Rosewill RCM-8163 True 1.3 M Effective Pixels USB WebCam

Pros: Cheap and good picture quality... Focuses well and has a pretty decent built in mic. Plug and play.

Cons: Can't figure out how to zoom and the mic has some static which is normal with webcams.

Pros: cheap, good quality at low light, fast shipping

Cons: ordered 2 at same time, one is defective

Other Thoughts: device tested on GNU/Linux openSUSE 12.3 and FreeBSD 9.1-STABLE

Ordered 2 of these, fast shipping - thanks. However one isn't working, video was washed out right off the bat and becoming more and more over-exposed, so now only 'ghost' images, which can barely be seen - after about 1 hour of operation. This unit is running very hot.

The other camera works fine, image looks good in low light, is cool to touch. I was looking for something inexpensive, however it seems I am going to spend more time fooling around with a return/exchange than the money saved.

Check other reviews to see if this is a common issue..

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you very much for purchasing this unit.
We strive to provide the most reliable and highest quality products to our customers.

Please kindly contact the Rosewill support team
Phone: 1- 800-575-9885
Email: rma@rosewill.com

So we may assist you with (in-warranty) replacement.
We look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,
Rosewill Customer Care

Pros: Build Quality of Stand is outstanding - Tilt in all directions and raises/lowers easily.

Works perfect with my Mac Mini (Late 2012)

Love the slightly matte finish on the screen, it's not too matte for me and I usually prefer glossy screens

Built in 4 port USB 3.0 Hub

Looks great on 1080p (non Native resolution) - I didn't have my Mini-Display Port to Display Port Cable the first day I got it so I hooked it up using a HDMI cable (which is limited to 1920x1080 which is non-native for this monitor) and it looked REALLY good! Usually when you run at a non-native resolution it doesn't look too good...

Cons: No Display Port cable included (they should ditch the VGA cable and put in a display port to mini-display port cable!)

Other Thoughts: I tried this monitor on my Mac using the Display Port to Dual DVI adapter (from Apple) and I couldn't get this monitor to work with my Mac, however when I used the display port connection (with a mini display port cable adapter) it worked perfect! Overall I am loving this monitor, the shipping packaging was great, the overall monitor quality is great. I'm just loving this monitor and with the Newegg deal the price was as good as I've seen (585$ after discount)

Pros: I used this along with a pogoplug w/archlinux to make a sweet baby-cam for less than $35. This webcam works great with mjpeg-streamer.

Cons: Low light performance could be better for what I'm using it for, but I really didn't expect much for this price, and it beat those expectations.

Other Thoughts: the magic command to get it working:
/usr/bin/mjpg_streamer -i "input_uvc.so -d /dev/video0 -f 15 -r 1280x1024" -o "output_http.so -p 8090 -w /usr/share/mjpeg-streamer/www"

Pros: This is a great camera for the price and are perfect for setting up a home made security system. A small blue LED lights up on the camera when it is running, the light isn't overwhelming like some LEDs tend to be. Power over USB keeps cable clutter to a minimum.

Cons: None for my use, but the power over USB can be a con if you need to put the camera further than about 12ft from the PC.

Other Thoughts: After a long time pricing the more professional security camera systems with DVRs I decided to look at webcams. The fact that these power over USB limit the cable distance, but if that isn't a problem for you and you have a spare PC then these are a MUCH cheaper option to setup a nice little security system. I have two of these cameras hooked up (with a 6ft USB extension cable on each) to an HP Workstation WX4600 that I bought used off "an auction website". The workstation is running Windows Home Server 2011 64bit. The cameras installed automatically, I never used the included driver CDs. I then downloaded iSpy for free and after a few minutes I had a nice security system setup with motion detection as well as a schedule of when I want the cameras to be on or off. Since the free version of iSpy doesn't let you look at the video remotely I installed Log Me In Free and I simply remote desktop into the Workstation from my PC at work and I can see both the cameras. The iSpy software also records upon triggering the motion detection sensor, you can then watch the recorded videos in Windows Media Player.

Two side notes:
I tried using these cameras on Windows Server 2008 64bit and could not get them to work. They appeared in the device manager but I could not get the video from them in iSpy.
Originally I hooked these up to an HP dc7600 Pentium 4 PC that I had sitting around (with 4GB DDR2) but when the iSpy software was running the CPU usage would constantly be around 90%. So I purchased the HP Workstation with a Core2 Quad CPU and now the CPU usage is at a much better 25%.

Pros: It was cheap.

It turns on.

It captures video.

Works okay in Google Hangouts (video chat).

Cons: Even with the latest software from the Rosewill website, it is impossible to make this camera work in Skype in hi-res mode (1024*1280). For some reason, Rosewill chose to break out the camera settings into two completely different windows, and the Skype video settings can only access one of these windows (hue, contrast, brightness, etc.).

The actual RESOLUTION settings are in another window entirely, which you cannot access from within Skype. 640*480 in Skype is the best you are going to get. Adjusting the resolution in the Video capture program that comes with the camera in the box (version 1.0, copyright from 1999?!?) does nothing, it won't save your settings for future use by the webcam driver.

Uninstalling the old software, downloading and installing new from the Rosewill website gives a new version, a few new options in the software, but the resolution setting is still broken out into a separate settings window. Skype settings still does not have access to the resolution settings through the webcam driver. Adjusting the settings within the video capture software still does not save and does not permanently modify the driver behavior for future use.

The new software is just as broken as the old.

What is really sad is the older version of this camera ($20 from Rosewill, it was a round-shaped camera) worked fine in Skype. This camera is basically a step backward from the older model, a downgrade.

Other Thoughts: This webcam basically doesn't work with Skype. I regret this purchase.

Do yourself a favor and spend more money, unless you really like Google hangouts and plan to never use Skype with your new webcam.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,

Tests have been performed on our webcams to ensure they work with Skype. High resolution is not an option on Skype when the webcam does not come with a standardized digital format for compressing hi-definition video such as h.264. As Skype does not do any video compressing it depends on the camera to handle such tasks to ensure they meet requirements of your IPS. There are different webcams for different uses and cost is a major factor when determining their use.

Feel free to contact the Rosewill Customer Support team for further assistance at 1-800-575-9885 Monday - Friday 8AM - 5PM PST or via email at techsupport@rosewill.com

Pros: small compact design

Cons: hard to mount to monitor

Pros: Love that you can fold screen clip shut and it will sit on a flat surface. Easy to adjust positioning. Nice clear picture in average lighting. Linux Compatible. Great price. Feels pretty solid but I am carrying it in my backpack and fear that it will eventually break if I am not careful. Good Microphone.

Cons: No on/off switch. If I were using it on a desktop it would be nice to have a way to cut power to it without unplugging just for security.

Other Thoughts: I am using this to communicate over Google+ Hangout with my wife and kids while working 24hr shifts at fire station. It is great because the kids love seeing me before bedtime and they like being a little silly on camera.

Would buy it all over again.

Pros: -Very Cheap
-Functions
-Drivers install with no problems
-USB cable a good length

Cons: -Lots of motion blur. Like, tons of the stuff. It's really distracting in video calls and can make taking a simple picture of yourself difficult.
-Takes a while to adjust to the light levels in my room.
-Included photo capture software is bad, it doesn't work too well.

Other Thoughts: I needed a cheap webcam for a low-budget build, and this seemed okay. I would recommend finding another if you intend to use your cam for Skype. If all you need to do is take a picture now and then, this'll work.

Pros: Fits well on my monitor, easy to use, okay quality. very convenient.

Cons: It captures a lot of motion blur, somewhat inconvenient.