OK so it may not have face tracking and a 10 megapixel lens, but this cute little Skype cam is just the job. And it's such an elegant design solution - a real lesson in simplicity - that you can't help but love it. Throw in a decent Plantronics P2000 headset and 6 months Skype voicemail plus up to 2 hours of Skype calls to landlines and you really have a very solid, portable Skype setup for a staggering £14.99 / $19.99 / E19.99!

Out of the box

This Skype webcam couldn't be simpler. It's basically a cardboard-covered cylinder with a lens poking out halfway  You can focus the lens by twisting it one way or t'other. It has a nice picture of a rainbow on it. It comes with a nice little fluffy carrying pouch as well. Neat! 

To attach it to your PC all you do is slide a little plastic clip over the lip of your laptop and attach the cam. If you have a normal desktop PC, there are a couple of little magnets you can attach to your monitor instead. Because the cam itself is magnetic, it clings to the magnet like a limpet.

Before plugging it in, run the dinky little CD through your PC and install the drivers, and then plug the cam into your USB port when prompted. Power up Skype, ensure the webcam is selected under the 'Video' options in 'Preferences', and you're in business!

Picture quality was really very good in decent light, with a decent frame rate and reasonably natural skin tones (ok, it's been a long day so I look a little pale!). Switching off the overhead lights and it did go a bit too dark, so using a basic cam like this it's as important as ever to ensure you get the lighting right. Tweaking the brightness and contrast controls also helped a bit.

Conclusion

Skype haven't been publicising this little cam too much, but it really is a little gem. If you're a regular, essentially home-based webcam user you may want to consider something more upmarket like the US Robotics Megapixel Minicam or the Logitech Quickcam Pro 5000. But any occasional Skyper, or Skyper who moves around a lot, this is a great little addition to throw into the briefcase/travel bag as you leave the house.

Visit the Skype web store to buy the Skype webcam and headset package by clicking here.