Mini Security DVR - Micro Sd Card Recording - By Dozen

This is the first time I use a surveillance system, I was searching for a low cost device for my office. I purchase this device with the "SVAT CCDCO Mini Indoor CCD Pinhole Camera Kit" and I'm happy ever since.

Here is what I have found after 30 days of use:

**Installation: Can't be easier, just plug and play, it comes with everything I needed and something I don't (a CD that I haven't found the need of use).

**Setting up the system (date, time, video quality ...): I had a problem here, I hooked up the device on my LED TV but it didn't show any video signal (I don't know why), I tried using another monitor and it worked just fine (I purchased the "3.5 Inch TFT LCD Monitor for Car" with a "DC Female to 4 Male Power Splitter Cable" to power it up), just fallow the manual to set up the device.

**Recording Time: This is my favorite part, with a 32 GB memory, in QVGA mode (320*240), I get 9 days of continuous recording time, that's it much better than I expected.

I hope this review helps you somehow, sorry if I misspelled something, I'm not good with English and this is my firs review.

**UPDATE BELOW**

** NEW UPDATE BELOW **

1) First I had problems being able to write to the card. I think that you need a) to have power plug OUT .. b) insert card .. c) then power on. After this, I had no problems writing to the card.

2) Playback from device seems to be B&W only, however, playback via VLC on computer was color with timestamp in bottom right. (See update below)

3) It's certainly compressed video, the playback isn't as clean as the original source. (See update below)

4) The manual is in "chin-lish" .. but it all seems to make sense.

5) Passthrough to external monitor image is as clean as original. (but playback is not see #2 & #3)

6) All in all, really not bad for the money paid, I am waiting on a different model tomorrow which is 2x the price. I'll let you know which turns out to be tops.

7) The size of this unit is about same as pack of cigarettes .. quite compact.

8) It TAKES MICRO-SD cards (what the manufacturer seems to refer to as TF cards (tiny flash??))

9) Navigation and setup very barebones and simple.

10) I have not played too much with Motion Detection feature, but it does seem to have the feature.

11) It comes default set to PAL TV output. Easy enough to change to NTSC, but this change is not done via the menu system. You need to add a file to the ROOT-DIR of your Micro-SD card called "system.txt" .. that file should contain only 7 characters .. F15V0S9 == F = Framerate (default 15) V = video system (default 0 for PAL .. change to 1 for NTSC) .. S = sensitivity (dafault 9) they say higher number = more sensitive. They say to remove the file once it has been read once since it will otherwise be read during boot each time which is unnecessary.

1-star off for the obviously compressed video quality, which might not be fair to the unit, but I would have liked to have seen slightly better quality. FYI, I am running an Everfocus EHD730 Camera as input.

**UPDATE AFTER A DAY OF PLAYING WITH IT**

Regarding #2 above: The playback on through the device is IN COLOR. Maybe I just had it in a strange state PAL vs. NTSC in my initial experience.

Regarding #3 above: lower frame rates (5fps) seem to have better playback quality (this is to be expected) .. but still not as good as original source (also to be expected).

A thought: At the price of this unit, it may be advantageous to place it "inline" for each camera with a more standard "security DVR" for backup purposes perhaps as it's passthrough video is clean "original image quality" and for a small camera system, it might be nice to be able to simply pop a card and save/share the video.. again, just a thought.

** NEW UPDATE **

See my review of another portable DVR product, where I compare directly to this product .. http://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Detector-Recorder-Security-Surveillance/dp/B002QHBNXI/

** Will update again should the need arise, but currently I'm very happy with the unit. I've added a star (total of 5) based on my new findings. **

Buy Mini Security DVR - Micro Sd Card Recording - By Dozen Now

Summary: Great unit for the money with decent video quality. Can't go wrong for the price! Below is some useful information on the machine.

Storage Card Data (Continuous Recording Mode):

On continuous recording mode the DVR will breakup the recordings into 30 minute sections. I found the motion sensor is not to accurate and has too much delay to be trusted. Thus, I prefer continuous mode. One commenter mentioned getting 9 days of recording on a 32GB card. I have done multiple tests and that is just not the case: not even close.

QVGA Data = .8GB's Per 1 Hour of Video = 40 Hours on 32GB SD Card

QVGA Mode (lowest quality) will more then doubles the storage space and the image quality is not much different from the VGA mode (highest quality). See video for comparison. Testing results equated to about .8GB's per 1 hour of video footage. This equates to about 40 hours of continuous recordings on a 32GB card. On my test I got about 22 hours of footage which took up 17.8GB on the card. The files are easy to navigate (see attached image).

VGA Data = 2GB's Per 1 Hour of Video = 16 Hours on 32GB SD Card

VGA Mode (highest quality) uses a lot of space at about 2GB's per 1 hour of footage. This equates to about 16 hours of continuous recordings on a 32GB card. My test got about 2 hours of footage that took up over 4.16GB on the card. Not recommended.

USB Card: Make sure to click "safely remove hardware" for the SD Card every time you use the card on the PC. If you do this the card will work flawlessly with the unit. You could also use Notebook to make a simple system.txt to improve the image quality (see J.P.'s review for more info).

Menu: Pretty easy to navigate with wheel. Just make sure that you press the wheel into the unit while making selections (took me a while to figure out). See video for what the menu system looks like and how to use the wheel.

Update: Once the video card fills up it will automatically erase the oldest file and replace with the current recording. If recording continuously, this gives you a backup of 40 hours at all times. This product is even better then I originally thought. Instead of having to erase the card every day or so, it does it automatically. That is not mentioned in the manual. COOL! Five Stars!

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I bought this to try and find out who was going through the gate in the back yard and leaving it open. I mounted the camera far enough away to see the gate and walk way but yet close enough to see who it was. I used the motion detection because It was filling up the memory card with nothing. With the detection all I got was a 15 minute AVI video of an open gate. So it works but not the way I need it to.

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No where does it tell you that the power plug is not usable in the USA. It has 2 round prongs, not the flat prongs as used in USA. I returned it immediately.

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