Freetalk Everyman Webcam

It looks very smart perched atop a flatpanel or laptop screen: Measuring just 37x71x62mm and weighing 98g, the rectangle Freetalk Everyman Webcam comes with a robust plastic clip that can be adjusted to ensure the webcam is secure when placed on top of a desktop PC or on to a laptop's screen.

The Freetalk Everyman Webcam doesn't come bundled with any software. Instead, you plug the webcam into a laptop and log in to your account or start a Yahoo Messenger session. The device is certified for use with Skype (download Skype here), so you’ll need to make sure you’ve got version 4.2 or above already loaded onto your machine. However, is compact form factor and lack of software means it ideal for use when on-the-go.

Once the Freetalk Everyman Webcam has been connected, users then just need to load Skype and they’ll be able to begin making video calls. The head of the webcam can tilted up or down to ensure the user is in shot during video-capture, no matter where the device is positioned.

The Freetalk Everyman Webcam is capable of capturing video at a resolution 1280x720 of, although the frame per second rate drops to 22fps. If you want to achieve the maximum 30fps rate, you'll need to adjust the webcam to a capture video at a lower resolution. The video captured by this webcam was one of the smoothest and clearest we experienced. The colours were also realistic and there was no pixelation on detailing. However, while the sound was clear it was distorted with more background noise than the others we trialled.

The Freetalk Everyman Webcam can also be used in conjunction with Skype to take still images. We used the video settings menu and selected the 'take a snapshot' option, before browsing our hard drive to find the location we wanted to save the image in.