Webcam

[jimmydash]

I’ve bought a cheap Acer laptop brand-new 400 quid but the WebCam is useless can anybody suggest a cheap alternative WebCam and do I need to replace the VGA card as well?

[devnull]

The general gold standard for webcams is usually anything by Logitech. I would normally suggest that for a noticeable bump in quality from a cheapo laptop you should get a C920 Webcam (or the C922). They’ll use the USB port on the laptop and you don’t need to fuss with anything else.

However, rather like fitness equipment, covid has basically made any decent webcam permanently out of stock or 4x the price. Amazon has lots of no-name cheapo webcams, some offer 1080p capability like the C920, but I’ve never tested them.

[outnumbered]

I tried a Chinese noname one and the microphone was utter ste so it went back. Ended up with the cheapest Logitech I could get, it's only 720p, but the mic is good, and video good enough for my casual use. Think it was about £45.

[Funk]

devnull said:

The general gold standard for webcams is usually anything by Logitech. I would normally suggest that for a noticeable bump in quality from a cheapo laptop you should get a C920 Webcam (or the C922). They’ll use the USB port on the laptop and you don’t need to fuss with anything else.

However, rather like fitness equipment, covid has basically made any decent webcam permanently out of stock or 4x the price. Amazon has lots of no-name cheapo webcams, some offer 1080p capability like the C920, but I’ve never tested them.

The C920 is a good camera at a sensible price, I use one for WFH. At the office we use (and sell) JPL Vision+ cameras - they're very good, the only thing I'm not a fan of is the very wide field of view which is larger than the Logitech's. Other than that they're very decent cameras although not worth the premium over the Logitech imo. So why do we sell them..? They're available - and Logitech's stock availability has been intermittent since the first lockdown so something's better than nothing.

[Welshbeef]

One of our laptops the cam went wrong so was thinking new laptop but instead Amazon £24 for a plug and play webcam job down and it’s far better quality.

[ZesPak]

tbh anything you plug in will probably be better than your standard laptop cam.
But yes, can't go wrong with logitech. They pop in and out of stock now, selling out within a day. Best set an alert on a retailer and buy as it comes in stock.

[Scrump]

I use a Logitech 270, recommended.

[hellorent]

Have a look at droidcam

[ArsE82]

hellorent said:

Have a look at droidcam

This. Or EPOCCAM.

[ZesPak]

hellorent said:

Have a look at droidcam

While this absolutely works while in a pinch, I wouldn't advise using it as a semi-permanent solution.
The high battery drain (camera, wifi) together with charging will really impact your battery.

[Funk]

ZesPak said:

hellorent said:

Have a look at droidcam

While this absolutely works while in a pinch, I wouldn't advise using it as a semi-permanent solution.
The high battery drain (camera, wifi) together with charging will really impact your battery.

Agreed - I'd only ever use this if it were the last resort over a decent USB webcam.