Labs

Revealing our Best Buy on the first page might spoil the suspense, but you may as well know the standard to aim for. Creative bill the Optia AF as the ideal webcam for just about everything, and they're not wrong. It produced the sharpest and best looking video; audio was crystal clear; and the autofocus kept track of our most fidgety subject (a four-year-old).

A headphone and mic are supplied, but we also had no problems using the mic built into the cam, as long we didn't turn up our speakers too loud. We were particularly impressed with the ball and socket joint that allows you to move the cam from side to side as well as up and down. The stand is well designed and sits securely on a TFT monitor.

We had only two gripes: the software took ages to install, and for some reason the video program at one point switched sound recording devices all by itself, leaving us with silent footage until we noticed and switched it back. The software has some advanced features such as motion detection.

Whistles and bells aside, the lovely video quality - easily the best on test - is the reason we chose the Optia AF over all its rivals.