Logitech QuickCam Cordless

Webcams are a dime a dozen these days, but this is the first wireless one we've seen. It's a bit pricey but it does open up all sorts of sneaky possibilities.

The QuickCam Cordless communicates with your PC by radio waves. There's a fairly large receiver unit that plugs into a USB port on the PC and this can pick up QuickCam signals from up to 75ft away.

We took the camera into a separate room during testing and the signal wasn't blocked by the walls, so you can put the camera almost anywhere you want within that range.

Maximum resolution for video capture is 640 x 480 and image quality is fine as long as the camera is sitting still.

Things get a bit blurry if you move the camera around, so we wouldn't recommend trying to use it as a portable camcorder.

It's designed to be kept still and Logitech includes a wall-mount unit with the QuickCam so that you can fix it to a wall in order to monitor a specific location. You can still unclip it though, so you're always free to move it to other locations as well.

There's a mains power adapter supplied with the camera but it can also run off batteries, in case you want to put it somewhere that's not close to a power socket.

The wireless receiver unit works with four separate radio channels and you can assign a different QuickCam to each channel.

This means you could create your own Big Brother set-up by buying four cameras and putting them in different rooms of your house. It'd be a bit pricey but you can bet that there are plenty of people prepared to try it.

At £180, the QuickCam Cordless isn't exactly an impulse buy but it has all sorts of potential for internet video. You could also use it for more serious tasks such as a baby monitor or as a security camera.

Price: £180 (incl. VAT)
Contact: Logitech 01753 870900
www.logitech.com

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