Cameras are revolutionizing the way we use our PCs, and the WebCam Pro offers that great combination of flexibility, features, and value that inspired the trend. It also comes from the company that knows multimedia entertainment best - Creative Labs, the makers of Sound Blaster Audigy and the NOMAD line of digital audio players. The compact WebCam Pro offers a sharp 640x480 VGA color CMOS Sensor which gives your video the edge it deserves. An easy snapshot button, an included microphone for easy videoconferencing, and a new laptop attachment for simple mobility are just a few of the great new additions to this next generation Creative WebCam product.
1 Creative NX Pro Webcam
I never ownned or used a webcam in my life. This installed easily onto my HP Pavilion 4800 equipped with Windows XP Home edition software. Works great, excellent picture, and an a awesome price. An awesome webcam.
2 Decent initial buy...
Box suckered me in... (1024x768 images, 640x480 video, etc)...
Dunno if it's age now or what (1yr old?), but the quality sucks and it seems to be getting worse! Always did poor in low light, now it's really grainy and the colors are faded. I suggest staying away and, if you want a budget buy, the Logitech QuickCam is better.
3 XP Home vs XP Pro
The problems that andyfano stated were ONLY for Windows XP *PRO.* He said it worked for Windows XP Home. So, could future reviewers please specify if it's Home or Pro? It is NOT the same thing.
As for my own, I found the picture clear and could make it work fairly well in low light settings. Could be smoother, but it's all I need for video messaging. Install was fine on an XP Home computer, but I would be interested to know if anyone else has problems on Pro as another member of my family with Pro is looking to get one.
All in all, cost vs. benefit is great.
4 Good Product
I read a number of reviews and it seemed that the biggest complaint was with the installation. I don't know why. I am running Windows XP Home on a Compaq laptop and it installed fine. I had no error messages about the drivers not being compatible with XP. It took maybe 10 minutes and I was up and running. I have never used a webcam before, and am certainly not much of a computer expert so that says something about how easy this thing is to install and use. I'd definitely recommend it.
5 OK if it works, very frustrating when it doesn't.
I bought two of these to do video conferencing with my parents. I installed it on my parents machine running Windows XP Home and everything worked fine. I then tried to install it on my home machine running XP Pro and it failed to recognize the camera. I tried on a laptop running XP Pro and it failed as well. I contacted Creative both by phone and email. They tried to helpful, but in the end nothing worked.
I spent many hours trying re-installs in safe mode, adjusting the bios, removing unrecognized USB devices from the device manager, clearing INF files, and nothing worked. Even the recommended install asks that you ignore the warnings that the drivers are not approved by Microsoft. If you're running XP it warns that you not be connected to the internet when you install the updated drivers from the site. Very clumsy.
Finally I gave up, bought a Logitech QuickCam Messenger and was up and going in under 10 minutes.
6 Versatile Capable Webcam
After much homework, I decided to buy this webcam because I wanted to avoid the cheapest ones and because it can be mounted on a laptop. In fact the mounting is versatile enough that one can place this camara anywhere. It is probably wise to read the instructions prior to installation because otherwise I would have follow different steps for installation. The installation was easy and problem free on my W2k Dell laptop. The image is very sharp and colors are neutral. It performs well in low indoor light (set to backlit) although not in darkness. When making a movie, it can be save compressed. For the most part I used it with Yahoo Messanger for chatting and it performs very well. Overall, I like this product for its versatility, performance and amount of fun one can get out of it.
7 great cam
Great cam, handles bright sunlight well, slips onto a laptop screen fairly well. Very versatile, can take stills simply by touching a button ON the cam, and can also film short video clips that you can save to your pc.
8 one great little camera for computer scaredy cats
For the low price I just knew I would get a pitiful little camera but I was wrong. I installed it on my HP 510 with Windows XP and had no trouble at all.The very first picture was just as clear as it could be.It's a nice little camera and I'm pleased with it.
9 WebCam Pro
Installation on XP was problematic. Instructions are very poor. Eventually got software to "see" the camera (had to manually load a dll!). I unisntalled drivers, then went with the XP set up. It worked. Pictures/video a good for the price. I'm still experimenting with the best compression technique to minmize file size, while maximizing video quality.
Pretty good, other than the software installation.
10 Best value for the money
I bought this cam based on my needs and the reviews of others here and am glad I did. If you're looking for the best combination of value and features, this cam is for you.
If you're looking for a cam to chat with others online with, then this cam has all the features you need. You can pay twice as much (or more) for other cams with more features, and if money is no object to you then I'd spend more. But if you want solid, reliable features, then you're not going to beat the [$$$] or so you spend on this webcam.
I chose this over a Logitech model for 2 reasons. First, other reviewers complained about all but the more expensive models. Second, this was so much cheaper and offers the same features. Works with Yahoo, AOL, and MSN, and has great pics and supersize ability. Not as smooth as the more expensive models, but if you want the basics, this is for you.
Installation was easy--if you can read directions, you shouldn't have problems. I'm not going to accuse other reviewers of not being able to read, but I have Windows XP and had no problems installing at all. However, once the setup is complete, there are no other instructions...a more detailed troubleshooter would be nice. However, this is available online.
The 2 biggest features are making your own movies or using it as a live webcam. However, you can't do both simultaneously. So if you're using the camera to look at something, you won't be able to log onto yahoo webcam or any of the others...you'll have to shut it off first. Keep that in mind...took me 20 minutes to figure it out.
Enjoy this product!
11 Works great for me
Unlike a couple of the reviewers below, I had no problems installing the camera's software on Windows XP. This camera works great for me so far, and on top of that, it's relatively inexpensive.
12 Best for the money by far - worthless software
-If you want an affordable, high quality camera for video chatting over MSN or Yahoo, this is a great choice. Simply plug it in and load the drivers and you are ready to video conference. I use it to talk to my family on the other side of the globe and save on international phone bills (it's free) using my DSL line. The resolution/frame rate is higher than most other cameras in this price range. To get a Logitech camera with the same video resolution, you have to pay more than twice the price. The picture quality is also great, even in low light. In fact, I needed to dim the lights in the room because there was too much glare.
-Unfortunately, the software doesn't work. I have a Celeron 2GHz Windows XP system and the software that came with the camera couldn't detect the camera. I contacted Creative Technical support and they were very responsive, but they couldn't fix the problem. The software seemed almost like it was a beta version or somebody's incomplete homework. Fortunately, the software is not necessary because I use Yahoo/MSN messenger to video conference and Windows MovieMaker for everything the software was supposed to do and then some.
-When you chat with someone, they don't need a camera to see your live video. So you can show them how good the product is and encourage them to get one too. The frame rate is much better with MSN, but the picture is larger with Yahoo. Yahoo has a super function that enables a faster frame rate, but I haven't been able to get it to work even though I have MSN DSL.
13 Not half bad :)
Just got the webcam today. It works nice, the software isn't hard to figure out, and the picture is good quality even in my dim little dorm room. There were a few minor problems that kept me from giving it a full 5 stars.
First of all, the documentation is poor. All it has is a short quick-start guide. Second, the disk I got with all the software and drivers on it was pretty scratched up, though it ran alright. And third, the box claims that the camera can clip to the top of a laptop screen, but the clip is a little too small for my laptop. I fixed that with a little bit of poster tack stuff. :)
Finally, one quick word of warning: the software is nearly impossible to install without turning on the autorun feature of the CD-ROM drive (believe me, I tried for about 45 minutes and I couldn't figure it out).
Beyond those minor details, the webcam works like a charm and I'm really happy with it.
14 Works great!
We took the camera out of its box, plugged it in, plugged in the microphone, and Windows XP immediately installed and configured both. Within moments we were watching ourselves on screen and sending clips to our friends on the Internet. No problems, no hassles; seems like a great product.
