I'm using this DVR for recording surveillance around the outside of my house and it does what it's supposed to. I have not yet tested the networking function, but I will update the review once I'm able to.The unit records up to D1 on all 4 channels simultaneously and it looks good. It doesn't say that in the description that it's all 4 channels at once, so that's important to note. Although I can't recognize license plates from 15 feet away or so with this unit/camera combo, that's probably more a function of the camera (even at 700 TVL...). I'm not using the audio input but there's one channel for that. All inputs are BNC connectors. Network connection is RJ-45 and there is a USB port on the front and one on the back. My mouse doesn't work on the backside (probably for another external HD? That shouldn't matter...) but it works on the front, so that's not an issue. There are also alarm and PTZ camera inputs, but I'm not using those.
It has VGA, HDMI, and BNC video outputs. I've used the HDMI out and it looks good. For day-to-day monitoring I'm using the VGA output to a computer monitor so it's fine. The resolution is almost as good as HD from VGA; you just won't get any sound from it. Not sure if the HDMI will transmit audio on this unit or not as it does have a separate audio BNC output. Something to consider as the manual on this thing is decent, but not very in-depth.
Viewing the cameras is straightforward. All 4 channels can be viewed at once with split-screen or just one camera at a time. It looks like you can even setup different views and save them to scroll through as you're watching. There is a zoom function for on-screen viewing real-time as well as playback, although the clarity will seriously depend on your camera.
Controls are very clunky and weird. The remote isn't laid out well or coherently at all, so I just use the mouse. SmartSearch is good as it only shows you action as it happens and you don't have to watch the whole day's worth of footage to see what you want. Stop/start and play/pause functionality during playback don't work logically. If you're watching at 2x playback, you have to finish scrolling through all the playback modes (there are 4) to get back to normal speed. By then the action on the screen is over and there really isn't a rewind button. I'm still trying to figure out how to do that on-screen without downloading the video to a USB drive to watch on a computer.
That being said, this DVR produces an encrypted video file that apparently can only be watched using the software that comes with it. I haven't yet tried this because it's a pain in the rear to install the software is shipped on a mini-disc CD so I can't put it in my iMac. Maybe there's a software download somewhere...
Overall, the video quality of this DVR is good, but I'm missing some serious user-friendly controls and a disc I can actually put in my main computer and not a laptop PC. Until I get it on the network I won't be able to fully assess its performance and I'm hoping the controls online will be more coherent than what I'm getting on-screen. The remote is basically useless, so you'll most likely need a mouse. I use a Bluetooth wireless mouse because of the unit's location and it works fine.
For the price, it's a decent buy. I'm unfamiliar with anything else in this range, but I would probably look for something more user-friendly if this one broke. This unit DOES NOT come with a HD included. Another $200 bucks or so for 2TB. If you're recording 1 or 2 channels at highest res, it looks like you can record for about 3 weeks straight possibly longer. I know at least 1-channel at D1 will get you that long. I'm only recording one camera at this point.
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