whats the best webcam i can get for a reasonable price? how can you tell if its good or not?

Here are the top three webcams on the market. Consumers love these and the ratings are between 4 and 5 stars. They are also not that expensive and will be perfect for any budget. These webcams deliever the best picture quality and can be used on any computer.  You can take still photos or videos and these have simple installing instructions.
Here's what the experts say to consider before buying a web camera:

•  The standard resolution is 640 pixels by 480 pixels for video. That resolution is just fine for video, emailing and posting on the web. The web camera should include software to help you present and adjust the picture. Some webcams can take stills at as much as eight or 12 megapixels, but video is often capped at 640 pixels by 480 pixels. Anything higher could be a huge drain on your processor, and some people may find they need to reduce resolution for this reason. A few webcams are capable of capturing video at up to 1,600 pixels by 1,200 pixels.

• The frame rate determines how quickly a webcam can capture and move video. The fewer frames per second, the choppier the picture. Full-motion video is generally 30 frames per second. Due to the limitations of most instant-messaging software and servers, however, models that claim 30 fps or more usually get about half that in practice.
  

• Almost all webcams come bundled with video-conferencing software, such as Microsoft Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger or AOL Instant Messenger. Most packages also include software for video editing, surveillance, stop motion, video conferencing or email.