Web camming / video conferencing

pj · 16-10-2005, 05:15 PM

Hi all

I could do with some advice, especially for those who've used or are using web camming to keep in touch with friends/family back in the UK.

To help ease the pain of going to far away from home, we intend to install a web cam at my partners parent's house so we can see/talk to them when we get to Melbourne.

Mac loving mates tell us their facilities at the best there is in terms of picture quality and no/little delay. However, I've recently bought a laptop and wandered if it's a waste of money buying a mac as well.

We want something that's reasobly simple to use, intend on having broadband installed both ends so what else do we need to know and what are your experiences?

Thanks in advance as these computer sellers are confusing the hell out of us.

Pj xx

bob and ginnie · 17-10-2005, 12:36 AM

Just get someone in Melbourne . . . or Australia / New Zealand . . . to webcam you to test the performance. Obviously, broadband will deliver a faster and better quality piccie than the old dial-up, but you can experiment between the different systems offering voice and/or image, such as MSN Messenger, Yahoo! or AIM.

Sydney Boy · 03-03-2006, 09:55 AM

see my comments on a similar subject under the videoconference subject forum.

D-link make a stand alone box that you connect to an ethernt port on a broadband modem and your parents TV. Broadband modem must be a ethernet port not USB for this D-link box. Its called i2eye and costs a couple of hundred GB pounds.

bob and ginnie · 05-03-2006, 10:33 PM

Skype, a Dutch communications company, have just brought out a new version of their person to person communicating system via the internet. Download Skype 2 for webcamming.
The early version . . . . Skype 1 . . . was only for talking over the microphone, but now the webcam version is up and running, you can communicate that way.
My mates are starting to use it talk to each other over the net in Adelaide here. Each of them has broadband, otherwise the image is very slow and only about one frame every couple of seconds or so. Broadband downloads the images of the webcam much faster and it looks like watching someone on TV if the broadband is fast enough.
www.skype.com

choobs · 06-03-2006, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pj

Hi all

Mac loving mates tell us their facilities at the best there is in terms of picture quality and no/little delay. However, I've recently bought a laptop and wandered if it's a waste of money buying a mac as well.

Pj xx

They're telling the truth - the videoconferencing offered by iChat on the mac is way superior to anything offered by windows. If you already have a PC though, I'm not sure it's worth justifying another 1k for a mac just for that.

Cheers

John

swoop · 09-04-2006, 05:44 PM

Hi,

We use a webcam on a PC to talk to all our friends and family back home using skype, MSN and Yahoo messaging. They all work absolutely fine through the PC and I can highly recommend it.

Temptininnit · 13-04-2006, 09:23 AM

This camera is getting good reviews from users, it's very cheap and many are saying it out performs the £40 logitech etc.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...197333-2188630

It's a USB Playstation camera but you can use it on a PC by doing the following.

http://tjworld.net/help/kb/0008_Eyetoy.html

Voila