A pocket digital camera for your Webcam
Zatni Arbi, Columnist, Jakarta
What is it? Is it a cigarette lighter? A business card holder? No, it is a tiny pocket digital camera.
Upon closer inspection, you will see the new Acer logo on it. Actually, since Acer announced the establishment of its Benq brand last December, the digital camera should have been called the Benq DC300. It is small enough to slip easily into your shirt pocket. There is no LCD screen that you can use to preview your shots or to display the images that you have already taken.
The only way you can aim the camera is by using the viewfinder. The lens cannot be adjusted, as it is a fixed-focus camera, but you can use its macro mode for objects as close as 20 centimeters. It has a tiny flash. It even has a built-in timer, so you can easily take a picture of yourself.
The small LCD panel at the back displays the status. It shows you how many pictures you have taken, the setting for the flash, etc. Two indicators are found at the back, one to show that the unit is busy storing the image and the other to tell you whether you have selected the macro mode.
If you want to erase the stored images, you can use the tiny rubber buttons underneath the LCD panel. There are three of these buttons, one for turning the camera on and off, another for selecting the mode and another for executing the selected mode.
The power for this digital camera comes from two AAA batteries. To conserve battery power, the unit will automatically shut itself off after several minutes of inactivity.
Actually, the feature set is not so bad for this pocket camera. To download pictures to your PC, you use the supplied USB cable. There is no way you can expand the memory, of course, but Benq claims that you can store 95 to 128 images. There is no direct-to-printer facility, either. The resolution is 640x480.
The good thing about this pocket digital camera is that it can also function as a Webcam. You can attach it to its cradle, which is also supplied by Benq, and then place both of them on top of your monitor or somewhere else, connect the USB cable and run the application, and you can perform video conferencing through Microsoft NetMeeting. When used as a Webcam, the device draws power from the PC through the USB cable.
So, on the market there are dedicated Webcams, which sit permanently on top of your monitor, and there are digital cameras that can also function as Webcams. Benq is certainly not the only vendor to offer this dual-purpose gadget, of course. Intel has for some time been selling its Pocket PC camera, which can also capture short video clips and let you make video phone calls over the Internet. It is also a 1.3 megapixel camera, which gives you a better image resolution.
There are other companies that also offer fairly versatile pocket digital cameras that can also function as Webcams, including the Singapore-based Creative Labs. However, as in the case of most sophisticated products, you cannot really expect these cameras to be really great at both. If you are a serious digital camera user, you will want features such as expandable storage, flashcards or memory sticks. You will also want a far better resolution. On the other hand, for a Webcam you will want a faster data transfer rate. A higher frame-per-second (fps) rate means smoother video.
So, the conclusion is, if you want a toy to enable you to do these two things and you do not need quality results, these pocket digital cameras are for you. But if you want better results, you should invest in two separate gadgets.