Monday, November 17, 2014

Defender ST300-SD Covert Fully Functional Alarm Clock Security DVR with Built-in Color Pinhole Surv

Defender ST300-SD Covert Fully Functional Alarm Clock Security DVR with Built-in Color Pinhole Surveillance Spy Camera and 2GB SD CardGives a sharp clear image, but with a range of view so limited that it is difficult to see how it could catch anyone doing anything. It could serve your purpose, but only if you are lucky. The chances of whoever you're hoping to catch doing anything that happens to be perfectly in range of the camera is very low. In the end, it was a waste of money.

This sounds like a neat idea in concept as it provides a means of surveillance in an unobtrusive looking alarm clock form. However its functionality and video capture is somewhat limited so setup and results could be problematic. Please note, no sound is captured in case that is your expectation.

AIMING COULD BE CHALLENGING:

Given there is no display in this device to accurately aim it, you need to hook it up to a display device. In my case the two places, I used it the most were near a TV display. This way I could get an accurate aim. If you can't do this it is your best guess and you might not get what you want.

MOTION DETECTION USAGE:

Since there is no display, setting up the sensitivity of motion detection can only be done when connected. They do this nicely. However I could never get the right mix of sensitivity for the case I was trying to photo graph. I was pointing outside a window and tree movements were being captured by the camera, so it was running as long as it was light. Pretty tedious viewing that video as it ran non-stop. I also found, it is amazing how you can end up pointing out a window when you don't realize it. I had this unit in my foyer and did not notice that it had the kitchen window in view. Alas another non-stop video. When I finally had the sensitivity right, the light quality was too poor for the video.

VIDEO QUALITY:

Video quality not surprisingly is determined by the amount of light on the subject being recorded. When I had this camera pointing out a window in bright sunlight, it did a passable job of capturing what was going on. However as I mention above, then the motion detection was triggered too often by tree movements and light changes, so it is a fine line.

Using this camera indoors, you need to be careful you don't end up with a back-lit situation. I had this camera in my foyer for a bit, to see how well it worked and unbeknowst to me, it was pointing toward a window that determined the brightness of the scene, rendering the rest of the video useless as it was then too dark in other than the window area.

The video quality is horrible in even slightly poor lit areas. . Anyone trying to capture video in all but verty well lit situations would be advised to consider another device. When it is dark, you get nothing. When it is dim, you get a highly pixelated video that is muddy in the middle and you would be hard pressed to tell if there was a cat, dog or alien in the view. I could not tell my 20 pound cat from my 7 pound cat.

VIEWING VIDEO:

This was easy enough and had a fast-forward you could use to rapidly scan your video. However the buttons are a bit unresponsive and you do have a certain amount of trial and error to figure out how it works.

You can also pull out the SD card and put it in your computer to view. Mnd you, you need to re-set it up when you put it back in the device. One time I did this and did not tell it to start recording again, so got nothing for several days until I checked on it next.

USAGE IN WORK AREAS:

If you are pondering buying this and bringing it to work, to surreptitiously record, I would not recommend this, unless you get written permission by your employer. I know of many cases where employees have been fired for recording anything at work without the subject's permission. Both sound and video are issues. Given that this device is clearly appearing to be "just an alarm clock", it is a stealth device.

SUMMARY:

This is a base level recording device. It's usage is limited to only well lit areas. It captures only video, there is no sound capture, so if that is a requirement, this is not the device for you. The motion detection to limit the video quantity taken is touchy. When I got the right mix for the motion detection, it sacrificed video quality, to such a degree to render the device almost unusable. To be honest, I think it is overly pricey for the quality. Even half this cost would be too much considering the video quality. NOTE: I'm stating this based on viewing some inexpensive video cameras my son has purchased to wear when skiing or to put on kites. Mind you they did not have motion detection, but the video was much better.

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I bought this because I had a feeling my cleaning lady was going through my purse, etc.

I proped it up in my bedroom and what do you know? ... I got footage of her going through my purse, my wallet, trying on my clothes (eeewww!!) and stealing my beauty products.

Needless to say we fired her!

I agree with all the pros and cons listed for this item.

Luckily my room is small, and well lit... so I got great footage!

But I can see the drawbacks for those wanting a wider range of area shot and if their area is poorly lit.

I must confess that I never did figure out the freaking sensor. I just did manual recording and had to sift through the footage with no movement on it. Yes that SUCKED... but I assume it's my laziness not their fault. Wish it were easier to set it up though... as I'm not a total retard and have a general knowledge of electronics.

So the bottom line is: it served its purpose, I caught the maid red-handed, and I couldn't work the sensor cause it's a pain in the butt.

Overall, I'm happy I paid $200 for this because who knows how much more she would have taken!

Read Best Reviews of Defender ST300-SD Covert Fully Functional Alarm Clock Security DVR with Built-in Color Pinhole Surv Here

The MSRP of this device is absolutely shocking. This hidden camera is complete junk that shouldn't be selling for more than $30.

The general picture quality is poor, in low light situations it's downright terrible, the field of vision is much too narrow, and the menu system/operation is overly complicated and unintuitive. It's really surprising just how bad the picture quality is. Most smart phones from 2009 take better video.

Do not buy.

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This product does what it is supposed to do. The motion detection works, and the video was clear enough to have my property manager arrested for burglarizing my apartment, which is why I bought the camera. The only inconvenience is that to review the video, you have to hook the clock up to a telivision, there is no USB hookup. To transfer the files to a computer you have to get a sim-card reader, but they are cheap at Walmart, so no big deal. This product did the job that I needed it to do. If you know there is something going on, and you want to capture it on video, and you know where to point the camera, this is the right product. It will do the job. Leave the lights on because you need good lighting.

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