Webcam Questions

[Capt Caveman]

I set-up a webcam on an old laptop (Celeron 2.4ghz with usb 1.1).

I set it up to be able to monitor my sick dog from home using ustream. I'm having a problem with the camera freezing up.

Is my laptop not powerful enough to handle things? I notice a lot of times the cpu is running at 100%. Firefox with ustream is running thru uses upwards of 60% of the cpu.

Or can the usb 1.1 be the problem?

I've lowered the audio and video quality and that seems to help.

Thanks for any advice/thoughts.

 

[PurdueRy]

I have this same issue. I remember at one point reading on the Logitech site that you may bee a 2 to 1 usb adapter in some cases to power it...I haven't been able to find it since though. I mostly blame it on not enough CPU.

 

[Capt Caveman]

fwiw - I was able to resolve my issues by picking up a USB 2.0 pcmcia card.

 

[ChrisScar]

Never had much luck with the Logitech cameras! They all seem to be grainy unless there's one somewhere that I'm missing. I'd go with a different brand that offers higher resolution on its streaming.

 

[Capt Caveman]

It's actually a Creative IM Pro. The camera itself is pretty good though I can't seem to unzoom the view. The software though sucks.