Night Owl Security ZEUS-DVR5 16-Channel H.264 DVR with D1 Recording and HDMI

I am very familiar with Security Cameras, DVRs, and have used many DVRs. The Nightowl Zeus5 is a standalone 16-channel DVR with a factory installed 500GB SATA hard drive. This same Zeus DVR is also available without a HD installed click Night Owl Security ZEUS-DVR 16-Channel H.264 DVR with D1 Recording and HDMI (and I would recommend that you purchase it without the drive since it would work out cheaper that way, assuming that you can install a HD yourself)

THE GOOD:

+ DVR can record D1 resolution on all channels, approx 7 Frames Per Second on each channel.

+ DVR can accommodate 2 drives.

+ DVR has 2 fans help cool the internals, especially the drives.

+ Has HDMI output in addition to VGA, so you can easily connect to a large TV or monitor. You can set the HDMI resolution in setup menu.

+ Can setup to periodically reboot system.

+ Can upgrade firmware remotely (via the internet) via the use of the PC Client software.

THE BAD:

Front panel is "simple", probably not to confuse new users. However there is no front USB port for exporting video. The USB ports are located under the network port at the back, which is bad placement cause in trying to connect a USB drive you might accidentally unplug the network cable.

RECORD COMMENTS:

The Record OSD (onscreen text) is embedded in the video file and is not at the edges of the video image, so it kind of gets in the way of the scene details.

Recorded Video Quality is a little bit less than I'd expect, even at highest D1 resolution and Best Quality.

PLAYBACK COMMENTS:

Local Playback options (i.e. you are at the DVR using the USB mouse) is very limited and cumbersome. To playback you first select a channel, then calender date, then click search, then click on a time (in half hour increments). Then you select which channels to playback (default is all 16, and if you don't want this you have to click on each channel to deselect). Finally the video starts playing but you have to go thru the whole painful process again if you want a different time. There are no controls while playing to easily jump to a specific time or a "timeline" that you could easily jump around while playing.

I just mentioned it but will do so again: You can only select time in half hour increments while doing local playback at the DVR.

Local playback is retarded and cumbersome but I was hoping that the PC Client software would make up for this. It's better than the local DVR interface but has issues as well. (I used the latest DVR firmware and client software at the time of this review)

PC CLIENT PLAYBACK:

For playback you cannot full screen a video file, even though you could do this if viewing "live" video.

When playing back there is no "Snapshot" feature, even though there is one for "live" view.

+ One "plus" is that you can click on the timeline of a playing video file and you can jump to various times.

You can't setup the client software to autologin (i.e. without entering login details like username, password etc). Some DVR client software allows this and it can be convenient.

For some strange reason there is a "bandwidth control" that appears ONLY in the PC client software Remote Setting but not locally at the DVR itself using the local interface. So if you don't use the PC client software you'd never know it was there!

You cannot group cams to view remotely either view all cams or manually click on each cam to start/stop playback.

OVERALL, I DON'T RECOMMEND this DVR the interface flaws and poor design really make using it a chore. It's a pity because the manuals/specs/client software/firmware is available online, which is not the case for many DVRs. It's a shame, with a little reworking of both the DVR firmware and client software this could have been a great DVR. If you do purchase this DVR be aware that there may be newer firmware available, may fix IE issues and add support for Safari browser on Mac systems.

I hope you have found this review useful, it sure took a lot of time to research/write!

I finally received mine after the guys at UPS blew the delivery of the first one. But like always Amazon rocks and sent a replacement right away. Installed it this weekend and I have to say this thing is amazing. The huge range of features even support for antiques like Blackberry which many people still use. The only down side if you want to call it that is the menu items have this text on screen that is not always clear. So this would get in the way if trying to configure from far but it is not enough for me to give it less than 5 stars.

Buy Night Owl Security ZEUS-DVR5 16-Channel H.264 DVR with D1 Recording and HDMI Now

I ordered this unit for a customers camera system and the first unit had issues with resetting itself every 10-15mins. I sent that unit back and got a replacement and I still had the same problem with it. Also when I set the time/date it never changes so I can't search for any recorded playback because the time/date is stuck on whatever I set it to. I will never purchase a product of this brand again and will stick with the Lorex units which are cheaper but have held up well for low priced camera packages.

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