Macally IceCam 2 Web Cam

Not so great

By John  Mar 17, 2009

Pros: Compatible with Macs, good sound

Cons: Poor image quality, lousy tech support

My sister bought this web cam for my father so her baby could see him on Skype. As the family techie, I handled the install. It gets an A+ for compatibility. I plugged it in and it worked, both with my MacBook Pro and his PowerBook G4 and for both Sk...ype and iChat (not at the same time). The sound quality is also very good through Skype. However, the image quality is really poor. In a well-lit office the entire background is black, and my face is only half visible. As a comparison, I brought up the image from the iSight built into the MBP when the IceCam 2 was connected to the MBP. Both cameras were aimed at the same scene, and they were mounted within four inches of each other. The iSight image was bright and colorful. The IceCam 2 image was dark and almost monotone. I tried contacting Macally tech support and got no satisfaction. The best he could offer was to add more light directly behind the camera. Given the lighting in my office, it must take a flood light to make it work. You get what you pay for. Read more Less