linux webcams at best buy

%p Want to buy a web-cam sold at Best Buy that works on Linux by default? I've already done the leg work for you. I bought most of the web-cams that Best Buy sells and tested them on my Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) installation.

%p One surprising constraint I learned is that the web-cam needs to be a low enough resolution for it work. One web-cam had a capture resolution of 1280x1024 but it was quite choppy at this resolution. I wasn't able to reduce the capture resolution easily so this web-cam was effectively too good for my computer.

%table %tr %th Name %th Works out of box %th Resolution %th Choppy %tr %td Creative Live Cam Pro %td No %td %td %tr %td Dynex %td Yes %td 1280 x 1024 %td Yes %tr{:style=>"background-color: #98fc66;"} %td Creative Other One %td Yes %td 800x600 %td No

%p Some people say you should patch your kernel with modules to get your web-cams to work. I say don't buy web-cams that don't work out of the box. If you buy a product that doesn't work out of the box, return it! When you return it you are voting with your money for web-cams that work out of the box.