Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 Webcam – Black

I got this camera so that my kids can video chat with my parents who live in another state. It was simple to install on Windows XP and I haven’t had any problems. It works well with Skype. The video quality is decent. The microphone is much clearer and louder than the one built into my laptop. I’m sure there are better cameras out there, but I didn’t want to spend too much money. Plus, video quality is usually limited by your internet connection, not the camera. The only gripe, which some others have had, is that the button on top of the camera is easy to bump and it tries to load Microsoft Live Messenger. I changed it to open Skype using another reviewer’s suggestion:

Jrverse says:
You can have the large button activate a different app (like Skype) when it’s clicked.

This works for me and others on the web (Advanced users only!!!):
1. Open regedit.
2. Navigate to the following key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{6BDD1FC6-810F-11D0-BEC7-08002BE2092F}\????\Settings]
Where ???? is a number like 0000, 0001, 0002, 0003, 0004. You may have a few of these.
3. Under each of the “\????\Settings” folders, look for the entry called “QuickStartPath”, and change it from the current value (usually “C:\Program Files\Microsoft LifeCam\icepick.exe”) to the path of the program you want to launch when the big button is clicked (like “C:\Program Files\Skype\Phone\skype.exe”) This works perfectly for me.

Not much to say,

Amazon: as good as always in delivering.
This particular product: it is not a webcam, it is a lemon.

Because I already own a Microsoft LifeCam VX-5000 on my Windows 7 PC and am happy with it. I thought of getting the more convenient LifeCam VX-3000 for the my other and less powerful PC.

Here is the my story:

I wanted a convenient webcam to use with Skype, nothing special.

The installation of the Lifecam 3.0 software was a breeze… the lifecam works and the image is pretty good if it weren’t for the “dots”. Dead pixels!
When I turned it on, I saw that the image it was picking up it was quite blurred, a quick adjustment of the manual focus took care of that.

On my PC, Athlon X2 240, with onboard GPU (AMD 760G) – 4 GB Ram (3.5 effective) – XP Home SP3, the lifecam software camera controls, like face tracking, only work with the lower resolutions. They will not at 640×480.

About my purchased VX-3000 Lifecam:

A lemon.
I guess either I had bad luck on this one or there is a lack of quality control.
Lots of dead or half dead pixels probably caused by a dirty or defective image sensor.
I uploaded the black picture that shows what my problem is.

I purchased the Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 from Amazon during the Thanksgiving sale at a fairly decent price and now returning it to Microsoft or Amazon for an exchange might cost more than the item itself. NO bargain for me!

Why you selling kit that is redundant and does not work in the modern age?????

Were all Windows 10 so when selling kit for a past operating system make this clear to your audience

waste of time and money Ill be seeking a refund!!