My review is focus on one aspect so as not to be too long, but still useful. **Please note the updates at the end**The Dropcam is a very good, very easy to use device. Many of the top rated reviews here do an excellent job of listing the pros and cons. Also, the firmware has been updated since many of the negative reviews were posted, so there have been subtle improvements (not enough) with motion detection, and also the iOS and Android apps are now easy and great.
The best use case of this camera, by far, is indoor remote surveillance of a kids room, a family room, or a workplace.
Here's the real, overpowering negative about the device for me: it uses about 60GB of upload data capacity each month. The camera transmits its HD video feed to the DropCam cloud servers ALL DAY, EVERY DAY. The cloud service is what makes the user experience so easy, and what allows you to view your camera from multiple places, phones, tablets, all with just a userID and password. It's good in that you don't have to learn about firewalls, IP port forwarding and such just to make it work. But, that also means that it sends enormous amounts of video of a room with nothing at all happening in it. If your ISP has a quota or a limit to how much you can send per month, this camera WILL DEFINITELY USE A LARGE PORTION. In Canada and with some US ISPs, the limit is 50GB...i.e. less than this camera sends!
Lots of ISPs offer a quota of 250GB, so this camera won't put most US customers over their limit. Just know that this will soak up a good portion of your allotment.
Each additional camera will add to the bandwidth you use.
Consider that you are also downloading the video feed from your ISP, so if you are in the same place as the camera viewing it, it doubles the bandwidth used. Yep, that's right, your video goes up to the cloud server, then back down to you.
FYI, the upload rate is about 400-600 Kbps
The camera does use excellent compression, so the HD video is as compact as it can be in 2012.
If you have anything less than awesome Internet service, the camera will slow down your uploads of other stuff, like photos, attachments, etc. Upload speed is always much slower than download on consumer Internet service, and that's what this camera uses.
So, take this important point into consideration. It may still be a great product for you, but you need to know the costs. For me, I planned on using this at a lake house with slow Internet, so it doesn't work for me. I'll have to find another use for it.
****Update, September 2012
The camera has just received a software update that lets you switch between SD mode and HD mode. All DropCams that are turned on and connected to the Internet will get the update automatically. The standard definition mode uses half the bandwidth of the HD mode. Overall, there is a big improvement regarding the problem I cited in my original review. The update has other benefits in motion detection, etc.
As for me, the 30GB a month is still too much, so I will continue to use the available software switch to turn the camera on and off, and only enable it when I want to watch.
It took me about 5-10 minutes to complete the full setup process (open the box to getting video streams online). In fact, it took me longer to figure out where I was going to put it.
Other solutions require special software to be installed and/or a PC/Mac system to be running to capture the video. I don't want to keep a computer on while I am away on travel + have to maintain/update the software. The DropCam HD solution removes all this extra effort/time/pain.
pros
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easy to setup (5 minutes of work)
can view online or via android/iphone
can share your camera with friends securely
motion tags allow you to jump to interesting sections
no need for special software or a PC running to capture all the data
surprised by 2way audio feature. Fun to use while you are away.
cons
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monthly dvr pricing for saved streams (free if you just want live views)
still testing
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low light/night video capture
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I have to say, I am loving this Dropcam! I put it in my living room to see when the kids are home from school. The setup process was done lickety-split, and all I had to type in was my wireless password (which admittedly I had to hunt through a dozen post-its to find). Now I can see it on my iphone and also from my computer at work! Cool!Some details:
1. I tried another camera like this before and it couldn't see the entire living room from its perch in the corner. On the other hand, the Dropcam can see almost my whole living room while sitting on the same bookshelf in the corner. Faces appear a little small, but I definitely like being able to see the kids whether they are on the couch or laying on the floor
2. The night vision is a really nifty feature. I could just make out my husband on the other side of the room (about 20 feet?). We don't have a big use for it since our kids are older, but it would make a great baby monitor. I guess if somebody breaks in (eek!) we will have the video for America's Most Wanted!
3. There's a little clicking noise here and there on the audio (not sure what that is?) but you can definitely hear what's being said ... I had to wear headphones to really make it out though because my laptop's speakers aren't too great
4. The talking feature is already a family favorite at least for Mom, that is ... let's just say I think a lot more homework is about to be done after school and before dinner time....
5. It's bee-yoo-tee-ful! I really can't tell you how many of these electronic doo-dads are ugly as sin. It looks and feels like a little art sculpture sitting next to the other knick-knacks on the bookshelf, and the white cable blends in nicely with the wall.
I think that's about it! I don't normally write reviews, but I just felt like this gem deserved it. Thanks Dropcam!!
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I pre-ordered this item 2 1/2 months ago, so I was very excited for its arrival this past weekend. However, upon setting it up, it worked for less than 15 minutes before it overheated & shut down. (Same problem another previous reviewer reported). I have been unable to get it to turn on ever since.I have submitted a ticket to customer service, over 48 hours with no response so far. I will update my review if they can make it right, however at the moment I am VERY unhappy.
EDIT 4/20/12: I gave up waiting for an e-mail back and called customer service. Took about 10 minutes to get through, and after a series of questions, the agent agreed that the camera I had (or possibly the power cord) was defective. He sent me a prepaid shipping label to send it back to them, and immediately sent me out a new unit 2nd Day Air. So big kudos to their customer service team.
I received the new unit lastnight, and spent some time playing with it to make sure it was not going to do the same thing as the first one. It seems to be working pretty well so far. My intent is to use this to keep an eye on my baby when he arrives this summer, but for now I am using it on my dog while I'm at work. I have been able to peak in at him a few times today. I really like that you can turn the camera off or on from the iphone app, so it doesn't have to stay on all the time. I also LOVE that the audio is two-way, that was an unexpected bonus that blew my husband and I away! It works very very well.
That being said, the device is not perfect, there are definitely some kinks they need to work out. It takes a lot of patience to make any changes or turn the camera off, the settings on both the app and the website are pretty slow to come up. The video delay is only about 2 seconds though, which is what really matters in my opinion. The video is pretty darn clear too, and the night vision is impressive.
Occasionally when I turn the camera on or off from the app, it "freezes" and I have to back completely out of it and go back in. Not a huge deal since it works once I go back in. Also, it'd be really nice to be able to control the panning/zoom from the app.
I'm also stuck with two video feeds in my account now that I had two separate cameras, I went through every available option, and there's no way to delete the non-working one. Annoying.
Overall though, as long as it continues to work, it's a pretty cool gadget, and will definitely come in handy with keeping an eye on our little one once he arrives!
EDIT 11/19/12:
I wanted to come back and update my review now that I have been using the Dropcam for 6 months, 3 months of which have been on our new baby. We absolutely could not be happier with the Dropcam. It stays on 24 hours a day, every day and has caused us no problems with overheating or anything. There have been several updates to the iphone (and now ipad!) apps, and website, and I find them all to be much more user-friendly now. We chose this in lieu of a traditional monitor, and we have no regrets. I especially love that we can leave the baby with a sitter and peek in on him no matter how far we are from home. We would obviously not have that option with a traditional monitor.
My one (tiny) gripe is that it does tend to disconnect several times throughout the day and night. Every time this happens, I just have to exit out of the app and go back in. I believe this is more of an issue with our internet connection and/or router, but I wish there was something dropcam could do to make it automatically reconnect whenever this happens.
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I've been looking for a good "IP camera" for a long time now, and this is the first one that I won't be putting in the junk drawer. I've been reading a lot of the reviews and the comments from the company, and I think they are the first people to really "get it".Setup: They say 2 minutes, it took about 5-10 minutes, but who's counting when the competition doesn't even work without reconfiguring your router. The wall mounting took longer than the wifi setup, and even that was still pretty easy.
Software: I have both an iPhone 4 and a Samsung Galaxy S2. The iPhone app is really good, the Android app is ... well, it works, but it's a little slow and needs some polish. The Dropcam folks have said that a new native version is coming out in some comments here, and the iPhone app has had a couple of great updates since I installed it, so I'll keep the faith going on Android ... I'm really tired of people who expect it to work on their multi-year old phones though, if you've got some crummy prepaid Android phone from Virgin mobile, blame Virgin not anyone else.
Website: The website is really nicely designed, and if anything the mobile apps need to have more of the features that are available on it. Browsing the DVR is much more pleasant, changing settings is easier, and you also use the site to setup your camera in the first place, which is really easy. My only complaint is that I had to upgrade Flash, which is probably OK, I just wish it didn't use Flash at all.
Camera: Camera pops out of the base a little too easily, but when I got it all finally positioned on the wall it stayed in place. Night vision works well, though you can see a faint red light from the LEDs. Microphone works OK, a little noisy at first but better when I adjusted the volume. Speaker was a lot louder after adjusting the Flash microphone volume, and now that works well too.
Recording: I used to be a big do-it-yourselfer, but now that I'm a "grumpy old man" I prefer to compare the true cost of, say, running my own UNIX server in the basement vs just paying for the dang service. I've been using the trial for a couple of weeks, and the best thing is I don't have to keep anything on but the Dropcam and the wifi to get the recording. Some of the other cameras I've used required software running 24/7 on your PC, which is a non-starter if you have a laptop, and a big hassle to keep running all of the time. I've seen a lot of people complaining about the price ... my advice is don't be so cheap. I don't change my own oil anymore, why would I want to administrate a server?
Overall I'm very happy, mostly because of the setup, software and service. It's not everyday that you just breeze through setting up a new and complex device like this. Bravo, 5 stars.
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