Logitech's QuickCam Traveler is a jack-of-two-trades, but a master of only one. Tethered to your PC, it's a superb Webcam, even in low light. Disconnect its USB cable and flip a switch, and it becomes a low-quality digital camera.
With its impressive software bundle and Webcam functionality, the QuickCam Traveler is worth a look if you want an excellent Webcam that can occasionally be taken outside for casual snapshots.
Somewhat larger than your typical Webcam, the QuickCam Traveler looks more like a miniature point-and-shoot film camera than a digital one, since it lacks an LCD screen to preview images.
Poor still images
It has a 350,000-pixel CCD sensor and runs on two AA batteries. Its 4MB internal memory holds 60 shots at 640x480-pixel resolution or 240 images at 320x240. Alas, the quality of these still images is rather poor, although better than those of many other VGA cameras we've seen.
The camera has two focus settings: 3 feet to infinity and a macro mode for close-up shots. In typical indoor lighting conditions, the shutter speed is so slow it's almost impossible to take a picture that's not blurred by your hand movements (there's no support for adding a flash).
Taking shots in bright sunlight eliminated motion blur in our tests, but our images still lacked sharpness. Colour reproduction was fairly accurate, although the saturation was slightly exaggerated. The camera has a self-timer but no protective lens cover.
Attach it to a base (a flat swivel mount for desktop PCs and a claw-type laptop mount are included), plug in the 9-foot USB cable, and the QuickCam Traveler takes on an entirely different personality.
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