i need to get my hands on a decent microphone for my laptop

[jackson745]

i use skype alot to talk to my friends abroad and they say that the microphone in my macbook isnt very powerful and doesnt really pick me up that clearly. so i need to get my hands on a microphone, and my brother games so i reckon he would get some good use out of it too...
i have had a little look to see which products skype recommends but they only have microphones attached to headphones http://shop.skype.com/intl/fr/headsets/ and i cant stand headphones. i found an alright range here http://www.twenga.co.uk/dir-Computers,Laptop-accessories,Laptop-microphone but cant see any 'mac compatible' and seeing as it only provides info not reviews i have no idea if anything is any good.
can anyone recommend me a good product? preferably that they use for skype?

 

[Tomorrow]

i use skype alot to talk to my friends abroad and they say that the microphone in my macbook isnt very powerful and doesnt really pick me up that clearly. so i need to get my hands on a microphone, and my brother games so i reckon he would get some good use out of it too...

Not to derail your question, but are you sure it's an inherent flaw in the MB's microphone? Because I use Skype with my MacBook with no problems whatsoever. It could be a setting, or it could be a bad microphone (or any of a number of things).

As far as "Mac-compatible" goes, if it uses a 3.5 mm jack it should work; the microphone isn't software-reliant, so it shouldn't make a difference.

 

[jimba]

Try to set the mic volume in the system preference panel and in skype pref panel. My mbp's mic is working great, even if i whisper i get heard quite well.

 

[dime21]

My MBP mic works just fine. Make sure you have the microphone volume set appropriately, I think its turned down by default.

Also be aware that the MBP does not have a microphone jack! The input on the side of your MBP is a line-in. It is not a microphone-in! To use a microphone with the line-in jack, you will need a powered preamplified microphone.

All of the microphones on the link you provided are NOT powered microphones and will NOT work with your MBP, unless you also purchase a separate microphone pre-amp.

 

[skiltrip]

I actually use my built in mic to record rough tracks of acoustic guitar and other instruments and it's more than good enough for that. It should certainly be more than adequate for use with Skype.

If you want a better mic, look at USB mice from Samson, or Blue Microphones. They each have solutions around 99 bucks.

 

[joonyaboy]

Blue's Snowball Mic is awesome.....can use it for Garageband as well