I purchased the "Ipevo 5-883-4-01-00 VZ-R HDMI/USB Dual Mode 8MP Document Camera" for my girlfriend that for the longest time has used the large transparency-sheet projectors for school and personal art projects. She would project images on a walls to create larger versions of drawings, etc. This particular camera, coupled with a new portable projector is an awesome upgrade! I love this camera, as it is easy to use, and works well without any need to connect it to a computer. Simply connect the camera to a projector, TV or monitor, and begin working. The buttons on the camera allow you to zoom in and out easily, and the autofocus works great, even in low light conditions as it has a decent light to brighten things up.

This camera would be PERFECT for educators and presenters. Need to zoom in super close to show very small objects? Need to project any medium to any type of display? This is a quality product, it's incredibly versatile, and works fantastic. Highly recommended.

mechanically the unit is great.... i encountered several problem though.. running on win 7 ultimate their visualizer program would consistently crash after a few hours of running.. the only image output format is jpeg.. the device only support twain output which is an outdated image sharing connection it has been replaced by WIA, look it up on Adobe website.. bottom line you can not connect it's output to a Photoshop program because unless you are running a 32 bit old version it is incompatible with newer version and 64 bit OS. Bottom line no Photoshop.. the image quality initially looks great, but on further examination it lacks clarity, perhaps a 16 mg camera would help. the illumination light is a joke.. use a candle instead.. great idea, wonderful mechanical implementation but to me needs work on the support, WIA, perhaps an ability to produce linked PDF image sequences... perhaps these will be available on the next version. these problems were so great i returned the device.. also found out later one could buy it for about $35 dollars less directly from them... but i will wait for the next version to come out...

The Ipevo Ziggi-HD is definitely the best value / most minimal presenter camera I've used. It's lightweight, carry-able, and really simple to use. It has almost no extraneous features, and in general just works well.

Pros:
Really good visual quality.
Very few things to fiddle with or set. It just works.

Cons:
For presenting in darker rooms, a light would be nice.
It's portable, but the shipping cardboard box takes up more space than, say, a more expensive compact presenter might.
The one thing you may have to set is contrast, as the dynamic range isn't particularly great.

This is a totally solid presenter. It's a good USB camera that hooks up to your computer, and does what it should. There are a few things that could be a little better (low light performance, dynamic range, a light for low-light situations), but all of that pales in comparison to the raw value the low price provides.

I am an elementary teacher and use this product in my classroom. Before I purchased it, I compared it to several others on Amazon. I found that it had a good image quality and price point to fit my needs. I have had it for several months and would feel lost without it. We use it multiple times throughout the day. It is super simple for me to display a worksheet we are doing as a class, model with manipulatives, display something from a smaller screen, or display my students' work.

It was easy as can be to install - just plug it into a USB port and the software installs automatically. The software is easy for anyone to use...even my 2nd graders navigate it with ease. There are functions to record your display, which would be easy to create videos of lessons for absent students or to share with parents. It's easy to zoom in and out and even take a still image (there's even button on actual camera).

I especially like the stand on this camera. It stays in place well even if someone bumps the desk it sits on (which happens often...7-year-olds are clumsy), it will barely move. If it does move, it entire thing slides (less than 1/2 an inch). My colleague's camera has a flexible stand and she hates that it's constantly getting bumped and nudged - it's hard to find the "sweet spot" on hers. Even after owning it for almost a year now, it doesn't feel 'loose' - the quality has maintained well.

I have used an older model of this document camera for the past few years in my kindergarten classroom for everything from showing illustrations in books larger so that the kids can see the details to dissecting owl pellets (again, so the kids can see the details) to demonstrating hands-on math activities. I recently moved to a new school where they didn't have these document cameras, or any for that matter. I thought I could do without one but within the first week I realized that I've become completely dependent on using a document camera in my everyday instruction...so I bought my own. I didn't really want to spend $100 on one (at my previous school the corporation had purchased them for teachers to use...it was fabulous) but it came down to the quality of my instruction and of course it's worth the money. The only thing I would change about this item is that the cord can be somewhat cumbersome (I plug it into the USB port on my desktop computer and then use it on top of my kidney shaped table where I work with the kids) when it's stretched across a few feet to get where I need it to be but I wasn't under the impression that it would be wireless or anything so that's not a defect with the product, just a wish if I could have the perfect document camera that would fit into my budget lol.
I am able to zoom in on size 12 font on a page and enlarge it on my SMART board (similar to a Promethean board...basically an interactive whiteboard) to letters that are over a foot tall. I usually keep it at a distance that allows me to display the entire page on which we are working so that the kids can follow along with me. The flexible arm allows it to move into unlimited positions. I also love the auto focus feature for when the display is blurry. Finally, just today I used the screen capture feature when I needed to keep something displayed on the screen for the kids but also needed that space for something else. I was basically able to screen shot the page that was being displayed and then proceed to move the document camera to clear the space (but the kids could still see the image which I had screen captured).
Obviously I would recommend this document camera to anyone who is in the market for one. I have now owned two and loved them both. I tried to get by without one but as a teacher this is one of my MUST HAVES!!!