Rating: 
Summary: Better to not have a camera at all than to have this [junk]
Review: On the plus side, this camera was really easy to install. Andthe software looked very easy to use. And it is one of the cheapestpc cameras on the market. But why bother to buy it if all you can seeis a big blur --even in decent lighting? And why has IBM even putsomething so useless out on the market? If you look on the back ofthe box, you'll see a sample of the software with really sharppictures. Don't be fooled, those sharp bright pictures were not evercreated with this camera! If they showed a truely realisticdemonstration of this camera on the back of the package, you would seedark, grey, blurry images. If you want a pc camera spend a littlemore if you have to, but get something that actually works. Don't buythis.
Rating:
Summary: Xirlink is a horrible company
Review: The camera is OK at best due to poor software. The manufacturer is Xirlink which is an awful company to deal with. Support is poor. Whatever you do, do not purchase this camera and think that you will receive a rebate. They will not honor it. The rebates are handled by an even worse company, Insight. Don't buy it!
Rating: 
Summary: IBM PC Camera USB - 33L4889
Review: The camera itself works quite well with focus up to one foot from the object. The software that comes with unit is lacking. Even Microsoft's NetMeeting is more feature rich than what comes bundled. USB bandwidth is acceptable unless you use other high bandwidth devices like scanners or media drives during live video. Plan on scaling your frames and rate down if are multitasking. The hardware installed on all flavors of Microsoft Windows 95 and 98 and also worked on beta versions of upcoming Microsoft operating systems. You will not find this product on IBM's site, it is OEMed from another vendor. The same essential camera was offered to new subscribers of Earthlink but was the serial port version. This one suffered due to serial port bandwidth limitations.
Rating:
Summary: Blurry Blurry Blurry Blurry Motion
Review: The IBM PC Camera is one of those cameras that gives web cameras and video conferencing a bad rap. It hardly qualifies as a "video" web cam because the video produced by this camera is similar to setting a camcorder to 1/8 second shutter speed, which produces very blurred motion. Unless you plan on staying very still--and I mean very still--, you're better of paying more money for a better camera. Even lip motion and quick facial expressions are blurred.
The video is not very flattering at all to the person in front of the camera. The image has a subtle but noticeable pink tint. Skin tones are washed out. These are desirable features in a web cam if you don't want to be seen well.
Furthermore, IBM has discontinued support for this camera. In fact, if you go to the IBM web site and try to search for drivers, you will not find any. I had to use a search engine to search for "IBM PC Camera Support" in order to find the correct web site that still offers the last drivers ever written for this camera in October of 2001. Don't buy this camera. And if you're using one today, do your chat buddies a favor and upgrade.
Rating: 
Summary: Effective to my standers...
Review: The whole reason I wanted to buy a PC cam in the first place was to talk to relatives and friends. When I tried to install the cam, I ran into a few problems (like you usually do in most software the first time you install it) but the troubleshooting guide was helpful and I got it working. The picture was satisfying, You can obviously tell who you are talking to. My only real complaint is the resolution. Its a little slow, in fact I can see myself blink on the monitor. So if you want to get this cam just to chat with friends, I say buy it, it's fairly cheap. But if you want high quality data for experiments for example get something better.
Rating:
Summary: Terrible... don't waste your money!
Review: This camera is terrible. The manual focus does not work at all. Under normal light, the picture quality is acceptable, but really poor under low light. The software included is extremely poor, and the technical support from Xirlink (the maker of the camera) is worse. I tried using the camera on both Win98 and Mac, the Win98 driver works but I had to download a 3rd-party software for the capturing to work. On the Mac side, the driver provided is from 1996(!) - what a joke. For the money, you're better off getting the Logitech or the Kensington for a little more. This camera will only give you big headaches.
Rating:
Summary: Why was this camera made???
Review: This Camera is terrible. The quality sucks and it barely worked. When tryin to have a video conference it would freeze up and mess up the whole program. Any amount of money is way too much to be asking for this garbage. DON'T BUY!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Don't EVER buy one of these.
Review: This is possibly the worst "webcam" that has ever existed on this planet. For starters, unless you are using the camera in bright (and I mean solar-flare bright) light, you probably won't even get a recognizable image. Most of the time what you will see on your screen is a black and red mess moving at approximately 2 fps. Two frames every second is obviously way too slow for any kind of video, and the optics in this camera make it unsuitable even for still snapshots. I originally purchased this cam because it was one of those free-after-rebate deals, but even the sales tax I had to pay was too much for this piece of junk. If you want a usable webcam, buy a Logitech.
Rating:
Summary: Don't EVER buy one of these.
Review: This is possibly the worst "webcam" that has ever existed on this planet. For starters, unless you are using the camera in bright (and I mean solar-flare bright) light, you probably won't even get a recognizable image. Most of the time what you will see on your screen is a black and red mess moving at approximately 2 fps. Two frames every second is obviously way too slow for any kind of video, and the optics in this camera make it unsuitable even for still snapshots. I originally purchased this cam because it was one of those free-after-rebate deals, but even the sales tax I had to pay was too much for this piece of junk. If you want a usable webcam, buy a Logitech.
Rating:
Summary: I've been happy with it
Review: This isn't any worldbeater, but if you just want to take some vain pictures of yourself and send the odd v-mail -- which is all I do -- this camera should be adequate. If you're looking for a video conferencing beastie, look elsewhere. The model I have is, evidently, the 33L4890, instead of the '89. I can't imagine there's much difference -- whichever one of IBM's camera's you pick, you won't get much support from Big Blue; it's outsourced to the hodgepodge of hardware and software developers who contributed to the package. If you don't expect too much, you'll be happy. If you need the damn thing to do as you tell it, spend more money.
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