were choppy. I just tried it on my new Core 2 Duo with 2 GB of memory and it is still awful. The sound quality is poor so after fooling with all the settings I connected my old Logitech microphone. Now the audio works. The video is still iffy at best. Skype 3.0 crashes after a few minutes with the video on.
  
  
• Great webcam, easy set-up
  By A3NLVJJY96MZQN on 2007-04-07
  Whenever I read reviews for a webcam they always went from one extreme to the other; they were either great cameras with easy installation or so-so cameras with very problematic installation. I never knew what my experience would be. I found it all depends upon what computer and operating system you're using, and that you need to consider the "computer-savviness" of the user. I would rate my computer-savviness as a 5 on a scale of 1-10. I use Windows XP, with Internet Explorer 6, and had all the necessary system requirements on my computer for this webcam. One thing I would highly recommend is that you take the time to make sure your computer is updated with all the latest recommended updates! Sometimes we postpone those updates for a long time and then never get around to downloading and installing them. Now is the time to make the time for that. I spent about an hour making sure my computer was completely updated (I specifically needed Windows XP Service Pack 2 before I could even download the webcam software). I gave my computer one full night of automatic updates from Microsoft, then downloaded and installed the webcam software the next night. It was fairly easy, I must say. There are some areas that aren't too clear, but you can pretty much figure your way around the interface. I bought other Logitech webcams for family members and theirs are all installed and we're happily using them so the grandparents can see their grandson any time they want to, live, in person! The only negative I have to report is that the face tracking doesn't work great all the time; it will follow my face one time, then not follow it back - it's as if when it moves with my face it refocuses on something else in the room and then doesn't track my face anymore. But that is not a huge deal in our use, so no biggie.
  
  
• Excellent webcam, a bit overpriced but worth it
  By AMH8ONMMON40V on 2006-07-22
  I bought this webcam to replace to old webcam that went kaput. Logitech is a company I have learnt to appreciate over the years. This webcam has proven to be an excellent investment. It is well designed and allows movement of the camera/zoom in-out by simple clicks. It works well in low lighting situations, as advertised. You do need to play with it and experiment before you learn how to use it effectively. If u are unwilling/incapable to do so, then go ahead and buy a simple webcam with zero additional features. Works well with yahoo messenger. If you have a slow internet connection, I recommend that you skip this webcam, as you will not be able to use all its features.
  
  
• Pretty Cool
  By A3TZ68VQ4580EN on 2006-11-09
  I use this mainly for having web conferences. I like it because you can move around and it will follow you. It is also particularly fun because you can download add-ons so you could wear a number of things(hats, glasses, masks), and it always give the people on the other end a laugh. There are also avitars that you can sync with your facial movements, and it will move with you as well. My favorite is to have the shark talking to my friends.
  
  It takes good stills, but not as good as a digital camera. And sometimes if the area you are in is not bright enough it will not follow you. I haven't had any problems with it except for where I should place it for optimum performance. It does not lag, only if you have a slow internet connection.
  
  Great buy for someone who likes to talk to people over the web, especially if friends are over seas, hours across land. Keeps me in touch with many friends I haven't seen for ages.
  
  I recommend it, especially for people who aren't going to see each other for awhile.
  
  
• Question ?
  By A3806KUQI35922 on 2007-04-04
  I like this product at the point that the sound is clear , picture is pretty good ,but I only can communicate with one address only. Hopefully in future we will have a better product that can chat with two or three different address at the same time without drop call.
  
  THANK YOU
  
  
• I love this webcam
  By A12EBYH4RFGRO on 2007-04-11
  The camera works great and Im not experiencing the lag that some of the other people are. Also for everyone's info when I first got the camera the effects wouldnt work. I have internet explorer 7. I sent an email to logitech with the info and they informed me that the software does not work with internet explorer 7 so they posted a link in their response that had the new software that does work with internet explorer 7. Downloaded it and it works great. Awesome camera overall.
  
  
• Computer crashes every time
  By AU8WNHU4Q0GG0 on 2007-11-25
  I bought this just over two months ago and it has nearly destroyed my PC. As soon as I installed it, the following occurred:
  
  - face tracking must be manually activated every time
  - pan and tilt has never worked
  - microphone must be manually reset to Orbit MP from my default speakers every time it is in use
  - although Logitech suggests disabling the echo cancel to prevent computer crashes, it still crashes my computer
  - I have uninstalled and re-installed the camera over thirty times, as it often disables itself without warning
  - the last five times while using the camera on a Skype call, my computer crashed; the last two times, wiping out my e-mails and Picasa ( ~ 1800 photos - which are thankfully in other applications and an off-site backup)
  - CPU hog problem; even when the camera is not in use, my computer is at a crawl, despite regular maintenance
  - computer freezes minimum six times per day, even when camera is not in use
  
  If I completely uninstall all the programs/software, the computer is exceptionally fast and NEVER freezes or crashes.
  
  I use Skype: I can only use the microphone and call a landline - I dare not use the video component. The microphone, once it is working, is stable, but using the video image invariably results in a crash.
  
  As well, image quality is debatable: choppy, often pink/purple with a stripe of yellow-green down the middle of my image. And the sound quality is not good, having an "underwater" impression. If only using the microphone, the sound is slightly better.
  
  Contacting Logitech has been nothing short of frustrating: I received only one e-mail suggesting I download the latest drivers from their website (which I had already done several times). Problem? The updated software does not recognize my Skype (I am using the latest version) and even if I download Skype, it is still not recognized. So, no Skype.
  
  I wrote to Logitech customer support eight more times, and they have not responded. I asked about their warranty; still no response.
  
  Unfortunately, this is an expensive machine I cannot use. Thankfully, I kept the box and my receipt and will be returning it to the retailer - they can forward it to Logitech. As for my money, a refund, credit, whatever, I hold out no hope.
  
  Skype is also not helpful, sending me form e-mails on how to install a camera.
  
  Worse yet, Logitech and Skype are in partnership, so I will be forced to purchase another Logitech webcam.
  
  I have even notified Logitech of this review; will that help? I doubt it.
  
  Why do some have monumental problems and some have none? What a muddle and a mystery.
  
  
• Great little cam
  By A2X3CRT5GUXH07 on 2006-08-09
  Easy to operate and good focus. Just a little problem with tracking for the goofy faces but overall a nice little cam.
  
  
• DOES NOT WORK - DO NOT BUY
  By A2YEFXBOCY03Z6 on 2007-05-21
  I thought it would be neat to converse with relatives using webcam. So I looked into Skype and saw that it recommended Logitech. I ordered two of the best webcams Logitech offered and shipped one to me and one to my sister. My sister and I are both IT professionals.
  
  We wasted - I don't know how many hours trying to get this thing to work. It is very flakey. It would work and then not work. You uninstall everything, reinstall everything, it works once - and then back to not working. I would caution you to do your research carefully before ordering this item. Google "logitech QuickCam problems" and similar searches and you will see major problems.
  
  Now that the webcams are opened - we can't return them and have lost several hundred dollars.
  
  
• Negative reviews are too extreme
  By A2XZQD54R1SRTC on 2007-11-24
  The negative reviews for this product are too extreme. The main complaints are that the face-tracking doesn't work well--there's some truth to that, but reading the instructions helps a lot. Use a simple background for videos, stay at low resolution, don't jump around and face tracking is a useful addition. Problem #2 is that you can't get hold of tech help. I got a human with no waiting time at all. Much better than most companies I deal with. In the past, with other Logitech products I have also had good luck with tech help. Problem #3 is the software. The logitech person told me to download a specific version of the software because I could not pan the camera, not the oldest but not the most recent. Everything works fine with that. Admittedly, it ought to have working software the first time and the latest download should be the most functional. But at least there is a fix and the company understands the problem. Incidentally, my software has updated since I downloaded the middle-aged version and everything still works fine. The video quality is superb as is the sound. I'm very happy with this compared to other webcams I have used.
  
  
• Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP Web Cam Review
  By A2AHOD89FGG8DV on 2006-08-05
  This web camera seems working pretty good, and the video quality and audio are both doing well on this unit. Compare to other Web Camera in the market, I would think this is probably a good quality web camera in the market especially this has right light and right sound technology which will make the video quality looks good even you are not in the bright environment. One draw back on this web cam which is the camera seems have a problem to go back to the center once the camera move to other direction.
  
  

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