Comments on: The AstroGuy broadcast network is NOT on the air...

Question: The AstroGuy broadcast network is NOT on the air...

AstroGuy — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:50:48 -0800

My new HP laptop has a web cam but no useful software for it. So how can I actually use this thing?

It's a Pavillion dv6449t that has an integrated 1.3MP web cam. It works (I've tested it with the "QuickStart" software that's worthless) and it shows up as a device in Flash options screens, but there is no real software to actually DO anything with it.

So what the heck can I do with this thing and what kind of software do I need?

(I saw an AskMe from about a year ago with almost the exact same question, but no real answers there.)

By: MarcieAlana

MarcieAlana — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:54:56 -0800

Video conferencing is about all I do with mine. Both Skype and Yahoo pick them up just fine.

By: dcjd

dcjd — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:57:34 -0800

You can use Windows Movie Maker with it as well.

By: AstroGuy

AstroGuy — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:05:05 -0800

I was looking at Movie Maker (version bundled with Vista Home Premium) and there does not appear to be an interface to the camera. It will import movies stored in a variety of formats, but I don't see how it can grab and record live video from the cam.

By: Ms. Next

Ms. Next — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:40:16 -0800

You can use Windows Movie Maker with it as well.
posted by dcjd at 10:57 PM on August 6

Apparently, this is no longer true for Vista.

By: fiTs

fiTs — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:17:24 -0800

Along the same lines as what MarcieAlana said, Windows Live Messenger will also work.

By: TomMelee

TomMelee — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:28:37 -0800

use dorgem to seekritly take pictures of everyone who walks past and then email or FTP it to a server somewhere. Then you can know what the person who steals it looks like. Alternatively, set it on a low table, and then get shots down the hot ladies shirts as they lean over to examine your fancy new machine.

But in reality, use it for videoconferencing---because everyone does that, right? Skype, trillian, aim, yahoo, etc...all the clients have built in VC.

By: radsqd

radsqd — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:33:44 -0800

take a look at this

http://www.imediaman.com/products/mediaman/product-overview.html

use the webcam to scan barcodes and maintain dvd collection