Summary

If you're sick of the same old webcam design, the Logitech QuickCam Orbit will breathe life into your online chatting. It looks techy-elite, offers good image quality, is compatible with all major instant messengers, and sports a great list of features. Even though you'll pay a premium price with an MSRP of $129.95, you'll be getting a premium product.

Functionally, it provides every feature you could want in a webcam. While the software could use some refinements and the mechanics are a bit distracting, the Orbit is fine product where it counts.

Full Review

Introduction

With webcams are bordering on passé, Logitech has breathed life into the product category with a unique design that looks both retro and modern at the same time. Aesthetically, it is the most modern and elegant looking webcam we have come across.

The Orbit features a camera enclosed in a glossy black orb that sits atop a nine-inch-high stand at your eye level. With Logitech's innovative face tracking technology, the Orbit automatically turns left, right, up and down and follows your face as you move.
 
Design and Features
 
Webcams are almost a thing of the past. Leave it to Logitech to breathe new life into the market by introducing what might be considered the all-around best webcam to date.

The first thing everyone notices when they see the QuickCam Orbit is its unique design. When detached from its base, the Orb can be placed on an extension stalk, placing it nine inches above the base. While it looks like something out of a Star Trek episode, the extended stand serves a purpose; to align the webcam with the user's face.

The QuickCam Orbit features a nice long nine-foot USB 2.0 connection and is backwards compatible with USB1.1. In the two computers we tested the Orbit with, the USB 1.1 connection took considerably longer to recognize the camera the first time it was plugged in, but had no other limitations.

For image capture, the maximum resolution supported for still images is 1280x960 pixels which is about 1.3 megapixels. Video capture is limited to 640x480, however most instant messengers support up to only 320x240 anyway. The camera features a digital zoom that goes up to 300% at 20% increments. Audio is provided by a built-in unidirectional microphone.

With both Mac and PC compatibility and easy integration with most instant messengers, the QuickCam Orbit will appeal to a wide range of users.

The Logitech QuickCam Orbit is both functional and stylish.

Use and Testing

The most interesting feature of the camera is the computer controlled panning and tilting. The Orbit can pan 128 degrees, and tilt 54 degrees. The included software has a control pad that lets you move it in any direction, plus activates the face-tracking feature.

Some users may be distracted by the noise of the mechanics required to pan and tilt the device. We found this mildly irritating and did notice the sound bleeding in on video captures and in the video on the receiver's end.

Face-tracking does just what it sounds like: tracks the user's face. While the feature could use some polishing, it worked moderately well. If we passed a hand in front of our face, the camera would sometimes attempt to follow it, instead of maintaining focus on our face. Also, the brightness and gamma settings must be made just right for the face tracking to work well.

Another annoyance is that the camera always returns to front and center when the computer is restarted. It would be nice for it to remember its last position, since you will most likely be sitting in the same position the next time you have a conversation.

The included software allows for manipulation of all the usual suspects: contrast, brightness, and saturation. There's also a low light filter, color boost, gamma slider, shutter speed, gain, and white balance. Other options include horizontal and vertical mirroring, black and white mode, and ‘flickerless' mode.

All the options have automatic setup options, but we found those settings to result in a washed-out image that is tinted blue and too bright. The QuickCam control panel allows the user to launch MSN, Yahoo!, and AOL instant messengers, as well as send ‘video email'. There's also a quick setup wizard for creating a webcam, a Quick Capture program, and access to the My Logitech Pictures folder, where captured images and video are automatically stored.

We tested the webcam with all three messengers as well as Trillian, and all worked flawlessly. Images were slightly washed out, but the image quality was exceptional for the Orbit's size and purpose. While we felt image quality could have been better, it served its purpose. The software required a couple reinstallations before we realized that it needed several minutes to fully detect the QuickCam the first time it was plugged in. After that, the camera was detected flawlessly.

Conclusions

If you're sick of the same old webcam design, the Logitech QuickCam Orbit will breathe life into your online chatting. It looks techy-elite, offers good image quality, is compatible with all major instant messengers, and sports a great list of features. Even though you'll pay a premium price with an MSRP of $129.95, you'll be getting a premium product.

Functionally, it provides every feature you could want in a webcam. While the software could use some refinements and the mechanics are a bit distracting, the Orbit is fine product where it counts.

Specs

The Stylish Way to Get Closer

• Keep the camera on you with the mechanical pan-and-tilt technology and automatic face-tracking software
• Make better eye contact thanks to the nine-inch stand
• Enjoy the sleek styling and black design
• Add video to MSN® Messenger or video-enabled Yahoo!® Messenger and Windows® Messenger
• Make live video calls
• Shoot high-quality videos and photos at 640x480 resolution
• Email video and photos easily
• Get closer with a digital zoom
• Speak your mind with the built-in microphone
• Set up a web cam
• 2-year limited hardware warranty
• Works with both PC and Mac OS® X (see below for more information)
• Works with both USB 2.0 and 1.1

Product Specifications

• Video capture: Up to 640 x 480 pixels
• Still image capture: Up to 1280 x 960 pixels
• Frame rate: Up to 30 frames per second (with recommended system)
• Mechanical pan and tilt feature allows the webcam to physically turn 128 degrees side-to-side (for an almost 180-degree horizontal view), and 54 degrees up-and-down (for an almost 90-degree vertical view)

Package Contents:

• Logitech QuickCam Orbit camera
• Mechanical pan & tilt feature
• Built-in microphone
• Base
• 9-inch Stand
• High-quality VGA CCD sensor
• 9-foot USB cable
• Logitech QuickCam software

Applications for Windows®:

• Live video integrated with MSN® Messenger
• Works with video-enabled Yahoo!® Messenger
• Live video calls with Windows® Messenger
• Automatic face-tracking software keeps you in view
• Digital zoom software
• QuickCapture photos and videos software
• One-click video email software
• Web camming made easy

Applications for Mac OS® X:

• Works with video-enabled Yahoo!® Messenger
• Capture high-resolution photos
• Record high-quality videos
• Automatic face-tracking
• Digital zoom software

Minimum System Requirements: PC

• Windows® 2000, Windows® Me, Windows® XP
• Pentium II 400, Celeron™, AMD Athlon® processor, or higher (Pentium III 500, Celeron, AMD Athlon processor recommended).
• 64 MB RAM (or minimum OS requirement, whichever is higher).
• 200 MB free hard drive space
• CD-ROM drive
• 16-bit color display adapter
• Available USB 1.1 or 2.0 port
• Windows® compatible sound card and speakers (full duplex sound card recommended)

Minimum System Requirements: Mac

• Mac OS®X 10.1.5 - 10.2.6
• 128 MB RAM
• Mac OS®X 10.2 requires Power Mac® G3, G4, G4 Cube; iMac®; PowerBook G3, G4; iBook®; or eMac™ computer, at least 128 MB of physical RAM and a built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card.
• Available USB port

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