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The Microsoft LifeCam Cinema offers sleek styling and solid video quality, but audio performance isn't this HD webcam's strong suit.

In short this is the best webcam that we've seen in a very long time – and that's saying something.

It’s hard to dispute the LifeCam Cinema as a great webcam offering from Microsoft, at least in its intended video role, the company has combined excellent moving image quality with a well-designed hardware concept.

Microsoft’s well-designed LifeCam Cinema might not make video calling a cinematic experience, but it does up the quality over non-HD webcams and offers good future-proofing, all for a price that doesn’t break the bank.

What would have been a nice webcam is tarnished by the LifeCam Cinema's on-board microphone and its incessant high-pitched whine. Interested buyers should wait until this issue has been resolved.

Overall, this is a good webcam with a sleek design for a reasonable price. I recommend it.

Even if you just love to video chat with friends and family and therefore, the High Definition function of the camera is somewhat mitigated, the widescreen quality and clarity offered by the LifeCam Cinema is still enough to warrant its purchase.