Pros: Good price; Hi-Speed USB card included; easy to install.
Cons: Weak colours; unimpressive light capturing; focus lens is difficult to adjust; choppy performance for a Hi-Speed USB camera; freeware bundle only.
Verdict: Although not the best quality, the bundle & price does make the ADS USB Turbo 2.0 camera an attractive buy for those looking to get into Hi-Speed USB and in need of a webcam as well.
Although Hi-Speed USB webcams have yet to hit it big, a handful of companies have thrown their own Hi-Speed USB cams into the mix. ADS' USB Turbo 2.0 Webcam is just that; a Hi-Speed USB capable webcam with a twist.
Overview & Installation One of the most interesting aspects to the Turbo 2.0 Webcam is the 4-port Hi-Speed USB PCI card ADS includes with the package. If anything, this card sets the ADS package apart from the competition in terms of bundles and extras. Installing the camera is as simple as installing the Hi-Speed USB card (if needed), throwing in the driver CD and pre-installing the camera drivers then just plugging the camera in. Once the camera is installed, it's ready to go. Also included with the camera is a nice suite of software, including iSpQ VideoChat, MS NetMeeting, MS Messenger, iVisit, Yahoo Messenger and Teveo Live.
The camera itself is an oval-shaped grey and black design, with an odd looking manual focus adjuster on the front and a snapshot button on the top behind the build-in mic. A tripod is included with the camera as well.
Performance Although utilizing a Hi-Speed USB connection, the ADS USB Turbo 2.0 Webcam doesn't quite perform as expected. Not only does the high-res video appear choppy and far from the advertised 30 frames per second, the quality itself also isn't quite up to par. Colours are a little uninspired and the camera can't seem to capture light very well, as most video is much darker than it actually is. While playing with the focus adjuster does help improve image clarity, it's rather difficult to use, especially with only one hand.
The Bottom Line While ringing in at about $55 street and with a full-fledged 4-port Hi-Speed USB card included, the ADS Turbo 2.0 Webcam doesn't quite provide the quality you'd expect from a high bandwidth camera. However, the low price and excellent bundle do make for a good buy for those looking for both a webcam and a Hi-Speed USB card.
-- By Dustin Jones, Consumer Technology Editor
Where to buy ADS USB Turbo 2.0 Webcam?
User Review(s)
"Bad lighting, Slow on Auto-lighting, No Linux support" The resolution is great, the quality of the actual picture is better than any logitech webcam. The frame rate is very high when NOT using automatic lighting. If you turn on automatic lighting, the framerate goes down to about 5fps instead of 30 (its seriously brutal) It has bad drivers and will not be able to be used by WindowsXP's special Webcam device features, you MUST use ADS's software to control the camera.
It has no linux drivers, which is almost absurd. From Euphorix, January 03, 2004
"Love the camera, hate the software" I like the camera,, great color, nice size picture. I'm running Win XP. The only software I use in the package is the Teveo Vidio Suite for making what they call clips. I only use the cam for making movies and Yahoo Messanger which any webcam can do as they give you a limited copy of Teveo Vidio Suite,any one know where to gett the full version of Teveo Vidio Suite? From Garrett Ross, December 27, 2003
"fair...but could be better" I get the advertised 30fps and the videos are relatively sharp and smooth. The manual focus is sometimes difficult to operate (a bigger tab for turning the lens and a colored mark to indicate lens position would help) and the cable needs to be taped or otherwise prevented from pulling the camera off position. The tilt is also difficult to set due to tabs that seem to force the angle into certain positions. You end up having to adjust the length of the tripod legs to get the exact angle. From len, December 27, 2002
"LOVE the full-size video window... way better than my old Logitech QuickCam 3000Pro" My biggest complaint (aside from the tiny window with the Logitech Webcam) is that I can never get the camera to point straight ... the weight of the cord makes the unit unstable and unweidly.. practically unusable.
I love the true camera tri-pod mount that comes free with the ADS camera ... PLUS, you can lock the WebCam in any position. And (because of the USB 2.0) the 640x480 video window is HUGE compared to my Logitech.
Not sure what the others were complaining about, mine set up easy on XP -- maybe they need updated driver from the ADS site (www.ADSTech.com)? From Jason, December 17, 2002
"steven" I bought a ADS Webcam USB 2.0. I tried many ways with w2k and xp. The product performed terrible. The video quality was very bad. And the driver was not stable. I strongly recommend not to buy this webcam.
And ADS shall stop selling this bogus product. From steven, November 30, 2002
We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now. USB Turbo 2.0 Webcam Specs
Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, MacOS 9.0, MacOS X
Sensor technology
CCD
Pixels
--
Lens type
Manual focus
Field of view
Focus distance
Max. still capture resolution (DSC)
not applicable
Max. video capture resolution (tethered mode)
640 x 480
Max. video capture resolution (untethered mode)
not applicable
Flash?
No
Zoom?
No
Viewfinder
not applicable
Photo capacity
not applicable
Video capacity
not applicable
Storage
not applicable
Storage expansion type
not applicable
Built-in microphone
Yes
Additional features
Tripod mount
Software
Eyematic iVisit, TeVeo, iSpQ VideoChat
Power source
Bus-powered
Warranty
One year
Extras Lost a USB cable? Get a replacement USB cable.
Running out of USB ports? Get an extra USB hub.
You may need a new USB card to achieve Hi-Speed USB speeds.
Confirm with our USB 2.0 FAQ if you have Hi-Speed USB on your PC.
