Mac to Windows video chat options

September 14, 2005 12:01 PM

Need to know the best hardware & software approaches.

I'll be travelling for a few weeks, and I want to be able to do a/v chat w/ my SO. She'll be using a Sony Picturebook, which has a really nice built in camera; I'll be using my PowerBook, for which I do not yet have a camera. I'm having a hard time pinning down what the best approach is. I started by assuming that Skype was the best option; after spending a few hours trying to figure out what webcams are actually compatible with anything, I'm more lost than when I started, so I could use some suggestions of hardware/software pairings.

posted by lodurr to computers & internet (14 comments total)

Argh. Just noticed that the "short title" doesn't actually show up on the listings. Presumably it shows up on RSS or something. My apologies.
posted by lodurr at 12:02 PM on September 14, 2005

Never used it, but how about trying the new Google Talk?

I'd recommend MSN Messenger, but if I remember correctly it is not compatible with macs. Right?
posted by meta87 at 2:00 PM on September 14, 2005

I'm as concerned with the hardware as the software, frankly. There are a few cheap USB 1.1 cameras that are targeted at Macs, but I'm thinking those would have poor frame rates and resolution. Also, it's not clear to me from what i have seen so far that an iSight would work with anything but iChat (though I suppose that would let me use AIM -- but iChat is so bloody offensively and intrusively cute, it drives me nuts). But doesn't voice chat with AIM cost money?

Anyway, maybe I should frame this differently: Does anyone use a/v chat from a Mac to Windows now, and if so, what do they use?
posted by lodurr at 4:07 PM on September 14, 2005

Nevermind I guess google talk doesn't even have video conferencing, not sure where I got the idea from.
posted by meta87 at 4:57 PM on September 14, 2005

i suggest you use an isight and ichat (suck it up, its not that bad) and she can just use the latest version of AIM (make sure its the latest version so you get the better video features). that will be your best cross platform a/v chat option IMO.

.//chris
posted by hummercash at 5:41 PM on September 14, 2005

Yahoo chat was the only free thing I got working cross-platform a year and a half ago, I'd recommend at least looking that direction.

But doesn't voice chat with AIM cost money?
No
posted by onalark at 7:50 PM on September 14, 2005

Second for Yahoo video chat cross-platform.
posted by McGuillicuddy at 7:57 PM on September 14, 2005

n+1 for yahoo, and yes the iChat works with it.
posted by softlord at 9:51 PM on September 14, 2005

Third for Yahoo w/ voice. I talk to my wife and kids in the states from Iraq for free. :D Course, the frame rate is disastrous, but I'm not complaining. I imagine with a fatter pipe and lower latencies, frame rate will be less of an issue in the states (our uplink here is satellite.)

Re: hardware, I use Logitech's QuickCam for Notebooks Pro and have been very impressed by its performance. FYI, looks like they just announced another product with the same name - second- or third-generation, maybe. According to the website, the first one supports Mac and PC. They say PC-only on the second one, but that may or may not be true. Good luck!!
posted by ZakDaddy at 10:33 PM on September 14, 2005

er.... s/ichat/iSight
posted by softlord at 7:14 AM on September 15, 2005

zakdaddy, second gen quickcams work on macs too... i had one running on here about a week ago. iSight still blows it out of the water though.

and just a side question, anyone know if there are 3rd party Windows drivers for the iSight???
posted by hummercash at 8:11 AM on September 15, 2005

ZakDaddy, I really liked the look of that Logitech device -- smaller than an iSight and quite a bit cheaper. But they were hedging on the OS version (not willing to say it would work with 10.4).

I expect to have reasonable pipes. I'm staying at a guesthouse in Reykjavik with DSL and wireless, but I don't know how many people will be using simultaneously. Last time I was in Iceland, the connections were a bit slow, but not abysmal; we'll have to see. Frame rates might not matter.

Anyway, thanks for y'all's suggestions. I'll make up my mind on the hardware (at this point, between the Logitech QuickCam, a MacAlly cheapo, and an iSight) after I extrapolate my finances in a few minutes, and try to remember to post back here after I test it.
posted by lodurr at 8:18 AM on September 15, 2005

UPDATE: Such a pain in the butt! I'm learning (the hard way) that working with webcams on a Mac is very far from transparent -- that you seem to have to get third-party drivers and run special enabling applications to allow software like Yahoo Messenger to find them. I.e., that there aren't standard interfaces for that kind of a device on Macs. One of those times I wish it were feasible to make a really good Windows laptop -- I could just buy any random thing off the shelf and it would just work...
posted by lodurr at 3:35 PM on September 20, 2005

This is probably far from relevant for the current discussion, but I found the thread when looking for information on using an iSight on a Windows platform, as I may not have my Powerbook much longer but I *do* love the quality of the iSight.

This is a situation where, as you've found, the Apple solution works perfectly and (while perhaps being a few more dollars) is worth the money. Time is money after all, right?

So: would you rather a platform with N solutions, none of which really work all that well together a large part of the time, but yet each piece costs 80% as much.. or a platform with a slightly more expensive and singular solution that all works together (when you do it The Apple Way) as well as anything does these days?
posted by kcm at 6:05 AM on October 19, 2005