The best solution (for XP only, however) is the Polycom Communicator portable USB speakerphone. The sound quality is superb and the speaker can fill a conference room with 15 people at a table. I’ve bought 4 or 5 for staff at my company and we use it in all sorts of situations. Most definitely pricey ($115 at Amazon) but absolutely worth it for the clarity and the ability to use easily with multiple people in one room. There is no better, simpler solution for easy Skype con-calls than this. Plus it’s better than most laptop speakers for playing music as well. I sure as hell wish they’d make Mac and Vista drivers, though. On several occasions, I’ve nearly downgraded my Vista laptop to XP just so I can use the Polycom!

Kevin,

The Snowflake shipped to you yesterday and should be arriving tomorrow.

I love the retro looks, but the price is definitely on the high side for a mic. You can get a passable webcam-with-mic for $25 or so, and even disable the webcam part if you find the built-in webcam better.

Or, of course the classic solution of a SoundBlaster mic mounted on a stick.

I have the Blue Snowball and love it! Apple carries them in their retail stores.

Kevin, what do you, James and Matt use for MoTR? I’ve been looking at broadcast quality mics connected to a firewire audio interface for recording online training and webinars. Overkill?

Kevin, if you’re interested, I bought the Snowflake sometime ago for my videocasts. It works well, just plug and play.

Note that if you find the audio recording too soft when you’re streaming through any Flash video sites (e.g. Youtube, uStream.tv), try turning off noise cancellation in the Flash settings.

Here’s my Snowflake flickr slideshow for your viewing pleasure: http://flickr.com/photos/inju/sets/72157605432923114/show/