Ecamm Network iMage USB Webcam for Mac and Windows

List Price: $59.99 Discount Price: $57.77

Features:

• Driverless technology. No driver software is needed
• Mac OS X (10.4.3 or higher) and Windows compatible
• Lightweight, 2-inch, portable design
• Mounts on PowerBook or iBook screen
• Built-in magnetic mount

Customer Reviews:

not as reviewed [Posted on 2007-12-08]
I bought this camera based on these reviews. The quality is poor. The image is poor, which I could live with but the USB connection was also poor - it wiggles and I receive an error message that the computer has lost connection with the camera. These message will not disappear when you click OK, I have to log out. I log out and retry, usually several times to get the camera to connect. It doesn't matter which USB port I put it into. Poor quality control on the company's part. Wish I had saved my money and just purchased the iSight or saved up for a new computer with a built in videocam.

Poor performance for price range [Posted on 2007-12-11]
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R6JLFYHRQ7MUQ

Russ Walkowich - MyMac.com Review [Posted on 2008-01-06]
I use a G4 PPC MDD 867 dual with 1.5 gigs of ram...and no iSight camera. I wanted one but figured that the price would come down fairly quick but the next thing I knew, gone! So there I've been, looking at the assortment of cameras that Window's folks have but never seeing Mac compatible on the box. I know, I know, I could buy one and then purchase IOXperts Webcam Driver for Mac OS X but I thought that was just a bit much paying for a Windows webcam and then having to purchase a driver to let me use it.

Instead I decided to try eCamm's image USB Webcam, designed to work with Macs and Windows and Linux systems. This webcam delivers 640x480 video to your Mac apps that you've been dying to use a webcam with, like iChat AV, Skype, Yahoo! Messenger and a whole slew of other programs. The unit is a USB video class (UVC) camera (VGA) 1/7-inch color CCD sensor, that provides image sizes of 640 x 480 (VGA), 352 x 288 (CIF), 320 x 240 (QVGA at15 Frames Per Second Uncompressed Video. It utilizes a USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Connection (480 Mbits/s), is UVC 1.1 Compliant with Auto white balance control and Auto electronic iris control. The webcam itself is only 2" (L) x 1 3/4" (H) x 1" (W). It even comes with a threaded screw hole on the bottom if you're a perfectionist and want to mount the unit on a small tripod.






Everything that you need is included in the package. The webcam, instructions and a black cloth case to carry your unit around are in the box. You can download a Quickstart pdf from eCamm's website.


Now, as you can see, this is a small unit. The way it is set up, it will sit on the top of your laptop and stay in place, or as in my case, I have it sitting on top of one of my external hard drives. Set up is a snap, plug in the unit and install the plug-in and away you go. The plug-in provides compatibility with Apple's iChat AV. Once you've done this, position your camera where you want it and enjoy yourself. I've used the unit to do video chats with Tim Robertson and also with my son in another state. It really is so much nicer to do things "face-to- face" if you will. Before this I would have to set up my digital video camera by firewire cable to conduct a video chat. This is so much easier!

Overall, I'm very satisfied with the unit and can now wait until I get my next Mac, which will either have iSight or Apple's version of the next best thing. Consider eCamm's iMage USB Webcam as an add-on to your system if you have an older Mac and want some additional capability... all you need is a USB port. If you still have questions, go to eCamm's website and download the Quickstart pdf and see if that answers your questions.

System Requirements: Requires Mac OS X v10.4.3 or later, including Mac OS X v10.5 (Leopard)
(Mac OS X 10.3.9 is also supported via macam.), Requires USB 2.0 Hi-Speed Port, 600MHz or higher G3, G4, G5 or Intel processor. Video chat does require a microphone.

So to review

Pro: Easy to use, easy to set up, doesn't need additional software to utilize the webcam other than the iMage Plug-in software that is provided to allow additional functionality. Does exactly what they say it will do... Helps those Mac users with older Macs add video to their system.
Cons: The one problem that I had was that the video is limited to 640 x 480 and is a bit grainy. Unit does not come with a microphone, you will have to provide your own.

Still highly recommended!

My Mac rating: 4 out of 5.

Use instead of pricey iSight, works flawlessly with macs [Posted on 2008-04-11]
My powerbook g4 didn't have the built-in camera so I needed one to use with Skype for video chats. I bought this and have been very pleased with it. Been using it everyday for about 4 months or so. It is about the size of my thumb in length and about half that in height and depth. It is well thought-out having a sturdy little stand to sit on its own and uses that same stand to brace itself on top of you laptop screen. At the base are two holes if you want to mount it more permanently. I don't know too much about resolution and whatnot but it gets the job done and does it pretty well. It even comes with a little cloth carrying sac for transport in your laptop bag. I have absolutely no complaints. The best part, though, is how well it integrates itself. Just take it out of the box and plug it in... within 5 seconds there you are! Though you can download some from the website if you want for troubleshooting purposes and updates, you don't have to. Nothing additional needed. Don't want to use it? Pull it out, no issues. Easy to use, no hassles, gets the job done more than adequately for my purposes. Four stars instead of five only because at $60 it's a bit pricey. But it feels sturdy in my hand, not at all cheaply-made so I assume it will last for a long time. It does wiggle slightly in the USB port but who really cares. As long as it works, which it does problem-free.
I wanted a camera to use for my mac seamlessly and didn't want to pay the $200 or so for the isight and feel I came out ahead. Highly recommended!

The best Ever web cam [Posted on 2008-06-07]
This was the easiest web cam ever to hook up and use. I was on the web cam in 2 min after opening the box.I was pretty impressed with the quality of the picture for the price of the unit.Basicaly I plugged it in my computer and started up skype and it reconized it and I was chatting on line with picture.

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