Which WebCam to get?

Vard

Vard

Looking for progress
Ok everyone....I need some advice....

My family is on a mission to get everyone on broadband and webcammed so we can keep in touch visually more often. With new kids popping up all over the place my parents are worried their grandkids wont recognize them.

Just for fun, here's the spread of the family as of today:

My mom and youngest sister and her fiance live in Maine. My dad, who is still happily married to my mom, just moved to Minnesota for a job (he goes home about 2 times a month). Myself, my wife, our daughter and the one in the oven, and my brother live in Pennsylvania. My other brother and his wife live in Minnesota, but a bit of a drive from my dad's new place. And my other sister, her husband, their two kids and the one she has in the oven all live in Chicago, Illinois.

So, as you can see, we're spread pretty thin. Anyway, in my family, those of us in Pennsylvania are the only 'bastard' Mac users ;P.

I am looking for a webcam that we can use. But here's the deal: The iSight does kick butt, but if I understand correctly only works with iChatAv, thus negating the use of it with PC users....am I correct? Even if that isn't the case, iChatAV only works with Yahoo right now, right? The family is a bunch of MSN Messenger sheep. I could try to convert them, to Yahoo, but it might be tough.

So I looked into other cameras. I found the Fire-i FireWire camera...which looks good and all and works with other software, but does come with a mic. Kind of a pain in the ass since I would need to get at least another $30 is stuff for audio (maybe we could all learn sign language?)

OK...I'm rambling, just wondering peoples thougths on which way to go. If I can use iChatAV with the iSight and talk to people on PC's, I think that's they way I will go and just strong arm everyone else into using Yahoo for our family nights...use the MSN stuff for other. But if it doesn't work, I need some other suggestions.

Thanks,
Eddie
 
iChat and iChatAV are not Yahoo! compatible, they're AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) compatible.

I feel for you, man, and I don't think you're going to find any easy answer to solve the videoconferencing problem. I hope someone here can shed some light on the subject for you.

I think the hardest part is going to be getting everyone on the same channel -- i.e., getting everyone to use the same messenger service. Is purchasing a few iBooks for those without Macs out of the question? I realize it's a lot of money, but for under $1000 each, you could have videoconferencing simple.

Good luck!
 
EDCC....that WOULD fix the problem....but I would rather buy myself a laptop first...I love my family and all, but numero uno comes first when we're talking Apple gear.

I have been tooling around a number of different sites looking for info....it basically seems like there are workarounds, but nothing that I really want to get into quite yet. Apparently, from what I read, Apple is supposed to be opening up iChatAv to other protocols outside of AIM, and, as the rumors go, working on making it work better with PC users.

Oh well...maybe I can dig up an old PC and put my older USB cam on that and see what happens. Thanks for the reply anyway.

Later,
Eddie
 
Thanks Zammy...Yeah....I see now that there are altnernatives, just nothing super easy.. But I think we can get it done.

Later,
Eddie
 
ISPQ will work fine for you, and you can video/conference with more than just one person at a time. You can talk and see 4 or 5 other people at the same time.

It's available for both Mac and PC. I used it a lot prior to iChatAV becoming available. I still use it for chating with a couple die hard PC users.

iSight may work with it. not sure about that. Do some searching on Google for info. I know iSight does work with Evocam and other software.
 
Ehhhh, Bob finally showed up. It's not a complete day unless I get a repsonse from both ElDiablo AND Bobw.

Thanks guys...and to everyone else that helped. About 2 hours ago I was getting very discouraged about this. Now I am pretty confident I can come up with some potion/mix that should get us all speaking and seeing each other.

Hooya to all,
Eddie
 
Rock on homey!

Hey Bobw...you ready for the snow coming this weekend? Not sure if you guys will get it or rain down there, but I am polishing the snow shovel when I get home.

Later,
Eddie
 
Hopefully the snow will stay up in Lehigh county and leave me alone :) You're more used to it anyway.
 
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