I got the setup the next business day! Probably helps that I'm only about a 3 hour drive from the shipper. Hooked it up and initially thought it was DOA. But it wasn't the DVR comes locked and you have to hold the REW key for 5 sec to unlock the mouse and remote. I got it on the network and through the router (NAT) in just a few minutes. It's very easy to setup. The Android software from Zmodo's website didn't work. But in the tech section it recommends IP Cam Viewer by Robert Chou from the Android Market, it works great. Just add a DVR, make=zmodo Model=Zmodo H9106 w/Media Port and all should be good. Repeat for each of the channels you use on the DVR. There is also a version available from Amazon but it's not updated as often. I've only used the ActiveX web software so far on the PC. It came with a mini-CD with software but I haven't installed it yet.Now for the bad.
1. No Macintosh support (but it does have iOS support). I contacted Zmodo and got a response within an hour! They are working on Mac support but don't have a release date yet. So if you only have Mac's or *Nix I would look elsewhere for now. But if you have a Windows PC it's easy to setup and works great.
2. Hard drive was loose in the DVR! When I unboxed it I could feel something sliding around in the DVR. I pulled the cover off and the Hard Drive was just sitting in there. It was hooked up to the cables but no screws. There's even a sticker that tells you where to install the screws. In the bag with the remote and manuals there was a tiny bag with the 2 missing screws. I installed them fired it up and everything was OK. I guess they come from china without the hard drives and whoever installed it was in a hurry. It came with a Western Digital Blue series Hard Drive (not the AV series as far as I can tell) but I'll have to look again at the exact model I got.
If the Hard Drive wasn't loose in the DVR then it would have had a 5 star review.
No HDD(SATA) was a perfect savings for me since I had a couple drives laying around. The framerate is pretty great on the cameras. Switching from color to IR is quite seamless. The GUI isn't the sexiest out there, but it does the job well. To save some head-scratching for others, when you first power up, go straight to the "alarms" menu. I turned off HDD, Motion, and I/O alarms to stop the incessant beeping. Then go to "device" to format the HDD. NTFS and FAT32 apparently are not what it is looking for. Email notifications and web-access are surprisingly brilliant for a system that is this cheap.
So whether you need to catch the person that is stealing your garden gnomes, or you are filming Paranormal Activity 4 (creepy glowing eyes), it's a pretty good deal! Wish me luck on catching the bad guys!I am enjoying my new DVR with cameras. Hook up was easy but I have done this a few times; however, the instruction sheets shipped with the product were so small that 5 people could not read the print or see the figures. I have yet figured out how to connect from my mobile phone and I hate calling tech support, but I may have to. I would recommend this product to all who do not want to spend big bucks.I decided to pick up this kit mostly for the DVR, and figured the cameras would be a bonus...I was right. The cameras are ehh in quality. They dont have great night vision and sometimes during the day the picture greys out, but the DVR is excellent, and the software is simple, and intuitive.
I'd buy this kit again, and supplement with better cameras. DVR is superb!I wasn't expecting great things, so I'm not too disappointed.
Most of the reviews here on Amazon concerning Zmodo equipment are accurate.
The cameras are pretty low quality. They don't capture color correctly. Right now my cameras think green leaves and green grass are supposed to be shades of pink and purple. I'm not sure why this happens. It captures most colors correctly and it can't be corrected with hue settings. The problem exists at the cameras and nowhere else.
If you expect to read a license plate on a car, think again. I have one of my cameras right now facing a cars rear end, roughly 20 to 30 feet away. The license plate is impossible to read. I actually tried holding up an old license plate in front of one of my cameras. 10 to 15 feet max. Beyond that the large letters of a license plate are illegible. That should give you some idea of what to expect from these cameras. Faces also become unidentifiable blobs at a distance. One of my cameras points to my front door, and it's close enough that I can identify someone I know. If it's someone I don't know, I won't have much luck finding out who it is, and the camera isn't going to represent the correct color of their clothing either. Not going to help much if the video gets turned over to the cops.
At some point I will have to upgrade the cameras.
The includee wire seems like a good deal, but take a good look at what you get. We have video and power all in one very small jacket. The size of the wire inside that jacket is probably very small and I bet it's stranded. Won't take much to break so you need to be very careful when pulling your wire. I managed to pull mine without breaking, but I am experienced in pulling wire. At some point it's probly going to make more sense to pull new coax with BNC connectors and use the existing wire for power only. Especially when upgrading cameras. We will see how the wire holds up over time.
The DVR itself isn't so bad. The software is a little wonky but for a home DVR it is acceptable. As long as it holds up over time I think the DVR may be the best part of the purchase. I believe the DVR might be capable of recording a higher quality of video than what the included cameras can provide.
My DVR also came with a USB mouse. It has some spare pieces clanking around inside... so that's going in the trash. I also received a remote for my DVR. I have not attempted to use the remote yet.
All in all this is not a terrible DVR/camera system. I would recommend it more for indoor use considering the limitations of the cameras. If you need real outdoor surveillance, you will need better cameras.
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