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628
3.4 out of 5 stars

Zmodo 4-Channel 720p Camera sPoE NVR Security System

$99.99
$329.99 70% off Reference Price
Condition: New
Hard Drive: 1TB HDD
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Top positive review
126 people found this helpful
Very high value to weight ratio !!!
By Coarsegold on Reviewed in the United States on July 7, 2014
The Pros: 1. Very high image quality for cameras in this price range. 2. Excellent Night IR and cut to good Daylight Color rendering (more about this later) 3. Solid USA Based support and phone staff. They will even walk you through router config if you need help, including remote log in support directly on your PC if you need that. 4. Almost unbelievable price / performance ratio. The cameras are solid and well machined, appear to be weatherproof, you get the whole kit: cables, 1TB recorder, and software for mobile and PC based, 4 high image quality cameras, all for less than you can pay for 1 Sony camera. This kit is being sold very cheaply ! It is a bargain ! 5. A good “plug and play” package with everything you need for the homeowner that wants to “give it a go” and install his/her first security system. The Cons: 1. The software is a project in development and has issues. It is usable for and will suit most all home users. It is possibly not suitable for a commercial business environment, although it could be made to work in that application with patience and if you have some basic abilities working with these systems. It is being written by programmers in China, and although Zmodo does have a USA based R+D staff, there is a long way to go for them to get up to the standards of companies like Digital Watchdog and Honeywell that have years jump on them. You will be OK with this system and very happy as long as you are not expecting the very latest and greatest security system software. At first I was going to give this 3 or 4 stars but after working with both the system and with Zmodo support staff for the last month I think I can give it 5 stars. The system is very very inexpensive for what you are getting, and must be considered a real bargain, with a few caveats. After talking with Zmodos support staff, and getting a feel for what they are up to there at what amounts to a start up venture (They first organized the Zmodo camera business in 2008) I feel that it is reasonable to assume that they will continue to upgrade and update their software. I set the system up, and it was painless to get running, as the internal software in the NVR does a good job of configuring the IP addresses and getting everything “plug and playing” for you. After 48hrs one of the cameras failed. This is not unusual in inexpensive equipment as you, the customer, are responsible for the burn in and QA that would be done for you at the factory, if you paid 4x the price. I called Zmodo support and was surprised to get a real person here in the USA. They have a very well organized RMA system, and I was sent a replacement camera in a reasonable time frame. Overall I am very satisfied with this system for use as a basic security tool at my home. I have experience working with high end commercial security cameras, and can say that, surprisingly enough, the Zmodo cameras actually out perform some commercial cameras in two regards: many cameras have a devil of a time dealing with “IR cut” or “transition” in and out of light and dark phases at sun up and sunset, but these cameras perform excellent in this regard. Also the whlole system is smooth and not choppy, in real-time full motion recording and transmission over the internet. Not something that you can say about even some high end commercial gear! They do use software compression techniques to allow for transmission over slower internet connections, so the image quality you get on your Andriod or iPhone is no where near what is being recorded “on tape”, so that is not a defect, it is an engineering reality. When you pull the images off the disk you will have access to the full image quality, which brings me to my next important point: And that point is: the image quality passes the “Police Test”. What I mean by this, is that if you record an image of a bad guy in the eye of the cameras within 20 feet, and the lighting is reasonable, you will get a portrait of the character that can actually be used in the real world of police work. Most security cameras and systems simply fail to pass this important test. So, I rate this system as a “buy” if it fits your home use, and if you can deal with a software platform that is, admittedly, not the very best in the industry, but is certainly useable by most out there that probably don't need every bell and whistle anyway.
Top critical review
Meh, it works but very flawed.
By Nick McCollum on Reviewed in the United States on July 25, 2015
Overview: The first order I received the quality control was almost non-existent. One of the cameras had all the threads that hold the case-back on completely stripped. I threw the mouse in the garbage after about 10 seconds of trying to use it; Essentially worthless. I later had to go dig in the trash for this mouse for my return. Three of the four cameras died within a week of ownership. I highly recommend setting up your system and letting it run for at least a week just plugged up on a table. I did a return on with Amazon (which is fantastically easy) and the second order I received is working adequately. I'm used to having to hack together things to make something work, so this product is just... meh. Software: The Zsight (v1.2.2.74) software sucks. Using the android app, transitioning from inside and outside of the network that the IPC's are on forces you to logout and log back in. When it works, its okay... when it doesn't work, its mildly frustrating. If this is a feature you would use constantly, I'd look elsewhere. The built-in software on the DVR (v40.0.2.7) works okay. Its very simple and functional. I'd like the option to VNC into this machine to control it. The DVR runs linux, so it might not be too hard of a challenge. An IP-KVM might also be a good alternative. The web interface on the DVR and the IPC's is solidly terrible. It flat out does not work in anything other than IE, which still doesn't work. Once logging in, you are presented with a broken interface that prompts you to log in again. If you plan on using the web interface, I'd look elsewhere. Hardware: The cameras are very simply built and have a hilariously short cord on them. You're gonna want to seal the Ethernet connection up with some dielectric grease or some sort of junction box if you plan on putting these outside for any length of time. If you live anywhere that's constantly humid or near the ocean, I'd say go ahead and silicone up the plug once you put the Ethernet cable in. The field of view on these cameras is a bit more narrow than I expected. Don't expect a super wide GoPro like FOV. If I had to put a guess, I'd say its somewhere in the mid 70 degree FOV. The cameras are actually pretty decent at night with a pretty impressive near infrared spectrum. The IR-led's are quite bright, so if you are thinking about hiding these cameras they will be easily spotted at night by looking for the red ring around the camera. Cons: Other than the quality control on my first device and the pretty terrible software, the only extreme negative I can find is that I cannot change the default password on the IPC's themselves (because their web interface is broken). Admin:111111 is the username/pass. Changing the password on the DVR is trivial. Hacking: Fun - I have read the documentation on the device and I understand that it like most devices run an embedded linux. Looks like a somewhat obvious UART pinout... someone with a scope and some time might find some fun in this device. Scary - Default setup mentions nothing about changing the password on the cameras themselves. If you can access the network that the cameras are on, it's trivially easy to get the video feed from them with the default password. If you have these pointing inside your house... someones probably watching you. All in all its a bottom of the barrel device that functions just enough to not warrant me returning it. If you live in a super-sketchy neighborhood I'd probably invest in a nicer device. That includes anyone thinking of using this in a commercial application. Update: 1/12/16 I've had this device for a while now and thought I would add some additional comments. First off, two of my camera's have died. Of the remaining two, one of them works great while the other no longer has IR functionality. Unfortunately, without IR the camera is completely useless in the dark. Furthermore, the camera never clicks over to the night time mode which rendered my additional IR illumination useless. Of the two dead camera's... One is flooded with water (was installed under an overhang) and visibly arcs inside when plugged into the DVR. The other has a charred Cat5 cable end. I've replaced the plug and it still no longer functions. Upon disassembling of the camera, I found that one of the Phillips headed screws that is intended to hold a PCB board to a brass barrel was loose in the camera body. I suspect this caused a short and ruined the camera. I've found that many times the android app will not contact my DVR, which warrants me having to go power cycle it manually. This happens maybe once a month. I have also experianced the DVR having some sort of problem with my hard drive. I placed in it a brand new Western Digital RE4 enterprise class hard drive. I am very familiar with these drives and have good experience with them. I had placed an extra cooling fan for the DVR and hard drive to keep cool air flowing over them, as I know these drive can get hot. Twice now, I have had the DVR say that it needs to format the drive. I have taken the drive to my workplace and tested it extensively with no issue. Overall I would not recommend this product. The quality control is abysmal and the features are lacking.

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