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peeb · Apr 28, 2006, 04:31 PM

I have a Powerbook G4 10.4, and my wife has an IBM Thinkpad with XP. I want to buy a webcam that we can both use, so it needs to be USB. Is this stupid? Should I just spring for two?
If this is reasonable, what's the best USB webcam for OSX? Can I use iChat with USB?
Thanks!

tooki · Apr 28, 2006, 04:45 PM

The iSight really is the best webcam for Mac. iChat can be made to work with USB cameras via a shareware program whose name I forget.

That said, very few USB webcams have Mac drivers at all. It's essentially impossible to find cameras with drivers for Mac AND Windows. There is a third-party USB webcam driver for Mac OS X. I have no idea how well it works.

tooki

peeb · Apr 28, 2006, 07:49 PM

Does iSight work on a pc with firewire?

tooki · Apr 28, 2006, 07:56 PM

Not really. It's possible to get the video working, but iSight's audio is, as yet, not supported in any way. (Contrary to what you will find on some sites if you google it, the iSight is NOT a DV camera: it's IIDC. Windows supports IIDC, but the iSight image will not be properly exposed, so you'll have to find a program that lets you adjust the picture.)

The other thing is that most PC laptops (and many desktops) have only a 4-pin FireWire port, not 6-pin. 4-pin doesn't carry power, and thus the iSight can't work on those with a plug adapter. You'd need to use a powered FireWire hub in such a case.

tooki