Not quite back to a box brownie but certainly looking like a camera of a long time ago. It is 5.5x4x4cm mounted on a 4cm tall stand with a 6cm round base. The weight is around 70grams.  It has a plastic handle that is totally functionless. In fact the only thing that has a function is the wheel on the front of the lens that rotates should what you are capturing not be in focus. It is a simple plug and play device within Windows. Plug in the 1.

While D-Link do a wireless version I am looking here at the wired version of there security camera, the DCS-910. It is 11x7.5x4cm. The Ethernet cable and the A/C power go into the bottom of the unit but do not protrude beyond the casing. There is a screw fitting in back to allow mounting. Doing installation you are asked to note the MAC code on the rear of the camera this you then select from a list (not so important if you only have one) given later in the setup.

As always dimensions first, The External Cameras are 20x12x5cm, Internal Camera are 12x8.5x4cm and the hidden (clock) cameras are 15.5x10.5x6cm. All these dimensions are for the cameras in the housing and do not include any mountings or protrusions by cables as these are variable. Let’s start with the Clock Camera this is a rather nice mains powered digital clock.

It looks rather futuristic on its chromed articulated arms that can be bent to whatever position you require. The camera can be as much as 18cm from the base. While the microphone that emerges on its own chromed articulated lead from the base of the camera and is 12cm. Yet another chromed articulated lead emerges from the base and this is 12cm with the fan on its end there is a small push button to operate the fan on the base. The base is 6.

Webcams tend to come in various shapes and sizes, often depending upon the whim of a design team.  In the past I have worked with webcams that resemble a large eyeball, a cylindrical tube, and even an Egyptian-style statue.  The latest webcam to emerge from Microsoft hardware department, the LifeCam VX-7000, reminds me of a metallic name badge, especially when viewed from front on, worn by company representatives.

Although web cams were originally developed, and sold as devices for, video conferencing purposes, they were quickly taken up by consumers for more general videoing activities.  As a result, extra features, such as face decorating software and avatar personas, were often included as a standard part of the package.

The Microsoft VX7000 is 6.5cm wide and 2.5cm tall, the camera is 2cm deep but there is a weighted articulated arm behind this that folds over the top of the panel. It has a 1.35metre USB lead protruding from the back base of the camera. The camera is grey apart from the face that is black with chrome trim round the lens and on the right edge where the inbuilt microphone is. If you add a chromed button on the top you have described everything.

It is 4.5cm tall and the width and depth to the back of the clip are both 4cm. The lens itself is less than a centimetre across. The USB lead is 70cm again designed for use only on notebooks. I stress the notebook angle as even if you have a flat panel the jaw of the grip of the camera is unlikely to stretch to fit as it is only 1.5cm when fully open.

Having recently introduced you to Oscar with its USB 2.0 facilities, it is now the turn of United Pepper's Lili webcam to take centre stage.  Like Oscar, Lili forms part of United Pepper's initial launch of Fairtrade and ecological friendly products as the company adds its own slant of normal design concepts for computer peripherals.

Joining Logitech's family of webcam devices is the .  With more than a passing resemblance to the earlier QuickCam Fusion, this new model is shaped like a stubby lollipop resting on its side with the camera at the bulbous end and the build-in microphone at the other end.  There is also a switch mounted alongside the camera for taking snapshots. QuickCam Pro 9000 This webcam's camera functionality is based on Carl Zeiss optics.

It has been a number of years since I last had the opportunity to look at a web cam from Creative.  In fact it was back in the days when the company still preferred to be known as Creative Labs.  The intervening period has certainly seen some remarkable changes in the design and functionality of the device.  This new addition to the Creative family is the Live! Optia.

This should have been something that had me jumping up and down, instead it did not work like that. I had numerous conversations with the lady at 3rdi and eventually it did work. The camera costs £199 and it charges from the mains but can then run for around six hours even without connection. So even if the intruder realises he/she is being filmed it's too late as the images are sent back to the server at 3rdi.

The camera is quite small it can sit on top of a monitor, clip over a panel or even clip over a note. However they do an either smaller model (with the same 2MP resolution) especially for notebooks that I hope to tell you about later in the year. It is 10cm long between 3cm and 4cm (at the lens end) wide and around 3cm deep if you ignore the gripping arm that swivels to different combinations to suit monitors, panels or notebooks. There is a 1.

It was not all that long ago, when buying various items of computer equipment, that your purchases would be restricted to the single colour of computer grey.  Whether it was a desktop or tower system, monitor, printer or whatever, the one constant was the ubiquitous grey.  Nowadays there has been a sea-change.

As part of its webcam family of products, Logitech has released the specifically for use with a notebook.  While it is theoretically possible to use this webcam with a desktop system, you would need to have a fairly thin LCD monitor for attaching the device.  There would also be a problem with the USB lead as this is permanently attached and only measures 74cm which is more than adequate for a notebook but not so for a desktop system.

Following the release of its USB telephone adapter that allows Skype calls to be made from a normal telephone, US Robotics has now ventured into the field of Internet video with its Mini Cam for Skype product.  Now, not only can you make free or reduced rate calls using the popular Skype service, you can also view the person at the other end of the connection in all their glory or otherwise as the case may be.

It has been quite a while since I last looked at a webcam.  In the intervening period, the various models have certainly become smaller, more adaptive and feature-rich in their make-up.  A good example of these various trends can be seen with the offering.