Product Reviews

If you have a broadband Internet connection, chatting to friends and relatives via instant messaging programs can be a wonderful way to catch up on gossip without racking up a huge phone bill. But nice as it is to type messages, wouldn't it be nicer to type - or even speak - to someone you could actually see? Logitech certainly thinks so. Its Quickcam Messenger Duo is as simple as it sounds: two Quickcam messenger webcams in one package. One is packed in a gift box, ready to give to a PC-owning friend or far-away relative and the other is ready to be connected to your own PC.

The Quickcam messenger won't set the fashion-conscious cooing with amorous delight, but its diminutive size and grey and beige paint job stop it from being an eyesore. The small stand lets you place the Logitech on top of your monitor and aim it at your eye level without any hassle.

Setting up the Quickcam is easy. Insert the CD into your drive, install the software

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and then plug the webcam into a spare USB port once your PC has rebooted. The installation software helps you ensure the built-in microphone is working properly, and a plastic ring round the lens lets you keep the picture in focus.

Logitech provides software that enables you to record videos and take photos. Browsing software is supplied to give you a quick overview of what photos and videos you've taken, but it's not markedly better than Windows XP's built-in viewer. Photos and videos can be captured at a maximum resolution of 640x480. Picture quality was uniformly average, and photos didn't give even a cheap digital camera a run for its money, but this is a webcam after all.

Using the Quickcam with MSN, Yahoo or AOL's messenger was easy, and made a change to the usual text-only conversations. The built-in microphone allows you to both see and talk to your online buddies as long as they have a webcam, microphone and headphones, or speakers, too. Be warned though, using a webcam on a 56K modem will only offer low-quality audio, and the video will update very jerkily. It's still usable, but broadband is required if you want video and audio smooth enough for a pleasant conversation.

Logitech's Quickcam Messenger Duo is a cute idea for a Christmas gift, and two webcams for £50 doesn't look like a bad deal. But our Top 50 webcam, the Creative Webcam NX, costs a smidgen under £20, and although it doesn't quite stretch to the 640x480 resolution of the Logitech, you can buy two of them and have a tenner to spare.