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Chat with distant friends and relatives with MSN Messenger and Webcam

After my daughter was born I gave my parents a Ceiva 3 Digital Picture Frame, so I could send them pictures almost daily. They live 1400 miles away, so we only get together a few times a year. Now that my daughter is older, and walking and talking, we needed to find a way to see each other when we talk. There are a number of services out there that offer free instant and video messaging.

I chose the MSN Live Messenger because it was easy to use for my parents. I also purchased the Logitech Fusion webcams. These webcams have a built in speaker and offer good picture quality. Of course it ‘s still a little grainy but that ‘s the nature of the web at this point. Both parties must have a high speed internet connection for this to work well.

The setup of the system was very easy. Prior to visiting my parents, I purchases two webcams. I brought my laptop with me on the visit, and installed the webcams and the MSN messenger software on both computers. Within an hour I was able to talk to my wife in the other room. My parents were shocked. They thought the digital picture frames were cool, but this was nothing they had ever imagined.

We have been talking a few times a week for five months and this set up is working great. I call my parents on the regular phone, then they turn on their computer, open MSN messenger and €œanswer € the video call I place to them. Within a few seconds we can see and hear each other.

A few recommendations I found. First, sometimes you loose sound or the pictures goes static. Don ‘t spend too much time worrying about this. Just disconnect the call and call the other party back. Second, the size of the viewing screen is only about three inches square on your computer screen. You can only adjust the size up to full screen. This really distorts the image and slows the connection. Just be happy with the smaller screen and the fact that you get a free call and get to see the person you are talking to. I ‘m sure the viewing screen will get larger in the coming years.