Bases, I have a webcam, as that is what a fuhking judge thought would be a good way for me to help my daughter do her homework. He is full of so much wisdom that he neglected to factor in that maybe being able to verbally communicate, which you cannot do with a webcam, (atleast from what I have seen) along with the video portion that has a broken up, slow motion picture isn't the best way to help your child.
Enough of my problems. First, I bought mine at Best Buy and got the $100 one with the software included which is a must. The brand I got is Logitech. I don't know how you could use one without the software. It is user friendly, and once you get everthing downloaded, it is very easy to use. The picture, like I said above is broken up and somewhat resembles a slide show with the picture changing about every second. There is no audio when using it over the web, but it is very clear when you use it to record yourself or whatever, and then turn it into a file. The other party definetley has to have one and you both have to be hooked up to an Instant Messenger with web cam capabilities.
If you are looking for something just to screw around with, go for it, but if you are going to using it for something serious like business, I would check into other alternatives. It is not something you would want to use for anything of importance.
Good Luck and let me know if you have any other questions. Not trying to talk you out of something, but they aren't all that great. Can't expect to much for something that only costs $50 to $100 anyway.
