<p>Our firstborn is heading off to college this fall and I've been helping her research laptop computer options. I just learned that the MacBook has a built-in camera above the screen for videoconferencing. She's going a thousand miles away, and it would be great for her separation anxiety-prone parents to get to chat with her using both audio and video. How well does this feature work? Does it work best if both parties are using the Mac iSight hardware and programs?</p>
<p>We have isight. It is easy, but it turns out we used ichat more... The problem is that you cant look each other in the eye-- because the camera is offset from the screen, so you are not making eye contact. But it was fun for lil bro (8) to see sis at school, in room-- live & in person.</p>
<p>Son got the isight somewhere in midyear and contacted me with a surprise video "conference." Got to see the dorm room, friends etc. Being that he is 8000 miles away, it was a treat for me. He used it several times but like SBmom, we use ichat more frequently.</p>
<p>Is the video quality good or does it look like a sequence of stills strung together?</p>
<p>I've never seen anyone video conference with their parents, but i guess that just wasn't popular when i was in school.</p>
<p>My family video confrerences using cameras hooked up to our internet lines and televisions. We have three generations of relatives hooked up. It's FANTASTIC!</p>
<p>Quality wise, it depends on the internet connection and the camera being used. College residence halls have fast enough lines that they would be able to give you fairly good quality.</p>
<p>Video quality was decent.</p>
<p>Agreed, quality was fine.</p>
<p>
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would be great for her separation anxiety-prone parents
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Don't get it. If this is all about separation and stress, really, forget about it. Please. I don't care that she's 1,000 miles away - I went to college 20 miles away from home and my parents still respected that I was there and they weren't. I didn't want them hovering over me, telling me that I looked tired, or that I was losing weight or gaining weight or that my room was a mess. If I wanted constant parental oversight, I would have stayed at home. </p>
<p>I guess I don't see why talking on the phone is not enough to ease your anxiety.</p>
<p>We use it often. The new MacBook can host a 4 person conference, so an east coast uncle joins in, as well as a brother from time-to-time. The camera in the MacBook is closer to the view level which is nice as well. My S even gave some friends a tour of his campus (wireless wonders). I recommend it. And, as someone mentioned above iChat is used even more often.</p>
<p>Ariesathena,</p>
<p>I had to smile, because my 18 year old D would feel EXACTLY the way you do. Which is why I'll let her broach the videoconferencing subject... if she does, great. If she doesn't -- I'll still live.</p>
<p>Oh puhleeze. Move into the 21st century Ariesathena. People are doing this on various instant messaging services all the time. It has nothing to do with separation anxiety, it just has to do with having the option to have one more way to stay in touch. </p>
<p>You're forgetting the students have complete control of whether this gets used or not, we can't plug their webcams back in if they decide to unplug them. I figure my son's completely capable of yanking the cord out of the USB port if he doesn't want to be seen.</p>
<p>And heads up that if anyone's not a MAC user and is looking at the Logitech QuickCam Orbit MP, it's cheaper on Amazon.</p>
<p>
[quote]
separation anxiety-prone parents
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The OP said it, not me! So yes, it has everything to do with separation anxiety in this case. Frankly, I don't know how you could read the first post and not have phrase "separation anxiety" in your mind!</p>
<p>How unsurprising for you to go with that response and ignore everything else I said.</p>