"V-Gear TalkCam Tracer CCD" and power consumption ...

I just got a V-Gear TalkCam Tracer CCD ... and I find that my Dell Inspiron
8600 notebook does not have enough oomph in it's USB ports to power this cam
! A warning about a "USB port power surge" pops up during the final software
setting up ... and the install process aborts.

The package says that the cam requires "USB2 port with 500mA power supply".
It also says "Rating Power Consumption 1050mW" and "Rating input current
210mA".

I guess I will have to use the cam with a powered USB HUB ... whch is not so
attractive with a laptop situation. I might also return it for refund, I
guess.

The specs on the camera seem quite good: 1/4" SONY CCD; 1.3mPx; 1280x960
pixels; 6 element glass lens; Auto-Tracking and Zooming software; Remote
Surveillance software included ... I gather.

************************
A friend has a Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000 ... which I gather has similar
specs (1.3mPx) ... and a built-in mic (the V-Gear Talk Cam comes with a
headset to plug into your soundcard ... despite the naame "TalkCam" ;-). Not
sure about the Logitech's power needs, however ...

-RS-

On Sun, 11 Jun 2006 01:29:53 GMT, "-RS-"
wrote:

I just got a V-Gear TalkCam Tracer CCD ... and I find that my Dell Inspiron
8600 notebook does not have enough oomph in it's USB ports to power this cam
! A warning about a "USB port power surge" pops up during the final software
setting up ... and the install process aborts.

The package says that the cam requires "USB2 port with 500mA power supply".
It also says "Rating Power Consumption 1050mW" and "Rating input current
210mA".

I guess I will have to use the cam with a powered USB HUB ... whch is not so
attractive with a laptop situation. I might also return it for refund, I
guess.

The specs on the camera seem quite good: 1/4" SONY CCD; 1.3mPx; 1280x960
pixels; 6 element glass lens; Auto-Tracking and Zooming software; Remote
Surveillance software included ... I gather.

************************
A friend has a Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000 ... which I gather has similar
specs (1.3mPx) ... and a built-in mic (the V-Gear Talk Cam comes with a
headset to plug into your soundcard ... despite the naame "TalkCam" ;-). Not
sure about the Logitech's power needs, however ...

CCD cams take more power than the CMOS cams, but they generally
have better images and better low light quality. You probably
need to get one of the cams that are specifically made for use
with laptop computers to get decent battery life. The built in
mics on the cams often don't work with the video conferencing
applications if that is what you are intending to do.