Intel's PC Camera Pro is a videophone plus a complete suite of integrated software for those who want to do more with their camera.The Intel PC Camera Pro comes with a plenty of cool software: Intel Email Postcard; Intel Home Page Builder; Intel Movie Builder; Intel Auto Snapshot; Intel Scene Recorder; Intel Gallery; Intel Audio Recorder; Intel Picture Manager; MGI PhotoSuite LE; Microsoft NetMeeting; PC Games.With the help of this camera you can personalize your email with video images, snapshots and audio; capture motion-triggered or time-interval pictures that can be saved to a disk, posted to personal home pages or automatically sent through email; capture video clips and audio, and etc.
Designed for a desktop or laptop PC, the Intel Pro PC camera is a full-featured USB camera with bundled software that lets you record audio, video, or still images for use in e-mail postcards, movies, and Web sites. In addition you can easily plug a VCR or camcorder into the video-in plug on the back of the camera to edit home movies on your PC and then post them on your Web page, or e-mail them to friends and family.
Using a progressive-scan CCD image sensor and a four-layer glass and plastic lens, the camera captures clear, 24-bit, 16.8 million-color still images at 640 x 480 resolution. It also takes 640 x 480-resolution video clips at up to 30 frames per second for full-motion video. Featuring a focus depth of 1 inch to infinity, the camera includes a dial for manually adjusting the image clarity as you change distance from an object. Simply press a button to capture snapshots or start recording video clips.
With its removable tilt-swivel base, the camera can rest on any flat surface, or you can disconnect the base to expose the tripod socket for more versatility. You can also set your camera to take motion-detection or timed-interval snapshots automatically. A generous 9-foot cable provides plenty of latitude for camera placement, and a lens cover protects the lens.
Intel provides a one-year parts and labor warranty on the camera.
1 Good for what it is designed for
the quality of this webcam is great with one of the best video outputs. I have tried it with yahoo and MSN messenger, and everyone says my video quality is great!
The include software is not very good, but you don't really need it. I use Photoshop to get still image, though the still image quality is not very good.
2 Going on 3 years now...
I got this web cam as a gift almost 3 years ago. I still use it! It's dropped in price by quite a bit since then. Briefly, here are the main features worth mentioning. ^_^
You can record videos, and crop out parts from the beggining/end. For me the frames per second rate was always quite slow. Making videos of my daughter for her father was out of the question. The cam would freeze on one frame or blur too bad to see anything. Move in slow motion when making a video.
There is a autosnap feature. Set the refresh time, add a caption (pick the font, color, size, put it on the top or bottom, and select an optional time format) if you want, then pose while the camera takes a autoshot. Be warned, it saves over the previous picture so turn off the autosnap and resave the first one under a different name if you want to keep it.
Pictures can be saved to a certain file on your hard drive, upload via FTP, onto a disk, or to e-mail.
It has sticky tape at the bottom of the stand (I haven't used it, don't plan to) and is very easy to change the camera's angles. There's also a purple button on top of the cam, push it to take a picture (when the snapshot program is open) rather than having to use your mouse.
The settings are easy to reach and easier to change. If you don't know about the settings than change them one at a time and don't save if you don't like the effect. The light in the room will also effect how the image turns out. Keep that in mind.
It comes with pointless games that waste space (play them instead of staring off into space if you get bored). Your cam must be on to play them.
A family member dropped my webcam several times and even tried to open the case up. It still works perfectly for the most part. Every now and then when it would heat up it would get horizontal lines scrolling up across the cam image, or a weird tint (like green or purple). That was a major annoyance. It hasn't done that in a long time thankfully.
I really like this webcam. As long as videos aren't important to you, give it a try!
3 Killer!!
I'm sure there are better cameras out there, but for the price, this is top of the line. The video input is extremely handy, plug the audio into your sound cards audio input and BOOM, you can transfer any of your videos to your computer. Intel is an A1 company and they have yet to disappoint.
4 Awesome!!!
I have had my pc pro cam for almost 3 yrs now. It has fallen off my pc many times and still is working like a charm!!! It has a great picture quality and everyone compliments on how clear the picture is. I truly believe that this is best cam that I have come across in the web cam world, and everyone else who views my cam says the same also. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is thinking of buying a cam.
5 Okay, could be better
I hope this is not one of the best in it's class, but it does the job. The pics are grainy in low light, but at least you can get a picture without having to turn on every lamp in the house. It adjusts pretty good, but color varies widely depending on the source of light. If I have the window open in full daylight, all the white's turn pink? The software is mostly useless for anything I wanted to do with it. A contrast slider would be nice! Would be fun if they included a stop-motion animation software package, or maybe some sort of movement or facial recognition module, but instead, you get a couple dumb ball-bouncing games that get boring after about 2 minutes. The manual focus works, but autofocus wouldn't hurt either. Gotta be a better cam for the price.
6 Its ... with XP Pro
I had this cam with ME and it was great. Great vidio and all that. Never has worked too well with Netmeeting though. I have a fast PC and a broadband connection. I upgraded to XP Pro only to find that XP could not start the camera...ever. After looking on the net, I found that in order to use this with XP Pro, you had to go to Intels site and get XP drivers(some ... said XP had drivers built in....NO WAY!). After jacking with Intels ... driver, I got XP to see the cam. Now, the cam locks up my PC and I get a memory dump every time I try to use it. I quit using ...Netmeeting due to the fact that even though it ships with XP, it is not intended to be used. You have to "activate" it to even see it in the OS. This cam freezes with yahoo and Netmeeting all the time. A friend says its ok on his XP Home PC, But is worthless with XP Pro. Due to the system crashes with XP and,Intels ... support I give this item the coveted "2 flushes and I hope its gone " award... at least on MY XP PRO box...Use it with ME or 98.
7 Support and product will end..
This product and all other Intel brand cameras will no longer be sold after 3/02 and no longer supported after 9/03. ...
I never got webcam working as a PC video phone when I had 28.8 dial up. I haven't tried it since getting DSL. Other features are great. Support was always bad (in my opinion). Users will have to support it themselves in chat rooms and message posts since these were pretty good products that a lot of people bought them(including me, since it was offered through Dell computer). I'm a little surprised at the discontinuation.
8 Don't bother it you use XP
Functionaly, works fine, once you get it working. The software included is not supported by Windows XP. You must go through a whole annoying process to receive your updated software. I submitted the request five weeks ago and have not received it yet and don't bother trying to call customer service, you would be better spending your time asking the camera itself for help.
9 Not a good experience
My experiences were also not good. I installed on a Win 98 machine, found there were a couple drivers in the .cab files that I needed, extracted and install went fine. The next step was to register for a service for internet conferencing...still not a problem. According to the help, I should call myself and it should return a busy signal...not the case. Place a test call brings up an Intel web page where you can supposedly place a test call. Did that one a half dozen times with no success. Changed configurations and played for a few hours and a few more test calls that went nowhere. Called tech support four times - long distance (916) - endless time on hold and I gave up waiting. I never ended up speaking to someone. Email responses were few and far between - reason: busy because of the holidays. And when they did reply it was something that had nothing to do with my issue like choppy picture or dropped connection when I could not even make a simple test call. Said maybe firewall issue told them I had PacBell DSL - tell me if that is an issue - no response from technical support. Proptly returned it to Circuit City...looking for another solution.
10 Buy the newer PRO VIDEO model instead!
I've only used the camera for a day or two. It works as advertized. However, there are small differences to be aware of before ordering. Intel has made several versions that look the same and have similar names. I mistakenly ordered the "Intel Pro PC Camera" (model CS430) instead of the "Intel Pro Video PC Camera" (model CS431). :-(
The differences are that the 2nd one has newer software and a built-in microphone.
11 Works ok for XP downloading drivers BUT webphone doesnt !!!
This camera looks great, it works great when you download the drivers from intel.com for windows XP.. You can take pics, videos, play some games, etc.. BUT: You cannot talk with the webphone included, it doesnt even work with other webphones i downloaded, it is not compatible with win98 users if you have XP.. If you have XP, i dont recommnd it.. I cant talk online.. i can only send a little postcard..
12 Very Pleased!
It works great with my PC (Windows 98). I just love the fact you can capture images from your CamCorder! It takes a little practice knowing exactly when to snap a capture but I'm very happy!
On my Laptop it is a bit tempermental. For me to use it I have to open "Adjust Video" and choose external, then switch back to the Intel camera option....works like a charm then.
I'm very happy with the quality of the images. I was using a color quick cam and this is a huge improvment, even in low light.
13 Definitely worth the money.
This cam is completely plug and play - install the software, plug it in, and you're set. I've tried several other cameras, and they all had major image quality problems. The image quality from this camera is almost perfect, though. The software tends to stop responding and it hogs quite a bit of memory, but that's a small price to pay for such a great webcam.
14 Warning for XP Users!! But Neat Features.
This is my second Intel product and my second run in with their terrible support, which I wouldn't expect from a company like Intel. So I give five stars for the product and zero stars for the support.
The issue here is that this camera didn't come with drivers or software to run on Windows XP. And unlike other consumer product companies that let you download XP drivers, Intel makes you send away for software and PAY (...) for the privilege. Who wants to pay and wait that long when they could just make them available conveniently by download? That is inexcusable and arrogant.
That aside, the camera is a great camera. The best part is that it allows you to attach a VCR and download video onto your PC. I used it to download my wedding video and put clips on my web site. That is a feature most cameras don't have and I applaud Intel for taking the extra step.
ADDENDUM: Since first writing this, Intel has made the drivers available by download and the software available on CD for free. Obviously they were getting a lot of heat. But I can't ignore the fact that their first instinct was so wrong, so I'm still holding it against them and keeping my three star rating.
15 Waiting for the (...) thing to work
[I tried to] install [it] on an Windows XP computer running and Athlon 1600XP processor. First install didn't work and I had to MANUALLY delete files because the uninstaller wouldn't take the files out. Second install worked, kind of. Image was less than desirable, didn't support NetMeeting, basically got a cheesy app.
Looking for answers I went to the Intel Website and found an "upgrade" (read "PATCH") for WinXP that I could have for $6. Ordered it, came in four days, and loaded it up. Didn't work, no drivers came with it, didn't see the hardware (XP did, but no drivers...).
After an hour and a half long distance on MY DIME with their "support center", it went through three levels of escalation and now "the engineers are taking a look at it and they'll get back to me".
This may be a good product, but I don't know yet. Talk about vaporware!
16 Camera good - support bad.
In my own words, a letter I sent Intel.
--------------------------------------
Dear Support,
I called tonight to try to get a copy of the driver for the Pro PC Camera. I was told the driver was not available as they had no copies of that CD available to them, could not be placed on an ftp for me to download as the server would not allow them to do this, and could not be emailed to me as the firewall would not allow attachments. I was told the only way for me to receive this necessary file was for me to order another CD. So I was given the phone number to the distribution center (as the tech was ALSO unable to transfer) which I called.
It was closed.
I called back and was once again transferred to tech support. Once again I got a tech that was unable to help me. I asked how often they received this request and she said "All the time." It seems to me that placing this file on the website would save you many calls in the queue. The Windows 2000 drivers are readily available for download, but not the Windows 9x drivers. Why is this?
I do not want or need the Create and Share software, any of the other goodies on that CD, or even the CD itself. All I require is a small file to make this camera work, yet Intel seems unwilling to supply this to me.
Please contact me with a resolution to this problem.
Ben Grogan
17 Views From VTC Technician
This camera is about as good as you can get for the price. This is the third Intel PC cam that I have purchased, the others were OPCON (operationally controlled) by friends here in Europe who were impressed with it's performance. Not only do you have the option of videoconferencing over the web you can also use it to to make dial up point to point video calls, something that very few, if any PC cams offer. If you take a little time to experiment with this product you can find a thousand uses. I have tried the Logitech, Creative, Kodak DVC and other cams and found them to be outclassed by the Intel Camera. There are better cams out ther for (dollar amount) or more but for under (dollar amount) you can't beat the Intel!!!!!
Ton Frac
18 Not that good for my needs
This was a gift off of my wishlist and was estactic when I got it. I had trouble installing it, and my dad had trouble installing it as well. We finally got it installed after 2 hours.
The autosnap feature was fun to play around with. But it wouldn't automatically upload on any of my servers. I configured it correctly too. Doing this manually can be quite tedious if you change it as often as I used to (couple times an hour).
The quick snap feature is easy and simple! However, I noticed I had to have the intel "page" opened just to use it. I normally have too many screens opened as it is.
The light quality changes depending how much movement there is and how close an object is to it. The farther away the more light (which can lead to no noses and white skin if you have a medium or light skin tone) and the closer up the darker it turns out to be (which can make flaws like acne or scars more visable).
The caption option is better then my previous web cam's, but not as good as others I've seen (such as captions going sideways, not just on the top or bottom).
I do not reccomend this cam for making fan signs or being in cam portals (unless you don't mind manually changing it).
All and all, it is not that good for the price (for my needs and uses, at least). I'd return it if it wasn't a gift.
19 Caveat Emptor
I purchased the Pro PC camera to use to upload shapshots to my (existing) FrontPage-generated website on an ISP which is not one of AOL,AT&T,Compuserv or Prodigy. After fooling around with it for 3 weeks and calling Intel and Microsoft (Intel's customer service attitude is incredibly bad), I have determined that very probably the "Create and Share" software shipped with the camera will NOT WORK on any ISP except for the four mentioned above. It certainly doesn't work with FrontPage-generated websites. So...buyer beware! If you want to use a different function, or you are as subscriber to one of the above services, you may be OK. Otherwise, better try another camera.
20 A 4 hour nightmare
I spent hours trying to install it on WIN 98 with no luck. Then I was trying to install on the WIN 2000 laptaop and found it does not support 2000! With the 2000 series getting ever popular, can you imaging this?
Another trip to the store to return it, I am afraid.
21 Not really worth it
The create and share software is the most useless piece of garage I've ever seen. To make a long frustrating story short. This software is not compatable with Direct X8. However, systems running DX7 or less will find no installation problems. Intel does not have a fix for this bug.After finally setting up the cam on a pc that it wasn't intended for ( running dx7 was the only difference between the 2 systems ) The video quality was ok. Not much better then a low cost cam. Lots of light is still needed for a sharp image. The snap shot feature I really like. Not having a mic was a little disappointing. Over all. Stay way from this cam unless you plan on running dx7 for the life of the cam or until intel comes up with a patch. There are better out there. This isn't one of them
22 great camera, software needs some work
Short and sweet... This camera is great, hardware-wise. The image looks good, and the automatic light adjustment works well. Capturing video at 320x240 is smooth.
Installation is true plug and play. This camera is Microsoft WHQL logo'd and drivers are included with Windows ME and XP. No installation of the included software is necessary. If you have Windows 2000 you will need to download drivers from the Intel web site. This is a bad thing for people who actually want to use the included software, as it will not install or work in Window 2000, the downloadable drivers are bare bones. This is not so bad, as the included software is not too hot anyway, and netmeeting and windows movie maker or media encoder work great. Windows media encoder is a free download from Microsoft.
The camera is well priced and beats all the other cameras out there for OS support and quality. Yes, even the Intel Pocket Camera. Pick up this camera for a low price and there is also the rebate which makes it a steal. If you are even slightly considering getting a webcam, go for this one. You will put it to good use if you plan on running Windows XP in the near future, as the built in Windows Messenger software makes it really easy to have video chats with friends or family.
23 Very Nice
I got this camera as a birthday gift and let me tell you i think this is my 5th or 6th webcam and the best one by far. It adjust to light very well and was all around great!
24 After A Long Search, Perfect Cam
Well, I searched around a bit, and also took a look at friends cams in their homes and other friends output of their cams online.
The problem with most webcams is that they really are horrible, but since they are very inexpensive, many people get tricked into buyin the cheapest one, I mean, a cam is a cam right? Wrong.
Most cams offer poor lighting features, poor color, lousy picture, and their software is lame at best.
This cam worked immediately out of the box, has great software and within minutes, you can send a link to a friend and they can see you like that!
The software included, gives you the option to turn your PC into a video server, which in these days of broadband, is a great option.
You can also set up a motion detector feature, so that when you are away, if anything moves within the camera range it can do several things with the image. One, it can save the image(s) to disk, or email the picture to a selected email account, or upload it to a web page.
I found all of these options worked well, except the upload part. There was limited documentation on how this worked, but I tried it with a FrontPage website, no luck. Tried it via FTP, no luck. I did manage to get it to upload to an AOL web account (members AOL space) which is fine for my needs. I may have not set it up correctly for the other features, but it was fairly basic: FTP username, pass and location, so I am not sure how I could screw that up.
The camera adapts well to low light, and with a little tweaking, you could probably get a clear picture under candle light :)
I must say, I was very impressed with this product, and it just goes to show, that if you do enough research on your purchase, you have a great chance of being satisfied with it. The reviews for this cam, helped greatly in my final decision to purchase the cam.
A++
25 Cheap, Easy to Install, and Good Quality
I got the Intel Pro PC Camera, it was everything I expected. I loaded the CD that came with it, no brainer. Then plugged the Intel Pro PC Camera into a POWERED USB port (at first I plugged it into the spare USB port on my keyboard and it didn't work). And within minutes I was sending video email to my friends. I experienced none of the problems mentioned in some of the other reviews. I am only guessing but the performance of the Intel Pro PC Camera may depend on the quality/power of your PC. My processer, RAM, and video card are top flight. And I use a cable modem, 1M instead of 56K. Anyway, I like it so much I think I will buy each of my remote family members one for next Christmas. I was not expecting Hollywood quality pictures from a [$] web cam, but even so I am really impressed. It delivers a much better picture than I thought possible. Again, keep in mind, I am running a Matrox Millennium G400 AGP video card with 32M of video memory, a NEC monitor, and 256K PC133 RAM running Windows98SE. In experimenting with different PCs, I found that the quality of pictures often has nothing to do with your software but rather hardware like your video card, your monitor, and your RAM.
26 May be nice if you can install it!
I have the OS windows ME and have been unable to compelte an installation of this camera! Even with the able assistance of the Dell technicians (who need not have helped at all in my opinion since the problem wasn't with their 4100 machine) some items never register. There is a patch available for ME systems -- but it didn't work either.
My next step may be to try and sell the thing on Ebay.
27 A great webcam
This is my second webcam and is a massive improvement on my first (a Logitech). The image quality is excellent and it works well in poor light (which is where most webcams fall down).
Physically, it has a good stand, so that it wont topple, a sliding door to protect the lens when not in use, and a focus dial.
The software bundle is comprehensive, with useful snap shot and video clip software. There is also video conferencing software, which is not worth using as it requires the same software at both ends of the call - surely its simpler to use MS Netmeeting, which anyone with a webcam already has installed.
And there are some webcam games which I havent tried.
My only negative is that the cam is not as manoeverable as the "ball" type that swivel around to all angles
For the money, this is the best cam currently on the market.
28 Keeping in touch with my friends
I originally bought this camera to keep in touch with one of my friends who moved away. Now I am also using it to take digital pictures and chat in video chat rooms. The quality of the pictures is very good, and they print out nicely. The installation was simple and it included free video-conferencing/picture taking software. Overall this one is a great buy and I am very happy with it.
