The iSlim 1300 by Genius is a very light weight and small webcam. But does that make it good?
If you’re like me, you might have a couple of webcams already. They might be built into your laptop or ones that you bought for your desktop a couple years back. With the rise of live video streaming, pre-recorded videos, and video chat – you might want to start thinking about upgrading your webcam to the latest and greatest.
If you’re in that mindset then the iSlim 1300 is not the route to go. There are a couple of problems with the video that it outputs. You need to be in a very brightly lit room to remove as many artifacts as possible. Even with your room’s over head lights, desk lamps, and open windows there are still plenty of visible artifacts. You’ll notice that the color of the image tends to be in a green tint. The overall image appears very soft.
On the audio side the microphone sounds like a typical webcam microphone. Ideally you would want to use a headset or some other external microphone.
The way that the iSlim 1300 is designed you can place it on your desk or hook it up to your LCD monitor or laptop. At the base of the webcam there’s a flap that you can extend outwards to adjust it to fit on the backside of your monitor. The rest of the camera lies across the top of the monitor. The problem with these design is that if you bump into your desk or slightly move your monitor the web camera may fall off. If you can avoid doing that, the webcam should be ok.
The iSlim 1300 does come bundled with CrazyTalk software. This allows you to record your videos onto your computer, animate pictures with voice and facial movements, and includes several other features. This software runs for about $30-$40 separately so it’s nice that it’s bundled in with the camera for no extra charge. But this doesn’t make the technology behind the actual web camera any better.
I would imagine that an average adult would not be very interested in using CrazyTalk. It seems a little gimmicky and something suited towards children.
If you plan on buying a web camera I recommend that you spend the extra money and buy something higher end. Having a high definition web camera seems to me to be a much better and longer term investment in the future of your online video expression. Prices for HD web cameras have dropped dramatically in recent years and you can get some for only $20 more than what the iSlim 1300 sells on Amazon ($25). Even as a standard definition camera the iSlim 1300 really doesn’t live up to its competition.
