Logitech QuickCam Communicate STX for MSN Messenger review

Logitech's QuickCam Communicate STX feels solid and well built, clipping onto a desk base or a separate monitor stand. The latter bends to accommodate monitor thickness and is heavy enough to provide stable support. The camera itself can tip back and forwards and twist from side to side. It's not ideal for notebooks, though, as the lens doesn't tip forward enough to compensate for the angle of the screen.

Image quality from the VGA sensor appears quite good at first, but on closer inspection there are a few drawbacks. Automatic exposure compensation was a little slow when the subject moved around. Plus, it doesn't handle strong backlighting easily, tending to blow out highlights.

Focus is fixed, leaving the picture less than sharp. The relatively narrow field of view makes it hard to fit more than one person in the frame, but this won't be an issue for everyone.

Audio from the integrated microphone was sometimes prone to white noise, but the comfortable stereo headset supplied with this Messenger version was much clearer. You can, of course, choose to use Skype 2 if you prefer, while Logitech's own QuickCam software takes snapshots, video clips and makes video emails, but doesn't include motion detection.

The QuickCam Communicate STX looks good and offers decent audio quality, but it can't match the MSI at this price.

Author: Roger Kirkwood