I bought a Microsoft LifeCam NX-6000 notebook webcam last year (device on the right in the photo above). Its video and audio quality is good. However, the mounting clip is awful. It fits on the top of most notebook LCD lids, but is otherwise useless. So, I bought the newer Microsoft LifeCam VX-7000 notebook webcam (device on the left in the photo above) a few weeks ago. Instead of a clip, it has what might be described as a simple articulated arm. It can be used as a sort of counter balance when sitting on a notebook lid. However, it can also be used as a stand on any other surface.

I used it to video record presentations a few days ago. I was sitting about 25 feet from the person speaking (unamplified) in a semi-darkened room (for PowerPoint presentations). I was very surprised at the high quality video (640×480 at 30fps) and decent audio quality. Although the audio volume was a little low, every word could be understood from a variety of speakers with varying levels of loudness and voice types.

I had the VX-7000 plugged into a Dell Latitude D620 notebook running Windows Vista Business Edition (32-bit version) and used the simple video recording software that comes with the webcam. The next step is to import that video into Microsoft Movie Maker and use its audio amplification option to boost the voice volume. I expect that it will also increase the ambient noise. But, I’m hoping that result will still be acceptable for informal video note-taking purposes.