I owned this product for almost a year and so far it works. It should probably get 4.5 stars because I do believe Samsung can improve it. The one star rating is unfair expectations based on the price point. I owned other cameras with high resolution and professional grade DVR and they cost a lot more. I used this in conjunction with this Samsung camera system. It is great for entrances and inside the house where it is well lit.What I like:
Easy do it yourself security system. The day time picture quality is excellent and color is amazing. There are two things that affect image resolution: one is the cameras' tv lines or pixels and the DVR recording capability. You can set the recording to be better for the cameras that you need to be the sharpest and back off on the ones that are not as critical. For example, choose CIF for best picture and higher record rate for real time at least 30 fps.
The best cameras out there are 700 TV lines and DVR records at 720 x 480 pixels. This system can come pretty close.
Easy to view back captured video that are recorded based on motion (save disc space) or continuous. It has a remote and on screen menu is intuitive. I like the Cat 5 wiring instead of those BNC and power supply connectors that most used.
For the money, it is very good value.
What could be improved:
The night vision is poor but you would pay more money for cameras with a lot more IR LEDs with longer range. The work around this is to put a motion triggered light and light up the area and the camera can capture higher resolution or you can install IR LED flood lights.
The network setup is tricky but it is tricky for other camera system tooso you need tech support to help here.
Camera is not vandal proof but then again, for the money one should not expect it to be. There is no adjusting on the focus and focal length but again you would find these features on high end cameras. Frankly, if you are not technical, you would probably be frustrated trying to adjust too many features. It has a BNC port so it can accept at least one of those higer resolution cameras but Samsung has a disclaimer.
The login you choose for the DVR must be only 8 characters. Manual does NOT tell you this. If you plan on using the program Smartview 3.0. After troubleshooting 1/2 a day I found this to be why I could not connect with my 16 character(secure)password I set. 8 character password is piss poor for security but if you keep it on your local LAN no big deal.
Smartview is a nice program and does everything you can do on the unit but after a while for whatever reason the application with crash on you at start up. After a few installs on new computer system it always eventually will crash. Possibly some Microsoft update who knows but Tech support will not reply to you and when talking to a person you realize they are absolutely clueless as to how to fix it. The software on the unit (mouse & on-screen keyboard) is seriously ridiculous and tedious to use. If the software would work I would add 3 stars. Thats how badly it cripples your system not being able to use SmartViewer.
Setup your DVR IP address in your router to static outside of your domain. If you have 192.168.1 through 192.168.1.100 then set it to above that for example 192.168.1.200. Forward ports 8000-8160 and 554-558 both TCP (not TCP/UDP) to your desktop IP address (DVR defaults) No other numbers will work so only use those. I purchased a SED-1006R for sound with video recording at my front door, had to get replaced because sound was not working so got it replaced. Sound from the unit must be powered by a separate funky one plug speaker system, however sound to my desktop via SmartView works ok although the sound is mono not stereo.
Motion detection is ok, though I've seen better. The squares are a bit too large and make it difficult to cover finite regions. My biggest complaint is glare at night (car lights) that trigger motion events. A shiny car and or wet pavement can reflect and trigger events easily even on the lowest detection setting.
I originally had it set for each camera to record at highest settings (4CIFL(L) 15FPS Level 8 ) with just motion events but have since changed 3 camera's set for continuous record and 1 motion event with same quality settings. The hard drive capacity right now is 20 day's recorded at 800Gbs full so roughly 23 days with 4 camera's 3 with continuous, 1 event. I would venture to guess that with 8 cameras you would get a week with say 6 continuous and 2 event. On the other hand based on what I've observed looking at drive usage you could easily get 3-4 months set to motion event with 8 cameras if you have normal activity (cats, birds, occasional insects around camera. I plan to water proof the ethernet connections as they are outside and susceptible to moisture in the connectors. Heatwrap tubing and electrical tape should work fine.
I wanted this product to work but I'm bailing on this for something far better.
Buy Samsung SDE-4001 8 CH Security System with 6 Cameras Now
Some reviews mention the poor video quality of these Samsung cameras, but I believe the problem resides in the DVR video output. I came to this conclusion after connecting an additional camera of good quality to the DVR, and the video output turned out to be the same. On the positive side, the software is very intuitive and the feature-set is absolutely useful; the build quality of the cameras is also strong...But again, the poor quality of the video output is a deal breaker. I would not recommend this camera set and wouldn't buy again.Read Best Reviews of Samsung SDE-4001 8 CH Security System with 6 Cameras Here
Easy install, one wire connection to camera. Provides both feed and power..Nice. DVR is easy to use. Lots of options. Day video great. Not so great night. The system uses 2 power supplies, co be prepared to use a multi connection cord. It is had a monitor for the price would be a hard system to beat. I feel it does everything i need and want it to do. Internet connection can be tricky. I didn't have a LAN connection in the closet where its installed, so without built in wifi i needed a "bridged router"...(receives wireless signal and has plugs to connect LAN lines). Which works great. CPU Fan runs all the time, so its bit noisy so consider that during your research. Camera's could be smaller, but not bad. They might look dated in a couple of years.Want Samsung SDE-4001 8 CH Security System with 6 Cameras Discount?
All thress of these systems have given me nothing but problems. Im disgusted with samsung. I buy samsung everything and the security system, THE DIY SECURITY SYSTEM, IS THE BIGGEST JOKE. I have one set up in a buisness location and it didnt come with the wire to hook up to a tv. You would think it would include everything but no visual or audio connections in site. They give you a ethernet cord...very helpful samsung. Had to send the owner to get the cords. It finally worked. Next system was totally different. Still didnt come with visual and audio wires but we had sone on hand this time. Suprise!!! We need a video link, that the box or instructions never said anything about or didnt include. Thanks again samsung. My last one I set up was tonight...and my very last samsung that I will ever work with again. The box had 6 cameras...one of the had corrosion in it...wasnt the same plug and the barcide sticker was coming off. No biggie..we'll use one less camera. Hook up the dvr through a vga to set it up, remote d9esnt work, dvr doesnt work, nothing responds to s***! Call technical support the idiot pretty much readme everything the instructions say and say return your systems. AFTER SETTING UP ALL OF IT THROUGH A PROFESSIONAL! Im sick to my stomach of how much money was put into this and theres nothing they can do about it. I will never give a penny to samsung ever again. Mark my words.
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