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The big news here is the IM Video Companion, which lets AIM and MSN Messenger users add video chat. Both participants must have the program installed for this capability to work, though. The service functions with dial-up and broadband connections, but it has trouble when both ends have routers or firewalls. A beta of a new version fixes some of the problems. You can install the IM Video Companion from the QuickCam 4000's installation screen, or you can go directly to Logitech's Web site. Either way, the installation comes from the Web site, and it's free for anyone--not just Logitech camera users.

As with most PC cameras, the majority of the 4000's features are in the software. The camera sports a VGA-sized (640x480-pixel) CCD sensor, a glass lens, and a built-in microphone. The top-mounted shutter-release button lets you click off a snapshot using the ImageStudio software, though we found it too easy to hit by accident when positioning the camera. This Webcam also includes a privacy shade that you can flip over the lens if there's someone or something that you don't want the camera to see. This cover is mounted by the dimples on either side of the unit, though, and tends to fall off when bumped.

ImageStudio offers camera settings and control; still or video recording; time-lapse and animation photography; and a nice motion-detector utility. A notify tray icon brings up ImageStudio, as well as the camera control. You can view saved images as you create them using the My Gallery utility, which also includes some modest editing capabilities. Still images are saved as JPEGs, while video is stored in the AVI format. If you click this QuickCam's E-mail Video button, the software compresses your AVI file into the Microsoft Windows Media (WMV) format. Interestingly, ImageStudio saves compressed videos to a file rather than firing up your default e-mail client. However, you can specify an alternate e-mail client from the Settings dialog box. You can also choose Compress from the QuickView window's Save As dialog box and select any compression codec that's present on your system. Our 2.1MB test clip shrank to 86K as a WMV file. While quality suffers in the compressed version, it's fine for sending baby pictures to Grandma.

As previously mentioned, the My Gallery utility provides very rudimentary image editing and the ability to add text to video. For more involved editing and special effects, you'll want to load MGI's bundled VideoWave SE 4.0 and PhotoSuite SE 4.0 applications.

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