Philips M100/37 Wireless Home Monitor

The Philips In.Sight home monitor is a stylish and simple way to watch over your home while you're away, but be sure to check the limitations before you buy.

For starters, do not bother purchasing this device unless you have at least one iOS device, preferably an iPhone. Do not purchase this device as a long term security solution unless you're going to stick with iPhones as your current and future cell phone. Also, as of mid Oct 2012, this camera doesn't really work with iOS 6. It worked under iOS 5, and I'm sure they'll eventually update the app, but if you need a security camera to work right now, I would check to see if there have been any app updates in Oct 2012 or later.

HARDWARE

As for the In.Sight itself, it is a rather nifty looking camera. It feels solid and durable, and it was thoughtfully designed. It comes with two bases, one that can be installed on side walls, and one for a ceiling/table. It also comes with mounting drywall screws. The camera has strong magnet on the bottom of the unit, and that allows it to magnetically connect to the ceiling/table base. It can also be tilted and swiveled to any desired viewpoint with ease thanks to these magnets. The side-wall mount comes with a ball joint arm, which also permits a range of viewpoint possibilities. A long micro-USB cable (included) is used to power the camera. A electric wall adapter is supposed to be included in the box, but it was missing in my package. Luckily I have several wall-to-USB electrical adapters and one of my replacements worked. Anyway, as long as you mount the camera anywhere near an electrical outlet, you'll be fine.

INSTALLATION

Installing the In.Sight couldn't be easier. Just plug it into the wall and then download the Philips In.Sight app from the Apple App Store. You will not be able to install the camera without getting the iOS app. Fire up the app on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch and then create a Philips user account (Name, email, password, and security question are needed). You will also need to be on the wireless home WiFi network that you want the camera to connect to. The SSID and WiFi passkey will need to be entered into the app's software. Once you're logged into your account, a Qcode will be displayed on your screen. Place the Qcode a couple inches away from the In.Sight camera and after about 1 minute, it should connect. It's incredibly simple and takes the guess work away from trying to assign IP addresses to individual devices.

PERFORMANCE

The camera's performance can be best described as "limited." Again, you need to install the device with an iOS device. I currently have a WiFi-only iPad 2, but no longer have an iPhone. Installation was a snap and I could see through the camera while I'm on my home network for 2 hours straight. While I'm away from home (when I actually want to use the camera), I can only view it for 5 minutes at a time when I can connect to a WiFi network. There are no Android or Windows Phone or Blackberry apps for this thing. Additionally, the app is not optimized for iPad usage, meaning you have to look at it with the "mini-iPhone" screen transposed onto the iPad's screen. If you want to be able to view your camera for longer than 5 minutes, you'll have to pay a premium for the app ($25). Depending on when the box was put on store shelves, it may also advertise that you can set your camera to begin recording when it detects motion and upload a clip to your private YouTube account. Well, sometime in June this feature was disabled. Recently, Philips lets you record these motion detected clips to your DropBox account instead. I don't have a DropBox account, so I don't know how well this works. But there are no alternatives to record to say, a SkyDrive account. The video itself is passable, if there is some light around, but it's only VGA quality. The darker it gets, the grainier the picture. Don't expect an HD video to be played on your RetinaDisplay. Finally, as mentioned above, it's not really compatible with iOS 6. All I can see are updated snapshots, the streaming video does not consistently work.

SUMMARY

The Philips In.Sight camera is a simple security solution for iOS users. Yes, there is a webpage Java app that you can use, but you still need an iOS device to display the initial Qcode to set up the camera. And the webpage display is even more limited, as you can't really adjust any camera settings with it; so don't think about using this camera primarily with the web browser, it isn't a viable choice here. This camera should only be purchased by iOS users (I would almost say, only iPhone users, as my WiFi iPad is limited here) who want an incredibly simple security camera solution. The draw here is an easy set up for brief, 5 minute house checks. There are other networked cameras out there that do more for a comparable price---they're just more difficult to install. And unfortunately, until this thing works smoothly with iOS 6, it's difficult to give it any stars.

I picked up a 2 pack at the apple store yesterday, I was kinda hesitant after reading the reviews here, but I needed a camera that could do sound on an iPhone and record events to the cloud. After hearing that Dropbox support was released I decided to bight the bullet.

I've use many IP cameras and they all have there issues, but Philips has done a great job hiding these issues from the user.

Network configuration was very simple, plug it in and point the iPhone screen at the camera, the camera then configured itself. All I had to do was give it a name.

Streaming video via wifi and 3G on Verizon worked without a hitch, I did notice on 3G that video was delayed about 15 seconds, and on the same wifi about 2 seconds.

I configured the camera to my dropbox account and turned on the motion detection and to my amazement video clips and thumbnails were being uploaded to my dropbox account. Nice!

You can view your dropbox thumbnails and videos from the app, which is nice.

All and all I'm fairly impressed, this is a huge evolution from other cameras I've used. Now they just need waterproof outdoor.

Things to note:

You can view the camera on a computer, but the experience is not the same as the app, it is much more limited.

I haven't been able to find an android version of the app to try yet, I don't know if there is one.

I don't think you could setup this camera without a iPhone/iPad/iTouch.

Buy Philips M100/37 Wireless Home Monitor Now

I was just as frustrated as many of the One Star raters when I first got these cameras. However, I must say that since they have updated the software, the camera firmware and added Dropbox support, I am now pretty happy.

I think people that are complaining that these are not good for a security system do not understand what they really are. They are simply home monitors and they are always going to be at the mercy of your home network speed and internet bandwidth. If you want a truly reliable internet security camera you are going to have to spend A LOT more money.

I have been using these to keep an eye on some home contractors, the housekeeper, my pet sitter and just see what the cats are up to while I am at work. They work great for that. I would NOT rely on them to alert me to a break-in. I have a separate (much more expensive) monitored security system to do that.

I really like the motion sensor feature. I know immediately when someone comes into the house. However, I really wish there was a way to set up times to stop the motion sensing. The thing alerts like crazy when I get home from work until I reduce the sensitivity. Then I have to reset in the morning.

I have only had these a few months and in that time Philips has made HUGE improvements in the functionality. I am hopeful that they will continue to do so.

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I liked the look, price and simplicity & purchased 3 monitors. Of the 3, only one has been successfully connected to wifi. I have contacted Philips, but to date, they have not provided any additional information that has been a help. The first one connected so easily, that I thought the others would be a snap as well. Not the case. The second one took a few hours over several days to connect, trying many resets & relocations. Then after about a day, the first one cut out & after numerous resets & reconnect attempts, still have not been able to connect it despite strong wifi strength & Unobstructed path. The third never did connect.

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Purchased two-pack from Apple store. Setup was easy and I can view video/sound with both my IPad and IPhone with wifi and 4g. I also upgraded for the annual plan to get more streaming view time for 24.95 annually. Synced to my Dropbox was no problem. Now, it would be nice when the price comes down on single cameras..that are battery operated or have a battery backup..you have to power the cameras using the USB cord plugged into the wall. Battery operated would give you more options form mounting camera.

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