just my 2 cents from what i have come across.
dlink, linksys, and trendent buck the industry standards on their lower end models and are not well designed. their mjpg streams are proprietary to cut costs. in some cases their mpg4 streams turn out to be asf.
dlink higher end models are rebranded vivotek so you may as well just go straight to the source.
trendnet is ok but they use POST methods for ptz controls which is not standard in the industry either. other than that they change their firmware constantly to something totally different.
webcamxp is a good pc program. we support it in our mobile phone apps and it is the only app we support to tie into usb cams right now.
i agree with some others about just getting an ip cam. the only major benefit to getting a usb cam offhand is that you have to use a pc so you can just utilize the pc running 24/7 with software for higher functionality like long recording schedules, analytics, etc. for functions that are not built into the camera itself. you can use pc + software with ip cams also but it is not requirement for cam like for usb model. if you don't want to have to run pc 24/7 then just get an ip cam. if you need more functionality than live view, controls, recording, and alerts (which most ip cams have these days built in) then go ahead with a usb cam or just get some software compatible with ip cams. there are tons of nvr at all kinds of price point. blue iris is a cheaper one. also usb cams integrate more easily into video chat programs.
if you need flexibility and want to move the camera around the apartment just get an ip cam. the hardware is typically better off in them also.
for usb cam i use the microsoft one mentioned earlier and it is ok. nothing crazy.
for ip cams on budget constraints i like vivotek, low end panasonics (bl series), skyipcam, used axis (discontinued models tend to be cheap on ebay), ycam
you can try cctvforum.com also for more technical recommendations.