LifeCam Show/ LifeCam VX-5500
Show Rating: 
(5 / 5)
VX Rating:
(4.5 / 5)
The new LifeCam Show is a small, travel-sized webcam with a built-in mic. I’m going to tell you up front that I just love this camera. It’s got the features you’re looking for without bogging you down in complexity.
The LifeCam VX-5500 is also a small, travel-sized webcam with a built-in mic. It doesn’t have the same mounting system as the Show, but it still travels well.
Let’s start with the mounting system. It’s got a small round divot on the front and on the back where it connects to a magnet on the clamp. The magnet is strong enough to hold the camera on and in place, but gentle enough to be easy to remove and turn the camera. It’s really a beautiful system. I don’t think I’ve seen a webcam attachment system that I’ve liked better. The clamp itself is for your laptop. The LifeCam also comes with a stand and a piece to stick on your home monitor should you choose. And the reason the webcam has the divots on the front and the back is so you can mount it on either the front or the back of your monitor.
The size of the LifeCam is suited for travel. It’s a really small camera with a shape that’s easy to stick into the nooks of your backpack. It also comes with a hard case to protect it while it’s being transported. I just wish they included a way to protect the cord too.
The software has all the usual options for adjusting exposure, contrast, etc as well as pan and zoom. The camera won’t pan or zoom automatically though. You can control pan and zoom manually from the software, but it won't follow you around as you move. What is of particular interest is how well this camera handles low light conditions. It adjusts to low light a lot better than I expected and you have no problems making out the details of something in low-lit hotel rooms or in your living room late at night.
Of course the most fun features are the overlays and filters. With the filters you can makes your eyes bulge, or make your nose really big. You can also add a number of other fun effects that you’ll get a kick out of. The overlays transpose smart images over the webcam display. Things like stars floating over your head or snow falling on you. You can even have it dress you up in shades and a wig, or put a hat on your head. And the overlay objects move with you so if you’re wearing one of the wigs it’ll usually follow you and turn with you pretty well. This is a great feature for your kids, who will just LOVE it. My daughter gets on my computer and plays with it almost daily.
The built-in mic is just excellent too. It’s clear and very sensitive. I didn’t have to shout while talking to my family from Dallas to Seattle or even from Dallas to anywhere.
I found that all of these features worked just great on both my Vista boxes (64 and 32 bit), but it wasn’t as rich on my XP laptop. Everything worked as expected except the overlays. The rain and snow overlays worked just fine, and in fact I’ll go ahead and say that all the border overlays worked. However, the filters and facial overlays didn’t work at all. Now, maybe I was missing a component but I didn’t really troubleshoot it. I’m sure it wouldn’t take me too long to work out why these features didn’t work. But it worked out of the box on Vista.
It works well with all my instant messaging apps. The only complaint I have there is that it doesn’t save my pan and zoom preferences between sessions. So if I unplug the camera, and the plug it back in, I have to re-zoom for instant message. That’s only a minor annoyance, but when you’re doing it every day or twice a day it starts to get old.
The Bottom Line: The two cameras are very similar in features, so don’t choose them based off of that. And they’re both well suited for travel. The LifeCam Show is quite a bit smaller than the VX-5500, but that’s not the only physical difference. The VX-5500 doesn’t have the cool magnetic mounting system. It has the more classic expanding leg system that can be setup on the table, or over the top of your monitor. It too is a good system and the whole assembly collapses flat for travel. But seriously, there’s just no substitute for the magnetic mounts. Both cameras have the same quality for video and sound though so choose the one you like based off of your physical needs or likes. The VX-5500 also has different colored face plates so you can accessorize with your computer.