New to Mac Mini - Facetime Problem and OS question

[venezzia]

Hi all - I have been a Windows user forever (mostly because of work) and my brother just passed away (way too soon) and I inherited his Mac Mini (model year 2009). I know nothing about Mac's and it's like a foreign world to me. I can bumble my way around a little bit but it's so difficult for me to find things and change settings.

So, my current problem is that I can use the Facetime application but I have tried several webcams and NONE of them will let the other party hear me. We can see each other and I can hear the other party, but they can't hear me.

The latest webcam I bought is the Logitech C615 which included the Mac software, so I thought ok, of course this is going to work, but NOPE, nobody can hear me on Facetime. I have used the Logitech software to record a video and in playback, there is audio, so there is nothing wrong with the mic.

Do I need to buy a separate microphone for people to hear me on Facetime??

My 2nd problem or question is, the computer is currently running Mac OS X 10.7.4. Should I upgrade to Mac OS X Lion? I don't know if that will help with the Facetime problem? Otherwise, are there advantages/disadvantages to upgrading?

Thank you for any advice you can provide. I am totally lost here.

 

[Omnius]

This isn't a lot of information to go on but it sounds like you just didn't set your input device. That's a very simple thing to do. One way is through the sound control panel in system preferences. Hit input then just select the input device you want to use.

or

Option (alt?) click on the speaker image at the top right of your screen and select your input and output devices. I'm not familiar with FaceTime but I imagine it might have preferences too.


This is really more of a FaceTime question than a mac mini question. Google tips for converts from windows to mac os, this will probably yield a good bounty of helpful hints to reduce your bumbling about. OS X and iOS devices tend to be intuitive rather than confusing. However, many people have come to adjust to confusing windows interfaces and it appears to them that anything simple will be confusing.

 

[fa8362]

So, my current problem is that I can use the Facetime application but I have tried several webcams and NONE of them will let the other party hear me. We can see each other and I can hear the other party, but they can't hear me.

The latest webcam I bought is the Logitech C615 which included the Mac software, so I thought ok, of course this is going to work, but NOPE, nobody can hear me on Facetime. I have used the Logitech software to record a video and in playback, there is audio, so there is nothing wrong with the mic.

Do I need to buy a separate microphone for people to hear me on Facetime??

My 2nd problem or question is, the computer is currently running Mac OS X 10.7.4. Should I upgrade to Mac OS X Lion? I don't know if that will help with the Facetime problem? Otherwise, are there advantages/disadvantages to upgrading?

Thank you for any advice you can provide. I am totally lost here.

A webcam is just a camera, no audio.

If you want audio, you'll need a mic. Get a cheap USB mic. Don't spend more than $10 on it.

Mac OS X 10.7.4 IS Lion. No need to upgrade further.