Cheap Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera

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List Price: $19.99
Sale Price: $14.20
Today's Bonus: 29% Off

This camera is available in two packages this is the basic package and comes with the Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera, a headset that you probably already have, and a code redeemable on the Xbox Live Marketplace for the game UNO (which supports the camera in online play) and also 1 month of Xbox Live Gold service.

The camera itself is a well-designed little unit. You have to set the focus of the camera using the ring around the lens. The quality of video and still pictures taken through the Xbox dashboard is pretty good as long as you're in a reasonably well-lit room. It's a VGA camera (640x480 pixels) so it's not HD. It's easy to install, you just plug it into your Xbox in the front or back USB port and you're good to go, no software update necessary. The camera has a built-in base/stand with a rubber footpad so you can set it next to your TV. You can also use it as a regular webcam with your PC, and as of OSX 10.4.9 onwards it will work as a webcam on any Mac; I use it with Skype on my older iBook and it works great.

Overall it's a nice little add-on for your Xbox. Video chat is a nice feature if you have friends or family with an Xbox 360. There are a few games that support using the camera to map your face onto your on-screen character, which is fun. Games like Totemball are be played by actually moving your arms around in front of the camera so it does open up a lot of opportunities for new experiences with your Xbox.

For parents worried about their kids using this: when playing camera-enabled games you will see other people's video stream whether you have the camera or not, so buying this camera doesn't make any difference to what you will see. In your account preferences you can enable or disable sending or receiving video for any game.

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With the iSight no longer for sale, there are few alternatives for users of older Macs looking to use the video features of iChat AV. This camera works perfectly.

The quality is decent and it's very small. Not a ton of extra features, but it works right out of the box without any other software. That is far better than lots of bells and whistles that only work OK.

I don't own an xBox and can't speak to how this camera is for that, but it's a great camera to use with my computer and far cheaper (and better) than most aftermarket webcams.

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I bought this camera on an impulse. Here are my thoughts:

Right now, I'd say it's not worth a whole lot. As of October 9, 2006, it only has three functions. You can use it on Uno, Totemball, Billiard Games and for video chat with friends on Xbox Live. Additionally, you plug it up into your Windows PC and use it as a web cam.

However, if you're getting this for your Xbox360 (which you probably are), I say wait until there's a good reason to buy it. Totemball is an absolutely terrible game, and unless you want to people to see you while you're playing Uno, there's not much point in getting it yet.

I say hold off until it's functional with a few more games before rushing out and getting it. It's definitely nice to have, and anyone wanting to get the most out of their 360 should check it out, but it's just not too important just yet.

EDIT: As of June 2007, the camera is functional with a few titles. The most notable is Command and Conquer 3, in which you can view your opponent's face when you obliterate their army. It is a nice touch to the game. Still not entirely necessary for the Xbox 360, but nice to have nonetheless.

Honest reviews on Xbox 360 Live Vision Camera

The inexpensive XBox 360 Live Vision camera is natively recognized by current versions of Mac OSX, without having to install any drivers: just plug it in, and you can immediately video conference using iChat, Skype, etc...

Focus is manual (unlike the iSight, which has powered focusing and can be set to autofocus mode). The picture quality is excellent, very sharp and low light sensitivity perfectly adequate.

A green light ring illuminates around the base of the lens to warn you that the camera is on.

A perfect, inexpensive way to give your older Mac, Mac mini or MacPro video conferencing capability.

Also in the box: a mono headset with mike for XBox. Unfortunately, the connector is just non-standard enough that it only works on XBox, but it's an extra toy for the same price.

All in all, great value for Mac users!

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I bought this camera on a tip I received from a guy working at my local Apple Store. He said that this camera worked flawlessly as a webcam with iChatAV. So I took a chance and picked up this Xbox 360 specific camera from the local store.

Believe it or not, it works like a charm. Just as he said it would, I took it out of the box, plugged it in, opened iChat and I had a working webcam. Easy. I had no idea about this Xbox 360 camera working with my iBook G4 so perfectly. Just thought I'd let you Xbox 360ers know that this camera is a great alternative to buying an all new MacBook if you're still using a computer that doesn't have a built in webcam.

I don't know how this thing works on the Xbox 360, but on the my iBook G4, it does the job extremely well. Thank you Apple Store guy.