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Review on πŸ“Ί Logitech TV Cam with Google TV for Revue by Eddie Duncan

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Compatible with Panasonic 2012 HDTV and Blu-Ray with Skype app and also Facetime on Mac Mini, ready to use!

The title speaks for itself. This is a Logitech TV Cam or as stated here HDTV Widescreen Camcorder WITHOUT built-in Skype software originally intended for the Logitech Revue. I unpacked the webcam, plugged it straight into the USB port of my 2012 Panasonic TC-L47ET5, pressed the Internet button on the remote, selected the Skype app from my TV menu, logged in and was immediately able to host Skype. Video call on my wife's Windows laptop. Sound and video were perfect. At fifty dollars, that's a quarter of the cost of a Panasonic webcam selling for two hundred dollars! This is a Panasonic Smart HDTV webcam deal from 2012, so snag one while you can! Now let's move on to the Mac Mini situation. I am using a Mac Mini connected to my ET5 as a media server for use with Plex. I've seen reviews of someone lucky enough to use a TV camera with a Mac. My Mac Mini is a mid 2010 model and is still running Snow Leopard. Yes, I can upgrade to Mountain Lion, but Plex is much more stable on Snow Leopard, so I've decided to stick with it for now. I'm planning to test the TV camera on my early 2008 MacBook with Lion to see if the OS version affects compatibility one way or another and will update my review later if I find any differences. I have a TV camera connected to one of the USB ports. Ports on the back of my Mac mini. From there, I launched my copy of Facetime (0.99 cents) that I bought from the App Store and got a message that my Mac couldn't find a compatible camcorder. I closed Facetime to find video or webcam settings in settings thinking I might need to tweak something first, but that's not an option. Undeterred, I reopened Facetime to see if the app had a settings menu that I might have to fiddle with, but I didn't need to because as soon as the app opened, the camera was recognized! I'm not sure if all new users have to launch Facetime and then restart, or if it was just an issue with Facetime launching too quickly and TV Cam not yet fully installing and being recognized by my Mac, but bear this in mind that you might have to launch Facetime once, exit the app, and launch it again for the app to recognize the TV camera. I then tried the latest version of Skype on my Mac Mini, and while I was able to make an audio call using the webcam's mic, I couldn't do anything to get Skype to show the video, and even close the app a couple of times and start again. I haven't had a chance to restart my Mac Mini to see if it can enable Skype video, but if it does I'll update this review as well. For Plex users using a Mac Mini as a media server, this is a really great way to enable video chat with Facetime on the big screen, as well as any other Mac user who needs a quality webcam to use Facetime . However, note that Skype is currently a problem. This can be fixed by a reboot or an OS update that hasn't been done yet, but don't count on it. If this situation changes I will be sure to post an update. UPDATE: Rebooting was key! Since my Mac Mini is also a home media server, it was a bit busy when I did my first test with Skype and TV Cam. As soon as I finished my work on the Mac, I rebooted the system and immediately launched Skype. Voila! As soon as I logged in, I was greeted with a webcam video. Nothing more needed to be done. While this webcam might be a total flop for Windows users, those of us with a Mac win! Compare this webcam to what Logitech offers for Windows, and this time Mac users don't have to pay more. :D This is a great deal for Panasonic and Mac owners!

Pros
  • Very good price
Cons
  • Unreliable