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When a Toucam is not a Toucam...

Started by Benschop, 02/17/2004 07:28PM
Posted 02/17/2004 07:28PM Opening Post
There have been several sellers posting Toucam 720 or 730 cameras on Astromart, without indicating that the 720/730 is not suitable for astro work. Granted, buyers should research what they are buying, but many ill-informed people hear "Toucam" and immediately think of the hard to get Toucam that has been used to excellent effect for planetary imaging, when in fact only the Toucam Pro 740, 750 or 840 are suitable. The Toucam XS (720) employs a CMOS sensor while only the 740-750-840 use CCD sensors.

This has been going on for a while now. Here's a previous ad, misleading. The 720 cannot be converted for long exposure as the ad implies.
http://www.astromart.com/viewad.asp?cid=166838

The latest is http://www.astromart.com/viewad.asp?cid=249950
Is the ad false? Not technically, but I find it ironic that the Toucam sold so quickly, given that they are crap for astronomy use. The statement where the seller indicates that "I've decided that imaging isn't my thing" in the ad, could lead one to believe that the camera itself is fine for astro imaging, when in fact it is not. Hopefully the buyer was made aware that this is NOT the Toucam that everyone is raving about, certainly the price should have been a clue.

Only the Philips Toucam Pro (740,750,840) are useful, as well as the Philips Vesta 675,680,690. The Vesta "fun" falls in the same category as the Toucam XS. See the attached image of Good and Bad Toucams.

While I have not been burnt, I have fielded many questions from potential buyers who contacted me via my website to enquire about the Toucam 720 that they desire to modify. I feel badly for those who purchase without investigating, getting burnt in the process.

My 1.5 cents? Buyer Beware.

Attached Image:

Benschop's attachment for post 13263
Posted 02/18/2004 02:24AM #1
Good post Len. I went through the same thing last year when I was looking for my Toucam Pro 740. I kept seeing the 720 on Ebay for around $35. Glad I did my homework and ended up with the right one. Now I see that the 840 is out and is supposed to be just as good as the 740. Has anybody seen any good pictures taken with the new 840? I know there are not too many outhere, but I haven't seen any yet.
Ralph