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The web cam lens is bulbous with a larger circular lens and a microphone at the end of a section that extends to one side. The lens has the legend Carl Zeiss inscribed onto it, which is a marketing tool that Sony has been exploiting for some time now on its still cameras and even its phones. This promises better quality images through superior optics, which is really more important than huge pixel counts. However, the pixel count is still impressive on this webcam, with a native resolution of 2-megapixels, taking it above even the 1.3-megapixels offered by the Ultra Vision. It also features an autofocus internally though, which promises to ensure sharp pictures even with moving subjects.

At the side of the camera is a button which when pressed fires up the Logitech QuickCam software, if installed, and automatically takes a snapshot. At the other end to the lens is the microphone, which looks pleasingly large. In the middle is the Logitech logo and when the webcam is live a circular red glow illuminates round it, which is a nice subtle effect.

When it came to installation you need to install the software first. I chose to download the QuickCam software from the Logitech website to be sure of getting the latest version, though the wizard on the disc will check for this as well. While the installation went smoothly I found for some reason that the Logitech mic was not visible or selectable from the Logitech web site wizard. This was strange as the microphone driver was present and correct in Device Manager. I took this as an opportunity to test out Logitech's tech support.

First, I was pleased that the number to call was a regular UK number, and not a non-geographic number, so it could come out of my free phone minutes. Second, when I dialled I got straight through to a person after two rings. I was in shock! I was expecting a soul destroying run around a Esher-like call system. Even more amazingly, the person was able to get the mic working by talking me reinstalling the driver via Windows - it seems it was a Windows XP issue. Tech support taht worked. Even more shock! Overall, I was mightily impressed with Logitech tech support, which makes a refreshing change from most companies these days.

Once up and running I took a look at the Quickcam software. It's identical to that I saw with the Ultra Vision. QuickCapture lets you take pictures or videos. Pictures can be taken at up to 8-megapixel, with anything above 2-megapixel involving software interpolation, so pretty pointless. I noticed that at anything above VGA resolution, there was a delay in taking the picture, longer as the resolution increased, causing shutter lag. A 3-second delay option is available and the red circle flashes while it counts down and then stops just before the picture click sounds.

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