I setup the 4 cams and used my tv as the monitor, had it up and running in about 30 min. Mounting the cams and getting the view I wanted and installing the cords to where they were hidden took me 2-3 hrs. Daylight images are pretty good quality. The cams are not waterproof and as other said over 20 ft details get fuzzy. I have cam 1 overlooking the driveway set under the eaves above garage, cam 2 in mudroom overlooking main entrance and garage (cam1), cam 3 inside looking at back sliding glass door, cam 4 inside living room looking at main entrance. I installed the outdoor wire through a 25 ft long 3/4" diameter plastic conduit to prevent someone cutting it (use a lubed up electician's fish wire tool helps).
-1/2 star for during the night mode the LEDs cause too much reflection to have the cam setup to record vid through a window even with an antiglare shield. I recommend when you get the cam angle you like, use a bit of lock tight on the clamp screw (the temporary kind, not the permanent) I can see the clamp getting loose during natural cold and heat cycles.
The settings I use are best quality recording and only on Alarm mode (movement). The motion detector is fine during the day, a bit buggy during the night mode (-1/2 star). car lights shining will activate the recording, moths and bugs also are attracted to the IR light during night mode even with the sensitivity turned down. During the night mode also there is about a 1-2 second delay from detection to start of recording... the suggested setting is 24/7 record on low quality unless Alarm or movement mode activates a higher quality record setting, but this will eat up a lot of HD space and you end up with a lot of nothing video.
I use about 1% of HD space a day on Alarm only record mode on Best quality so it will possibly record up to 100 days before rewriting, which is pretty darn good.
-1 star is converting the vid (H.264 format) you want to web friendly or any computer viewable (AVI format) requires a few steps and you end up with a pretty large file (the option to convert to MP4 or other format can be done with a secondary converter, will give you a smaller file with decent quality). You can use USB thumb drive or an alternative you can have another external HD and dump your vid there, then use a PC and the provided AVI converter. You can only convert the one cam vid at a time, so if you have 20 some events on different cam views it will take a while to convert. Practice this step a few times just in case you need to do it for an incident where you have to submit video as evidence to police.
The remote control is very cheaply made and if you have a fat thumb like me it was a bit cumbersome to use... I only use the remote because it has the easiest to find PB button (playback) compared to going through the menus manually. I mainly use the provided mouse to navigate otherwise.
If you want better night vid, there are other better quality waterproof outdoor cams available (any brand with a Sony CCD is good or Panasonic). Defender SN500-4CH-002 Feature-rich 4 Channel H.264 DVR Security System with Smart Phone Access and 4 Indoor/Outdoor Hi-Res CCD Night Vision Cameras
This is a great system as a beginner system goes. It is limited to 4 cameras which is the only drawback, really making it applicable for home or small business use.
I installed this on the outside of my home.
The system came well packed, directions were detailed and a snap. It took just over 2 hours to get it all set up. I would say that I am expert at handy man type jobs, so if you aren't comfortable on a ladder, with a makita drill and spade bit, better leave installation to an expert.
Picking the location of the cameras was the toughest part, as I wanted them to have the best views and yet somewhat un-obtrusive. We have had 3 friends come over since I installed the system and none of them had any clue there were cameras around.
I have not tried the web set up yet, but will soon.
The software allows you to fast fwd at an 8x speed so you can search easily. The night vision is awesome as well. The cameras work well in ambient lighting, so no issues there either.
I have a friend who is a police officer take a look at the video quality and he said if anything ever happened, the quality is good enough for law enforcement as well.
Bottom line: If you can drill and route wires, you can install this. Maybe the best $500 I have ever spent.
After 3 years of researching for a system to place in my home and with my needs of Web/Smartphone ability this company is highly recommended. My line of work allows me to see alot of professional DVR security systems in Corp. and private retail industry. I truely believe in camera security over just an audile alarm for homes. More crimes are solved with a picture over an audible alarm which is monitored. I bought the system due to the cost and features. Once received it was out of the box and running in 10 minutes (No camera's mounted or internet connection at this time). Internet connection took me about 45 minutes (Now I could do it in 5 minutes if I did it over). When it comes to setting up the router read carefully I have Linksey G wireless and everything works using DHCP IP address mode. I also use a first generation iPhone which does allow me to see the cameras in real time. This unit has capabilities to record on different days, hours and or an area of motion can be set within the cameras view to activate. The system does have a notification setup for emails which sends a still photograph if the camera is activated (Would be nice if updated software was to add notifications to phone numbers). Added features in the back of the DVR allow setup of an audile alarm. For around $500 one time fee with no monthly service to monitor or cost to maintain, who can beat this product. Four cameras with IR are very well made with metal bodies and 60ft of cable. Video quality is great, clean and crisp. - Video Security - Digital Security Recorders - Monitoring Systems - Home Security'
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