Swann TruBlue Security D1 Digital Video Recorder

We have been a longtime Lorex DVR user, so this was an upgrade for sure.

A couple of wierd issues when I first installed the DVR. One is you must set a password or the screen locks, ie you have to power cycle the DVR to get back in. The MyDVR software will disappear when you select minimize, note it keeps running ! And it does NOT show up in Windows Task Manager, now that is unique bug. One very nice feature is the ability to save your video recordings to avi format by a simple check box. My Lorex DVR forced me to use a horrible software tool that I had to beg Lorex to get. Anyway, just started using the Swann....

I had to configure this over the phone with a camera technician at my parents' house. We both agreed it's units like this that will put pros completely out of the low end market.

Buy Swann TruBlue Security D1 Digital Video Recorder Now

Fairly easy to set up and navigate with on screen display. Had this for a number of months. Good features for motion detection, messaging. D1 display resolution is adequate for home use. Read other reviews that had problems with remote internet connections but I didn't find it too hard to configure the remote access feature. The swanndvr.net site for remote access and alarm notifications works well. Most difficult task is to cable up the cameras to the unit. Cabling recommended if using the software for motion detection analytics (analog wireless connection will trigger alarms too often due to static and noise).

Read Best Reviews of Swann TruBlue Security D1 Digital Video Recorder Here

I've had my DVR8-4000 for about a year now, and it continues to work well for the most part: So far, I have found 3 frustrating issues with this equipment: Downloaded videos do not contain audio, the audio channels randomly swap with each other and unresponsive tech support.

A friend of mine was looking for a surveillance DVR awhile back, and I am happy enough with my DVR8-4000 that I recommended it to him, but he wanted to know how it would work with wireless cameras. I told him I didn't know and told him to e-mail Swann Support. He did, but he never got any kind of reply, so he went with another system. That was about 4 monthes ago.

I contacted Swann Support about 6 months ago regarding two audio issues, and I still have not received a reply, so it's pretty clear that Swann's e-mail support is problematic.

Now for the audio issues: This DVR provides 4 audio channels, and if you play recordings directly off from the DVR itself, you get the audio. If, however, you download the recorded videos, it strips off the audio, and I have not found any way to get around this, so if you wanted to ship a video recording to someone, you can forget being able to send the associated audio. This is one of the questions I e-mail Swann about and never got a reply.

The second, very annoying, audio issue is the channels randomly swap! On my DVR, the audio that belongs to camera 1 and camera 2 will swap with the audio that belongs to camera 3 and camera 4. Shutting down the DVR and restarting it will temporarily fix this, sometimes for minutes, sometimes for days. This was the second issue I have never been able to find an answer to.

Other than these audio issues (some people don't even use the audio, so this may not be an issue for you) and Swann's poor e-mail support, I have been happy with the quality of this product. It has been reliable, and I live in the mountains where the cameras are exposed to some pretty severe weather, including cold temperatures and lots of ice and snow, and the cameras haven't missed a beat, despite the fact that they are on 24 X 7.

Update: Today I tried to call Swann's support number, and I waited in a queue for a considerable amount of time. When someone finally picked up my call, they were very polite but basically clueless: I had to explain many times the problem with the audio channels spontaneously swapping to the wrong cameras. The technician kept telling me that I had the cables plugged into the wrong audio inputs. I was finally able to get him to understand that this is not the case and that the audio channels are assigned to the correct cameras after a system reboot but eventually switch to a different cameras. The technician didn't have a real answer. He basically told me to get a better power supply. I really doubt this is the issue.

As far as losing the audio on downloaded videos is concerned, he was again clueless: He clamied that I simply needed to convert the downloaded H264 files to something like AVI. Doesn't work. Trust me. The downloaded H264 files don't have audio, and I have literally tried about a dozen different conversion utilities, and each one indicates that the source file has no audio channels, so you can basically forget ever getting audio off from your DVR. The best you can do is get soundless video.

I suspect that virtually every unit shipped out behaves this way, and it amazes me that these technicians are so clueless about these problems. Surely, I can't be the only one who has struggled with these issues.

Want Swann TruBlue Security D1 Digital Video Recorder Discount?

I have had this for awhile now, and it is doing very well. I had the Swann Security Card on my old computer, so trust the Swann products for this purpose. This is not quite as easy as the card and its program, but I will read the manual a little better for that. Hooks up nicely without a problem with the cameras that I have and was an easy exchange with the monitor.