Y-cam Black: Internet cams need not suck

We've seen our fair share of Internet video cameras in our time, and the one thing they all have in common is the fact they're all either rubbish, broken in some way or just plain… sucky.

One Internet video camera that doesn't fall into any of these categories is the Y-cam. Not only is it flippin' gorgeous and built like a brick house, but it's also packed with features and extremely easy to set up -- something rival camera manufacturers should notice.

The Y-cam connects to networks via Ethernet -- you'll have to supply your own cable, unfortunately -- or via 802.11b/g Wi-Fi. It runs at a resolution at 640x480 pixels, so picture quality is YouTube-esque, but the frame rate stayed high in our tests -- in the region of 25 frames per second.

Combine that reliability with the Y-cam's infrared mode, and you have yourself a product that's extremely versatile. We've been using it to keep an eye on our exotic car collection while we're at work -- as soon as anyone gets near its field of vision, it begins recording. It'll even send email alerts saying something's up, so you can view -- and hear, thanks to the integrated mic -- the live stream.

Two versions of the Y-cam are available. There's the all-singing, all-dancing Black version with built-in night vision (£140) and a slightly cheaper White version without night vision (£100). Get involved. -Rory Reid