Amcrest reached out to me to test and review their AWC201-B Webcam.
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Arrived in a super small package, and inside was the camera and a security cover.
TESTING
Plugged the device into a Dell Latitude E7470 running Windows 10 and it was immediately recognized and the drivers were installed.
Tested the webcam on several different platforms to see how the device would work with each one.
Microsoft Teams
Slack
GoToMeeting
Zoom
Picture
Overall picture quality is good, there is a fishbowl look at the outer edge of the frame and image looks a little distorted. Color is a little dull looking as well, but if you have good lighting that can be compensated some. Below is how the edge is distorted on the image when shown, it is not super bad and depending on the actual background it is not always visible in the video.
Sound
Microphone on the camera is as expected and anyone who would expect good sound quality from something sitting that far away from you and that small has to be crazy. The sound quality is about what you would expect from something directly sitting on your laptop. It was a little better then what I have in laptop but overall it made me sound as if I was talking into a tin can and sitting super far away from the microphone.
PROS:
The price is very good compared to several other brands and the overall quality is good for most business meetings and personal usage to make video calls.
CONS:
Camera needs to have a swivel to allow for adjusting the angle of the camera left to right when sitting on top of a laptop. There are some video quality issues but not a show stopper depending on your need.
Outcome
Overall it is a good product for the price, and compared to some well know brands it works decent enough. Plus as of this writing (2020 Pandemic) they have product in stock as companies like Logitech it is near impossible to find any of their products in stock. If you are looking for a decent low priced camera and are not super worried about the overall picture quality this is the webcam for you.
Well still dealing with the pandemic, and hanging around the house.
Not much has changed for me, still working form home, and having virtual meetings. At least many people I work with have decided to stop using their web cams for every meeting. Well, except the people in my company, they seem to still want you to see them all the time.
Going to the grocery store wearing a mask, and following the directional signage like I was asked to do. Surprising to see how many people cannot follow simple instructions, or are just being asses. It is not that it is that hard to follow simple things, as going one way on isles, and trying to stay a certain distance from people.
Now we are having protests, riots and looting in a lot of cities, due to a police officer(s) that killed a black/African American gentleman named George Floyd. It is interesting the way this has taken off and the amount of people that are involved in some of the protests, and discussions surrounding the police and brutality against people. However, I think some are just trying to get a few minutes of attention and are not entirely involved with the intent of the protests. There also seem to be some that are using it for other purposes, and to try to cause havoc, those are the ones who are looting stores and damaging property. It is bad when I hear more on the riots and looting in the news, and less about the actual protests and information on the case against the police officer(s).
Now there seems to be more cases of RONA happening lately, most seem to be from the memorial day holiday weekend and people wanting to get out of the house for some fun and enjoyment. Now we might see a larger increase from the protests, and I hope we don’t go backwards on the stay at home orders. Things were just starting to open back up and people were starting to be allowed to get haircuts, eat at an actual restaurant, and get out to the parks and other places.
The Stock markets cannot decide what it wants to do and the US feds are not helping much. People are demanding a second stimulus check, some people don’t want to go back to work as they are making more on unemployment then what they were getting paid. Stocks rose when they announced that unemployment was lower then expected for May. Then it started crashing again after a non-informative a briefing from the US Feds.
All I can say is stay safe, stay healthy, and look out for yourself and family. Do what feels right for you and your family, if you can stay home, then do that. If you have to go to an office to work, stay away from the crazies who think nothing is going on, and it is all a hoax.
So, we are still hanging out at home due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Things have changed only a little for me during this time, I am still working jsut now at home more often. I was used to traveling to clients sites almost every other week, and now I am doing everything remotely for the most part.
Having meetings via Teams, Webex, and even Zoom has been interesting, especially with all the people who are not used to working remotely. With people demanding everyone use their webcams in meetings we get to see some interesting things, like people’s homes, their family members, and even their pets. This was not a normal thing that would happen several weeks ago on a virtual meeting. Several of the platforms are now allowing for virtual backgrounds, which gives people something to show other than their homes (messy or not).
Been reading some articles from several people (not sure what makes them an expert on this subject) twitter and news articles who want to tell me how to work from home and how I should act in my virtual meetings. I think that giving people a list of things that work well for you in your remote job is stupid, as not everyone is the same or wants to do the same things as you. I have no problems with listing out things to try, and let the person decided what works best for them, but stop telling people how to work remotely. Also, telling people to not mute their microphones during meetings so they can have better interactions with their team is ridiculous as no one would ever get anything accomplished. All you would probably hear is people breathing, eating, typing and other background noises. Making the meeting useless and take for ever to get to what the meeting was intended to cover. People will figure out the flow, just let them work on it, as every meeting has a different focus and drive based on the purpose. Plus half of the people are chatting with each other in the background about most of the topics being discussed.
That cozy work environment we all love
Not everyone is geared to do remote work, and many people like to have that little interaction with an actual person in their work day. Some may even take a little more time to find their groove in this process and it will be a trial for several weeks to get it to their grove. Some people need a routine to get through their day, while others will just wing it everyday. Which scenario works for you just keep dealing with it and keep at it. For the people who are like “see now they (their employer) have no reason to not let us work remote going forward”, you may have to keep dreaming, as it is not that easy for every company to make that an easy decision. Be happy you have an option to work remote, not everyone has that as an option.
We have the people who were terminated or furloughed as the business could not continue making payroll. Then there are the people who are currently identified as essential (Medical staff, grocery store staff and food service staff) and then there is everyone else either working remote or sitting idle collecting some paycheck (either a full or partial payment) waiting for things to start moving again.
What is normal?
Will everything go back to normal? Well you need to define what normal is to start that discussion. I do not believe everything will go back to the way it was before the pandemic, I do see some changes that will last for several years if not permanent. People may get to work remote for some time before getting asked to come back into the office. I do not see that everyone will be required to come back all at once, it will be the people who want to or are able to come into the office to work. Some may not want to come back at first but want the comfort of working at the office with their colleagues. Others will stay remote for as long as they are allowed to, some may be told to come back to the office, while others may be allowed to make that a choice to stay a remote worker. Some peoples positions will be eliminated as there will not be a need for them due to less work overall, less money coming in to support the staff, and possibly the business not getting back to pre-pandemic operations.
Wishing to be heading somewhere nice
Traveling will take a while to get back to any type of normalcy and some airlines may not continue with or may limit some flights to certain cities (less profitable locations). Business travel will change for many, as it will not be justified to fly out to do those meetings onsite. Sales people may not be able to get into meet the people they are trying to sell products to. For many if it can be done remote, then that would be the preferred option, instead of the expense of traveling and the possibility of someone getting sick.
Vacation travel may take a big hit, some will be due to fear of traveling again, and some will be due to financial limitations from layoffs and people having less money. People may just do more driving to nearby areas that are less crowded, and less people flying on crowded planes to large populated areas. Cruising may have some less crowded ships, but not sure if that will be just older people and some families with kids, or if it will be across the board for people. Have read that cruise lines have seen an uptick in people booking trips for 2021, but I think it is people playing the game, and are hoping for a cancellation to get an extra credit fees to book a future trip or are taking the current credits they got for canceled trips to hold their place on the next ship.
Who know what the future will bring, I guess we will find out in the next coming months. One thing I can say is I hope people stop being stupid about this whole situation. Yes it sucks, and maybe could have been handled a lot better by the people in government. But if we all work together we will get through this sooner than later.
