Webcams?

[Maezr]

I've seen some cheap webcams, for like 20$ or so on pricewatch.. Can you actually get half-decent pictures with these?

 

[sohcrates]

depends, what are you looking to do with it?

for grainy webcam pictures updated on your website or for basic videoconferencing, they'll look allright

but if you're trying to take some nice shots of yourself or make videos or what not you'll notice right away how cheap they are

most of the really cheap ones don't go to a very good resolution either (i.e. maybe 320 x 240 max or so) and look very grainy even with good lighting

but they're out there for a reason, so if the price is right and they'll do what you want them to do, just make sure they have good drivers support for the OS you run