Webcam chat between Mac & PC

March 2, 2005 5:48 AM

I'm looking for an inexpensive pair of Mac and Windows compatible webcams to chat with my girlfriend -- she has a PC, I have a PowerBook.

My girlfriend is going abroad to Japan for 5 months beginning next week. I was hoping to be able to get a pair of webcams so we could chat via Skype, iChat AV, or something else. However, I use a PowerBook G4 and she uses a Dell laptop with Windows 2000. My first choice was the iSight, but: a) it's massively expensive, and b) I'm not sure how compatible it is with Windows. I'm not terribly picky, obviously, but it would be nice to have something with reasonably smooth video. Cost is the number one factor, though -- I'm a poor college student and can't afford much.

(Bonus points if the Canon S60 Powershot can be hooked up to serve as a webcam in Windows 2000, or if there's a webcam I can use with iChat AV.)

posted by armage to technology (7 comments total)

Here is an ask.mefi thread sort of on the subject.
posted by chunking express at 6:32 AM on March 2, 2005

any cheap usb camera will work fine with windows (providing the usb version is compatible).

does skype do pictures?
posted by andrew cooke at 6:45 AM on March 2, 2005

Are you South Park fans?
posted by spilon at 7:16 AM on March 2, 2005

Logitech makes units which work on both Mac and PC, ranging from $39 US to $129. I have several models (use them for a video conferencing app) and all of them work well, and all of them have drivers for the Mac. I'd recommend the QuickCam Pro.
posted by TeamBilly at 11:37 AM on March 2, 2005

Also, iChat and XP AIM can establish cross-plat video chat. The PC AIM client is restricted to a tiny video window, but it does work.
posted by mwhybark at 4:54 PM on March 2, 2005

oh, I forgot; there is an adapter program that enables USB cameras in iChat, ichatusbcam. I believe they do note that you'll need to provide a driver for Mac OSX if the camera you pick up is not OSX-supported out of the box.
posted by mwhybark at 4:57 PM on March 2, 2005

Okay, thanks for the help, everyone! I'll let you know what happens.
posted by armage at 9:00 PM on March 2, 2005