A:AnswerThe laptop must be booted & running normally because the C270 is powered by one of the USB ports on the laptop. Typically, that would mean the monitor being opened. Also, it is intended to be mounted on the top of the monitor to provide the best picture quality (up to 720p). You might be able to place it elsewhere depending on what's available where the laptop is set up. Keep in mind that the camera/microphone can be adjusted slightly up-and-down but not left-to-right. Depending on the software you use, you can zoom the picture in or out but the focus is not adjustable.
A:AnswerI'm sure there are many options for software out there that work with many webcams, but Logitech offers their own Logitech Webcam Software that is just one application (of probably many) that works with this device. It's a decent universal webcam application (downloadable from their site) and allows you to see what the camera sees in a window and allows control over lighting, focus, sound and zoom depending on the webcam's abilities/functions. If you're sitting and recording yourself with the webcam, then this is all you really need for great recordings (not perfect, but really good, coming from a webcam). I haven't used it with Skype and I think the recording would depend on Skype's functionality as I would assume only one application could control the webcam at a time and Skype (if that's what you're wanting to use) would be in control. If skype can record a conversation with any webcam, that's going to be up to Skype and not the webcam. Worse case scenario- you buy the webcam, and Skype doesn't record. You might need to look for different video chat software for that, not a different webcam. And if you don't like the quality of the webcam, you can always return. But trust me, this thing is really a great webcam. High video quality and better than I expected on sound as well. Hope that helps.
