Creative Live Cam inPerson HD

Creative Live! Cam inPerson HD

While a number of HD webcams hit the market last year, Skype didn't certify any of those for HD chats. The Creative Live! inPerson HD webcam is notable for being Skype HD certified, supporting H.264 hardware encoding and delivering smooth, high-definition 720p Skype 5.3 HD video calls at up to 22 frames per second - all without slamming your PC's CPU. Creative designed the inPerson HD ($149.99 list) for use in boardrooms, living rooms, or wherever there may be multiple participants in a live video chat. Despite these credentials, it's only a mediocre performer with a high price tag. The inPerson HD is a classy-looking webcam. It's much larger than is typical, and the clean lines and long, thin body look appropriate for the boardroom or a meeting. The six-foot USB cable should be plenty for most applications. The multi-hinged mount lets the unit sit flush with the top of an LCD monitor, and you can also prop it up on a desk and angle it upwards. In the box you get the inPerson HD with attached USB cable, driver, and software CDs, and a quick-start leaflet. I had no problem seating it against the top of a 23-inch Asus LCD. To get started, you need a computer with at least an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 2 GB RAM, and at least 1Mbps bandwidth in both directions.