[The Missing] Re-Launch Contest #19: HP Elite Autofocus Webcam

[Jason Dunn]

Astute Digital Home Thoughts reader <em>jaxim </em><a href="http://forums.thoughtsmedia.com/showthread.php?t=88491">noticed</a> that when I was doing my <a href="http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/news/show/88491/re-launch-contest-round-up-post.html" target="_blank">wrap-up post with the #20 contests</a>...there were really only 19 of them! if you look at my <a href="http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/news/show/88431/re-launch-contest-20-canon-vixia-hv20-hd-camcorder.html" target="_blank">write-up on the 20th contest</a>, I actually state that it's the 19th and final giveaway, yet I still gave it the title of the 20th contest. I did the write-ups for the last dozen or so contests all in the same night, frankly in a rush, so it's not surprising that I made an error. But guess what? My error is your gain! I contact my friends at HP and they offered up one of their brand new <a href="http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/news/show/88355/hp-unleashes-3-megapixel-elite-auto-focus-webcam.html" target="_blank">HP Elite Autofocus Webcams</a>, a 3 megapixels marvel of technology valued at $99 USD. They also sent me one to review, so look for my write-up on that the week after next. Want to win this webcam? Keep reading.<br /><br /><img border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/500/dht/auto/1208142893.usr1.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br /><strong>Here's how to enter:</strong> just post a message as a reply telling who you'd use this to communicate with - friends? Grandparents? Children? Husband or wife in a far away land? There's one post per person allowed, and one winner will be randomly chosen. The contest will stay open for entries until April 21st, 2008 (meanwhile I'll be drawing for all the other prizes).<br /><br />Special thanks to HP for their donation of this hardware. Oh, and by the way, this contest officially pushes us past the $7K mark in prizes - $7009.45 USD to be exact!

[jaxim]

When I noticed that you missed the 19th contest, I thought it was funny to point it out. It was totally unnecessary to create a new contest.

But since you did, it would behoove me not to enter. ;-)

I'd use the webcam so all my family spanning 4 states could see my new baby girl due in July.

[edgar]

This looks like the perfect cam to replace my lousy quality Creative Ultra. I travel a lot to Eastern Europe, use Skype and Adobe Connect constantly for work.

Great size, good specs too - looking forward to your review.

[timmy]

Since jaxim was the first one to find or at least post about the missing contest and also have a really good reason for owning a webcam, I'm submitting my post as a "walkover" in favour of jaxim...(if that is possible) :D

[dh]

The webcam would be perfect for us. We live in New Hampshire and our daughter in the UK has just given us a great little granddaughter.

This would be a great help to keep in touch.

[hhsimpson]

I'd use the webcam to talk to (and see) my brother.

[gstenger]

This would be great to use to communicate with our parents and siblings who live 14 hours away from us so they can see our 2 year old son grow. Thanks for the contests!

[GreatDay]

My long time friends just moved to Florence for 5 years and with this i could recipricate with live feeds on Skype, like they do with their Mac. */*

[supreme_one3]

I would use the web cam to talk to my brother.

[Kacey Green]

I'd use this to chat with my little brother, in Florida.

[stan]

see my grandma farway in asia

[Gordo]

Talk to a friend in Mozambique.

[LindaP]

I would use the webcam to talk to my sister and her 4 kids. They would be able to see my 2 kids as they grow. They live 12 hours away so we don't get to see them in person a lot.

[spacehippie2k]

The kids could talk to Grandma.

[Joel Crane]

I'd use it to talk to my bro in Boise and my friend in FL.

[rtrueman]

As a recently divorced father, I'd use this to keep seeing the kids. They'll love it! :)

[canux]

My inlaws in Panama. Thanks Jason!

[ReDeVil]

your mistake = our gain? wow......lol..:p

would use it for talking with my friends in aust :) i live in singapore

[Cold Flame]

I would use this to chat with my grandma's back home as well as my Dad and step-sisters back home too. The 8 hour drive is a bit hefty so I don't tend to see them as often as I'd like...

[David Horn]

I'd use it to talk to my parents back in the UK while I'm out in Phoenix.

[elipsoid]

With my girlfriend, since I am leaving for 5 months :-/

[sofene]

I would like to use this to communicate with my son who is getting into a University in Canada.

[bcre8v2]

I would use it for video conferencing between grandparents and home

[Stinger]

Both my girlfriend and I spent a lot of time travelling with work. This would be an ideal way to keep in touch.

Thanks for all the great competitions. :)

[Richard OKane]

Would help to stay in touch with my wife and kids while I'm on the road.
Thanks for the contests!

[uzziah0]

Look nice!

I'd communicate with my brother in MN, brother in law in NC, in-laws in Peoria, and maybe some other family in Tx.

[drummrsanonymous]

I'd use it to keep in touch with all my friends that are still in college. It's not often that I up to each of their campuses.

[The Yaz]

My best friend moved with his family from New Jersey to Florida two years ago. We've been trying to coordinate vacations each year to stay in touch but my friend keeps telling me we should setup web calls throughout the year.

Winning this would help "push" me to figure out how to do this on my end.

This prize is a MUCH better choice than the copy of phpBB!

Steve

[Heatwave316]

I'd use this to talk to my family in PA, and my best friend in CA.

[wardseward]

That would go nicely with my HP laptop that I opped out on the webcam but now regret. :)

Ward

[PubERB]

With my family. Mainly with my brothers, because they live in other cities.

[dbng]

The grandparents. We live 7500 miles away and my kids only see them every 2 years.

[wynand32]

I have a good friend in Florida. We could trade puppy videos.

[mamoleh]

My old friends in Israel and around the world.

[jrmfzf]

I currently have friends living in Europe and Africa and this would be great to keep in touch with them. I also have a cousing living in LA and it would be great if when the family gets together and he's not able to fly in we could still give him a call and have hime see everybody on the camera. Thanks.

[Bob Christensen]

I'd use it with the grandkids, of course. They're the only ones in the family with enough tech savy to appreciate it!

[rookcnu]

I would use this web cam to talk to my wife over Skype. She lives in Florida and I live in Virginia. Since I only get to see her every other weekend, this would be great. We have been doing this long distance thing for two years and have another two years to go before we are together full time again.

[Gabs00]

I would use this to talk to my family but mainly my brother.

[dshep2020]

I chat with my wife and kids while on business trips. This will look real nice a top our HP w2007!

[miss_sarah]

toooo bad I *just* found this site yesterday and missed out on the other contests-- but so glad I've finally found the best tech blogs I've read in awhile!

If I won this webcam I would give it to my boyfriend for his b-day (May 22) so he can video chat with his Air Force friend who is stationed in Germany right now.

yippee!

love,
sarah
www.sarahperez.net

[yoda16]

My wife and Kids when I'm away on business.

[Catman51]

I am in Los Angeles, and most of my family is in New Jersey (Mother, Brother, etc).
This would be a perfect way to keep in touch almost every day to see how they are doing.
You can fib on a phone, but not on a camera!!

[abloom]

Grandma and Grandpa :)

[Faenad]

i'd use it to chat with family and friends in Europe and down under :)

[cjhpe]

I would use this to communicate with my wife and kids while on business trips. Thanks for all the great prizes Jason. Glad the sites are back up and running...

[idobi]

I'd be able to communicate with my beautiful niece and nephew who live in Switzerland and whom I miss immensely!

Thanks!

[cmchavez]

Definitely would use this to keep in touch with my parents and my in-laws while the wife and I tour China in late June.

[Jim95]

I'd use it to keep in touch with family members scattered around the county. :)

[zeke009]

I'll be getting married soon and the first thing on the "honey-do" list is a baby. No objections from me mind you, but I've been reading lately how a number of people use the webcam to monitor their little ones. If I were to get a webcam that would be what I use it for. I don't know anyone else who has one for me to "call".

[Megaperfect]

My son and I will be able to do his homework more on a personal level, instead of the cell phones.

[riley4077]

I'd keep in touch with my aunt outside of Orlando, FL and friends from college.

[michael]

Since my wife and I left both our families behind in Michigan to move down to North Carolina, this would come in very handy.

[dvlpr]

I'd use a webcam to talk and see my parents who are in another country and whom I haven't seen for almost 3 years now :cool:

[wilkinsjme]

I'd use it to communicate with family when on the road for business.

[alese]

In my case it wouldn't really be for me, but for my wife so that she could communicate with her brother who just went to China for a year.

[nickpope]

My daughter would use this to communicate with her grandparents and cousins in Australia, and me while I'm on the road.

[txa1265]

My parents recently moved down south, so I would actually use this to hook them up and then they could do video chats with my kids.

[srsabu]

I'd use this so that my Dad in FL could see me (and the kids).

[r90a22]

i would give it to my girlfriend so i can see her more often.

[makicr]

Use this to replace my cheapo web cam that I use to spy on my kids when they are at home and I am stuck at work.

[leslietroyer]

I'd send it to cousins with kids, my kids like to communicate with -- let them video chat.

LEs

[DocGolden]

Would definitely be useful for talking to family.

[blang]

My husband is working in China for the next few months so communicating via webcam is the way to go. This way, our kids and I don't miss him as much.

[haveblue128]

Glad to know that I wasn't alone in getting the mathuggs on items v contests. Why would I like this 3G HD Webcam?

First-avoidance of long distance meetings that I know are going to be sleepers. Last year, I had to fly from DC to Perth AZ for such an affair. Heavy wear and tear on the butt and brain-in that order. Best connections=one stop-27 hours!

Far more important-I would like to get video of our golden retrievers, Cinnamon Bear and Casey out to pals everywhere-many posted overseas. Nothing better than working at night with a nice golden doing nearly anything from warming your feet ,playing with a bone-with each others and even with you.... At present they are stuck in DSLR. Motion wouild be cool. :cool:

[awinner]

I'd use it to replace the three year old clunker web cam I use when I go to Taiwan to talk to my wife. And When I'm not travaling to point out the window here in Oregon so everyone in to company can see what they are missing by living elsewhere.

[jacklf]

That's easy -- I'd use it to keep in touch with family and friends.

[bleeman]

I would use the webcam to catch up with my younger sister who moved to Germany a little over 3 years ago so while we keep in touch electronically, adding video to the mix would be great!

[moko]

I'd use it to chat with my son on his OLPC laptop.

[tabi13]

This contest comes in perfect time cuz I have been looking to buy a nice sharp autofocus webcam to talk to my 2.5 year old nephew in Uk. He has a webcam but I dont yet so when his mom (my sister) puts him on (skype) he can hear me but cant see me...

[jch13]

I would use this web cam to speak with my family in houston as I am moving to Washington D.C. this summer.

[jch13]

I wasn't sure my post went through, but I will use this to talk to/see my family in Houston, TX as I am moving to Washington D.C. thisa summer.

[Dyvim]

To stay in touch with family in other states and overseas- all of whom have webcams. I have one too, but the sound always goes to static, so I guess I could use a better one.

[Kacey Green]

I'd use this to hold face-to-face conversations with my family in Florida.

[tregnier]

I would use the camera to visit with a friend that I have in Pakistan. We are working together on an aid project.

Thanks!

[burnabytom]

I'd use it to visit with my folks in Langley
Thanks

[dtanderson]

I would use it to let my kids see and talk with their grandmother which they don't get to see to option because she is so far away.

[mv]

to chat with my wife during daytime... 3mp would be a great way to use my now improved bandwith!!

[courtenay27]

So, April 21st has passed but I still see a few posts after the date so just in case I missed something and it's still going on I'd use this to communicate with family.

[paschott]

My parents up in CT and sometimes my sister when she's overseas. They like to see my daughter just generally being herself. We use our video camera, but it shuts off after 5 minutes if not actively recording (no matter what you do *grumble*).

[Cybrid]

I have'nt really used a webcam abd don't own one but would use it to talk to my sister who studies in Eastern Canada. Her laptop has an integrated webcam.

[gpalmerhorse]

When my daughter came to visit me in late February, she saw that I was scrapping her daughter, and my granddaughter, Emily.

She had dial-up at a frightening 28,000 bps. And could barely pull up a page. When she went to her dad's house about 300 miles away, we used his DSL to "chat". It was so much fun.

With the HP Elite Autofocus Webcam, we'll be able to see each other when we chat. I had never seen my year and a half granddaughter until they came to visit. I will sort of be able to watch her grow, and keep up with the news with my family who lives in Arizona.

LumaPix FotoFusion literally changed my life!

Thanks for offering the contest!

Glenda Palmer

[Nivek]

I would use this webcam to talk with friends and family all over the United States. In addition, I want to start a live webfeed like chris.pirillo.com/live so I can talk about cool technology. Eventually I want to have a webcam in my vehicles as well, but this would be a great start, and a webcam and a Microphone are all I have left to get before I can get shifted into gear with this dream!

Thanks,
Nivek

[tescott]

I would communicate with my family mostly. I have sons in Las Vegas and Cincinnati and sisters in Chicago. My wife has a son in the Marines and a daughter in North Carolina with two children.

I can't travel now due to health reasons (honest, I'm not looking for sympathy), so it would be nice for them to see me.

[[email protected].]

I have a five year old daughter that of course doesn't know how to type word (cant spell yet) but has a friend that I have to chat too on IM...having this camera would give her the opportunity to chat with her friend anytime she wants/everyday, anytime.

[Jason Dunn]

Ok, contest closed (you'll notice I left it open for quite a while...) and the winner will be announced on the front page later today. Watch for it!

[ottos]

I would use it to talk with my family and friend in my home country :D

[Jason Dunn]

Sorry guys, the contest is closed and the winner has been announced here:

http://www.digitalhomethoughts.com/news/show/89039/re-launch-contest-and-the-winner-of-the-hp-elite-autofocus-webcam-is.html