You are correct, there is no optical zoom on a $60 Foscam. But if you want a cheap and cheerful camera that you can place virtually any place in the home and have control over it, I still like Foscam.
I think 'liking' a camera is directly attached to your expectations. For $60, I'm not expecting too much tech support and would visit a forum such as this to get my answers. I have used everything from Axis to Mobotix and I still say that $ for $, I like the Foscam range.
Here's an example of why I like the Foscam; Recently the power went out to part of my home (a GFCI tripped in the garage), all my cameras went down as the router/switch was powered by the GFCI circuit. My PC stayed on (running BI) and so did my Foscam - its in another part of the house and using Wifi. I was away from home for an extended time but at least I had ONE camera still running and controllable - the Foscam.
The Foscam streams 720p video and has a wider field of view than my Axis 215 ($1200). For $60, I'm happy.