Auto-focus doesn't necessarily mean the camera isn't useful for animation- you just have to make sure that it has manual focus as well. To my knowledge the QC9K does allow for manual focus on Windows; that said I don't own one so you should definitely verify with someone that does.

The Inland does list a higher maximum resolution, but I'm not finding much else about it. Keep in mind that a higher resolution doesn't always mean the quality of image you will get will be better. At $17, it seems pretty likely that the sensor and lens on the Inland are not of comparable quality to the QuickCam.

Finally, the QuickCam 9000 has been a popular choice in the past, but keep in mind that there have been cameras released by Logitech since the 9000 that have better quality and sell for a similar price. Look into the Logitech C series cameras. I believe we have a few people here who use them, and they have better specs than the 9000.

Alright, so, it looks like Logitech has manual control support for all of it's webcams. Neat.

Alright, looks like I should look into the C series webcams then

It would be a little easier to compare two different cameras if the sets/figures were the same, but, I guess I can surmise what I can from what is supplied...

Putting image size differences aside for a minute, it looks like the C920 does have a slightly crisper image - especially around the edges. (Notice the lack of pixel-ization?) Thus, I'm assuming that it'd be a little better if quality is what I'm looking for. - Which, it is.

I guess I'll look into this a little more. Though, if I had to narrow it down between the 9000 and C920 right now, I'd lean toward the C920. Just around $100 is my budget, and all cameras so far seem to fall right under that. Thanks for the replies Squash and END films!