Setting up a webcam

rmg1

This is probably not going to be as easy as I thought, so I'm asking first.

A friend of mine is wanting to get 2 webcams so he can see his kids while he's working in China.

The kids will be in our house with a webcam connected to our desktop PC.
He will be in China with a webcam connected to his laptop.

Is it simply a case of "Plug-and-Play" for these things (I'm assuming after installing required software), or do we have to get some webspace to use?

Stephen_Leak

All the ones I've done, both at home and at work, have been remarkably straightforward.

[Deleted User]

You don't need webspace.

Typically, you install some software, plug them in and then run a video messenger tool (like MSN or skype). You will need to make user names, and then you add each other to a list of contacts.

Video calling is usually a simple matter of double clicking someone's name on a list from then on

shaun40400

agree with above
follow instructions or add new hardware let msoft do the rest as for talking/video
join skype do be carefull on main page though you need to look for free skype small button on side of page
therse no need to pay anymoney

i use it all the time via video links to Scotland England lithuania Georgia and Australia. some times the video does drop and its talk only or maybe only one of u can use video at a time

most of the time its very good

rmg1

Thanks for that folks.
Seems more straight-forward than I thought.

Just as an afterthought - can anyone recommend a good/cheap(ish) webcam and anything we should be looking for as a minimum?

shaun40400

i brought cheep and nasty from tescos...labtec cam and mic 15euro 2yrs ago still going strong ....only shows a small pic to others
when friends contact me i can see the room their in ....no idea what they using

try argos lots of hand free units their as well

rmg1

Cheers Shaun, I'll have a look

Donnie

Buy a decent quality model. Doesn't have to be expensive.
Minimum spec: 30fps at VGA. Translated that means a picture 640 x 480 pixels in size displayed at 30 frames per seconds.

Further translated; A good quality picture without jerky movements.

sleep2much

The only times webspace is good is if your monitoring an area 24/7 for security, I remember in the news some bloke had his camera set to motion sensor, and when it detected movement it sent video to his webspace, when he had his home broken into and his computer stolen the whole thing (up to the unplugging of the computer) was captured, and of course because the captured video was sat on some server somewhere there was nothing the thief could do, except get caught later.

sleep2much

Donnie wrote: »

Buy a decent quality model. Doesn't have to be expensive.
Minimum spec: 30fps at VGA. Translated that means a picture 640 x 480 pixels in size displayed at 30 frames per seconds.

Further translated; A good quality picture without jerky movements.

thats right, don't be tempted to crank the settings too high though, you only get about 200kps upload speed even on broadband, try to cram too much info into that space and it will become lagged. enjoy, use msn live messanger, yahoo messanger, skype or many others for your free video calls.