Multiple Cam Problems On New Laptop

I just purchased a new laptop PC (A Sony Vaio CR Series Notebook) with
Windows Vista Home Premium (Yeah....Yeah I know this is shortly before
the rollout of Windows 7 Final Release, but I'm waiting for the
critici....Err....Comments on it to come rolling in before making the
upgrade ESPECIALLY since I just got it on a lease-to-own arrangement)
& am experiencing HUGE problems with it when it comes to webcams.

1). The built-in webcam doesn't seem to work EVEN THOUGH Device
Manager says the driver is working fine (NONE of the applications I
have detect or capture any video)

2). The microphone for my Logitech Communicate STX isn't even detected
& the Logitech software doesn't even detect the camera AT ALL. Yet
BOTH Adobe Flash Media Encoder & Windows Media Encoder both detect the
video driver (They don't detect the microphone either). Doing a
repair on my Logitech set up doesn't do anything to fix the problem.

The two things going for me (If you count them as being good things
that is) right now are.....

1). The RealTek High-Definition microphone works fine **BUT** only
with Windows Media Encoder. For some odd reason, it won't work with
Adobe Flash Media Encoder (The audio is muted).

2). The Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 has worked just fine for me. Has
been since I first put the drivers & basic software on it. The
problem with it though is EVEN WITH a 1.8 Ghz CPU & 3GB of RAM, it
STILL takes FOREVER for it to go from that green picture to a normal
picture (Whether I'm capturing video or sitting idle). It's also MUCH
more grainier than the Logitech (Which is the best webcam I have).

So given all this, I have but 3 questions to ask.....

1). Any ideas as to what might be wrong the built in webcam (Which is
also fron Sony) & how I might be able to fix it?

2). Any ideas to how I might be able to get Windows Vista to detect
the Logitech mic or am I stuck with RealTek one (Which ain't bad BTW)

3). Any ideas as to what might be done to the Microsoft LifeCam (I'm
assuming via the software) whereas it doesn't "go green" just as it's
activated by a capture device?

Right now, I'm open to suggestions.....

Cheers

Pat Cook
Denver, Colorado
Pat's Cam - http://asmyworldturns.x10hosting.com/webcam/