I read several reviews on this thing. They didn't do it justice. I paid 98.99 for mine, the price went up since. Still worth it. Sure the picture is not HD, but you can recognize faces, just aim it at doorways and driveways, not across the backyard. The night vision is not bad either. People were gripping about that too, just don't aim them across the neighborhood they work FINE. They also gripped about the color. Yeah green is kinna purple, but you know what color trees are, it's not important. THIS PRODUCT IS WELL WORTH 100 150.00 The setup is easy, ran the wires under the house to outside, the iPhone setup was super easy. Added the harddrive, EASY. It's a good product, you just can't be an idiot.
One thing I noticed from reading the description on Woot and this description is that I could not find mention that this does NOT come with a hard drive. Since it touts the fact that it records I assumed it would come with at least a little something it would record onto, but to my surprise it didn't. So much for being so cheap, but I would have liked to know ahead of time that I had to buy a separate device since it seemed to include everything. When I bought my TiVo it's billed as a DVR digital video recorder and the recorder is part of the name so the recording device is included. Personally, I don't think it should say DVR since it doesn't become one until you actually buy the hard drive. Anyway, my neighborhood has been somewhat sinking in quality and a friend who lives not too far away had her home broken into while she was home with her family so I decided that safe is better than sorry and splurged for a 2TB WD hard drive (that's the largest the DVR will accept, and make sure you buy an AV-GP rated drive so that it lasts longer; the manual specifically states not to use a regular computer hard drive). So that added about another hundred bucks to this purchase, plus the installation for me was another hundred bucks but I don't mind the money since I now have peace of mind.
The manual that comes with it is not organized very well, and I've actually misplaced it, but the zmodo website has all the information you need. They have the manual online, which now that I'm switching to a paperless office I prefer to just have the manuals on my computer as PDFs and then access them when I need them. When you install the HDD, you have to go to the menu and format it first, it will beep at you for a while when you first turn it on after installing it. Actually, any time you turn the machine off and then back on it beeps at you. And you don't realize it's formatting; I saw that it was starting to format then the screen disappeared and I couldn't access anything on the menu until about fifteen minutes later. I assume that it was formatting during that time since I bought a behemoth of a hard drive so I just left it on it's own and when I came back I was able to get into the menu.
I'm still having trouble accessing the DVR from my computer and from the app, but that's just related to my getting all the network settings and IP addresses and whatnot that my computer is giving me trouble with. Overall it's really very good; yes, the colors are off but I can recognize people and I have the peace of mind that people can see the cameras and hopefully will move on to another house if they have nefarious purposes. They seem to hold up well with the weather, and are quite sensitive with motion detection because the other day it snowed and the motion detector was constantly on. Once I am able to access the device remotely I feel I'll be good; I have the Zviewer app on my iPhone, I just need those settings. There are also many YouTube videos that help you with getting the settings and setting the system up. I took off one star because of the lack of mentioning the DVR has no "R" included, but that shouldn't deter you from this device. Better safe than sorry.
UPDATE: Zmodo technical support is awesome! I had about a twenty minute wait for a technician, but it was worth it. The technician connected to my computer, also had issues connecting to my DVR from the computer (that actually made me feel good because I'm a tech person and it was really bugging me that I couldn't do it myself, there was apparently something else going on because the tech had quite a time with the software, which ultimately didn't install) but was able to finally connect using Internet Explorer. NOTE: If you're using IE 64 bit, you won't be able to connect, it will keep asking you to install Active X then not work. You have to connect with IE (and yes, sadly only IE) 32 bit. The tech then went to configure access so that I can view the cameras on my iPhone remotely, but wasn't able to because of my modem. He explained exactly what I had to tell Time Warner Cable to do to my cable modem, and also mentioned that I should request at least a tier 2 support person. He even left a detailed note in notepad for me to reference when calling TWC. I've never experienced such extensive support from a company before, AND I didn't even have to pay for that support! I then contacted Time Warner Cable (via Twitter, calling on the phone is pretty useless) and a tier 3 support person actually called me back. If you have TWC you most likely won't be able to have the open the required ports, but they will bridge the modem to your router and since the tech had previously connected the ports to my router, in a snap I was set up and viewing my cameras remotely. A really great product and with such amazing technical support why go anywhere else. I added back a star due their great support.I don't really know since I am just trying to set them up to PC. I am not very tech savy and knowledge of different network paths and adaptors are required to connect DVR to PC. I use a wifi modem which is simple and provides fast service. This network set up uses RJ45, VGA and other older type cables I haven't used in a long time so, I have to buy a lot of adaptivers and a router according to there directions. I am working on it. The network paths are very specific so, they also have to be compatible with my modem. I had no idea it was going to require so much time and more expense. If you run a land line probly easy to set up. Do your homework with ZMODO before buy. Update to review: the cameras are very good quality for the price. Have 2 acres and can view most of the whole property with 4 cameras. I just did not understand needed more components than already have with a 2500$ pc-system.The system works well enough....when it's working. After 3 days the Infra Red stopped working on 1 camera. I called the seller's "customer service"....Only to be told to call the manufacturer. I then called the manufacturer and stayed on hold for almost 3 HOURS, (they only have ONE person in tech support.) So I called the seller back and they told me I could only return the WHOLE UNIT. Well... I had already taken 9 hours to install it the right way. They did not care. It would be very easy to pull the defective camera and send that in for replacement...but nope. Not allowed. My only option is to remove all the cameras (That took 9 hours to install.), remove my hard drive, repackage and ship back. In my mind they do this to discourage defective returns. Like I said, it works OK when it's working but if you get a defective one...You're outta luck. No one will help you. Kiss you're money goodbye!
UPDATE: Just got off the phone with Zmodo. They say they are sending a replacement camera. I'll let you know if it ever gets here.This item is a no brainier if looking for an entry level system and actually the cams produce a very high quality image both day and especially night. The 65ft ir range is actually an accurate estimate wherein I have never seen any actually view over 15ft in total dark, including cams costing $85 alone, with any quality and boy this one is bright, like an invisible flood light.
Love it and will be buying another one asap, can never have enough cams... lol ;-)
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