VERDICT:Overall, the Life Cam VX 5500 comes across as a decent audio-visual solution for people who want to flaunt their style in basic utility peripherals. However, remember that it doesn’t have features like manual focusing and motion detection, which other manufacturers (Logitech and Creative) are incorporating in their webcams in the same price range.
A webcam of many faces
The new Microsoft Life cam VX 5500 stands out with its intuitive design and beautiful looks that can compliment any notebook or desktop computer.
The VX 5500 has a VGA resolution of 640 x 480 that is good enough to take care of all the conferencing you plan to do. The overall video quality is good and you will not face any problem even in low light conditions. We would have loved to have manual focusing on this, but sadly there was none available — you will have to keep the camera at the right distance to keep it in focus. The VX 5500 sports a Uni-Directional microphone, so sounds are picked up from anywhere in the room — good or bad depending on the ambient noise. The microphone features acoustic noise and echo cancellation.
The VX 5500 has a slim and flat folding stand that makes it easy to store and transport, and the same stand allows you to clip it on to your LCD monitor. Microsoft also adds a touch of color to this webcam with interchangeable faceplates. White blue and red face plates are bundled, but that’s about it for choice — you can’t buy more.
Installing the VX 5500 might be a slight hassle for people who don’t have an active Internet connection, as its software installation utility will not install the VX 5500 until it downloads the latest software driver version for the webcam.
Designed for the latest Windows Live Messenger the VX 5500 can be used to send offline video messages to family and friends. Also included in the Lifecam VX 5500 is a dedicated Windows Live Call button (A Skype like feature of Windows Live Messenger for calling anywhere from your computer), which gives one touch access to this feature.
