Comments on: Mom's first grandchild-cam

Question: Mom's first grandchild-cam

answergrape — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:03:51 -0800

I'm looking for a webcam setup for my technophobic mom who lives half a country away from me. She will be using it primarily to see and communicate with her grandchildren. Strangely for a technophobe, she works from home so she has reliable internet access but she is uncomfortable with complex installations and configurations. I'm looking for make/model webcam recommendations and also any hints on other accessories she might need.

By: designbot

designbot — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:49:10 -0800

Mac or Windows?

By: answergrape

answergrape — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:58:51 -0800

Windows only. She basically uses the computer for word processing and work email right now.

By: Biblio

Biblio — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:33:36 -0800

My sister is due any minute now, so I just bought 3 Logitech Pro webcams for her, grandma and auntie (me!). They were pretty deeply discounted at Amazon. Everything I've read says these are the best out there right now.

By: spaceman_spiff

spaceman_spiff — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:47:28 -0800

This is possibly overkill, but for a technophobe grandma ... some of the Eee PCs have webcams built in. I suspect you could get one for ~$300, and use Skype. (Hook it up to a larger monitor if you want.)

Or you could get an Ojo - I love mine, but I'm not sure the company is going to stick around, and they're more expensive. Still, dead simple.

By: emjay

emjay — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:05:57 -0800

Buy any good quality webcam, run the driver installation (They all have to have that step done) and then use an online service such as Tokbox as this eliminates most of the hassles of the included proprietary software that different webcams supply. I use Tokbox for personal and business use.

Bonus 1: Tokbox allows "viewers" to just click on a link to view the live webcam (email or messenger) - no software to install or setup. You just initiate the session whenever you want.

Bonus 2: You can also do video conferencing with some of the web apps like Tokbox. (I regularly group 12 different people in 5 different locations this way)

By: emjay

emjay — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:08:40 -0800

Wanted to ad... the webcam/software/setup etc doesn't matter really. Any good quality camera, any manufacturer - They all require being plugged in (USB) and drivers installed. After that, she may never need to setup/configure anything ever again if she's that technophobic. Just email or im "Hey mom, click this link"

She doesn't even need to sign up or open an account and it's free.

By: answergrape

answergrape — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:14:06 -0800

I took Biblio's suggestion and bought the Logitech webcam for my brother. It's working well.