The Creative WebCam Instant with Eyegames video software has a button for taking quick snapshots, along with a focus ring so you can get the sharpest possible picture. Its claw-like stand means it can either support itself on a desk or grip the top of a flat-screen monitor.

Its basic webcam software comes with stacks of options and, if you’re looking to get the most out of your camera, comes with everything you’ll need. It can capture video at 352 x 288 pixels and does clever things like using the camera as a movement sensor for monitoring the area around your desk (it’ll even email you if someone walks in front of it) or make time-lapse movies. It also comes with simple image-editing and multimedia email software to get you started.

The resolution of the CCD is only 352 x 288, but Creative claims that it can take still at 640 x 480, though to be fair it does state on the box that this is through software interpolation. The actual resolution is 320 x 240 for video, and indeed this can be forced to 640 x 480 as well. The CD provided includes both drivers and software. You only need to install the drivers to get the cam working in Windows XP – MacOS isn’t supported. In typical Creative fashion it puts a Creative Cam Detector in your system start tray in case your PC is starting too fast.

Like the WebCam Live! Pro, the unit has been designed to sit on both a flat surface and hang from a flat screen display. Focusing is done manually via a simple bezel on the lens and the top of the device sports a still capture facility giving you the option of catching the odd 640×480 VGA quality still image if need be.

The WebCam instant isn’t as tech spec heavy as the other models in the range. There is no USB2.0 support, no Mac support and the highest resolution achievable is only 352×288, but then the price isn’t top of the range either (it’s half that of the WebCam Live! Pro).

The webcam is shaped like a half-egg type object, with the lens sat in the centre of the oval surrounded by a focus ring. A small yellow light indicates when it is plugged in via USB and powered. There’s a button built discreetly into the top used for manually taking snapshots though this only works with the supplied Creative software. It sits on a stand that when opened up enables it to hang nicely from the back of an LCD desktop or notebook screen. The eyepiece can be titled forwards and backwards and left or right so you get it pointing exactly where you want it. What it doesn’t have in any kind of automatic face tracking technology, which is hardly surprising considering the price of the package.

When the stand is closed it can sit flat on the desk, but balancing it on top of a CRT could be tricky. It’s also light weight, which makes it easy to take with you if you want to pack it in your bag along with a laptop when you go away.

Creative’s WebCam Instant is a webcam with personality. It has a three-leg base that’s designed to fit thin-panel displays, laptops, and notebooks, although you can also rest it on a flat surface. With two legs hanging over the front of your monitor and its electric eye gazing benignly back at you, it looks like much more than a simple peripheral.

The WebCam Instant is easy to set up. Just plug the included USB 1.1 cable into an available USB port on your PC, and you’re ready to start beaming your shining face to far-flung friends and family. The WebCam Instant is compatible with all of the most popular instant messaging applications, including AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, and Windows Messenger, as well as other instant messaging software.