Cheap Headphone Set/ Cheap Webcam

[bobber205]

My mom and I would like to be able to video conference from our house and my college, across town.

She obviously needs a webcam since she's using my mac mini and she needs a microphone, preferably all in the same unit.

What do you guys recommend? 20 bucks is about my budget. Maybe 30 or so.

Am I shooting too low?
I would also love to be able to purchaes the item through NewEgg as I love that store! (Please don't recommend an iSight. I know they're "worth it" but they're too expensive)

 

[dogbone]

I just bought a Logitech messenger webcam for $15 on ebay. Had to download a macam driver to make it work. But it seems fine. It has a microphone but I'm not sure if macam supports it. But I use the built in mic on the mac anyway.

 

[bobber205]

The mic is actually the more important of the two features. At the very least, we could talk. That's much more interactive than just video

 

[dogbone]

I bought a headset with a mic and was using it with skype plugged into my mac for a while. After about 3 months it dawned on me that the mic socket was a line in, meaning I wasn't using the headset mic anyway. I was using the built in mic on the eMac all the time withoug realising.

The built in mic on the mac works fine.

 

[bobber205]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the mac mini doesn't have a built in mic.

 

[dogbone]

I don't know, that sounds about right.

 

[bobber205]

Yep. I'm right.

Linkie

 

[bobber205]

I hate to do this but...

*bumps*

 

[cbr.ar]

Found webcam with built-in mic mac mini compatible

Finally, after a long research viewing brochures from almost all webcams being sold in my country I found one which WORKS the genius LOOK 315FS !!!
It's much cheaper than the isight AND it has a built-in MIC which is great for mac minis.
Both the webcam and mic are connected through the USB port and I repeat one more time it WORKS !!!
The bad: Webcam quality is average, the design is a replica of a football ball so you have to hide it ... or ignore it.
The good: Works with Mac and Windows, Mic solution for Mac minis (don't expect high quality, good for chat), very cheap (around u$s 35 in Argentina).
I've tested succesfully in Windows XP Professional with bootcamp 1.1 in MSN, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and Skype. (Audio and Video)
Mac OS X 10.4.7 with Skype 1.5 (audio) and Yahoo Messenger 3.0 (video), because all other IM programs are only chat capabilities.
I hope it helps.

 

[JDN]

Creative do a 'Skype' package with a webcam and headset all in one box. Its pretty cheap too.