Swann PC DVR 4 Net
by Swann
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Our Price: $249.85 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $90.00 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Swann PC DVR 4 Net
Customer Review: Works fine with older PC's and Op systems
Summary: 4 Stars
I like this product a lot. I have two, in two different minimalist PC's I set up specifically for this task. It is not a resource hog; it is happy with a slow single core cpu without bells and whistles. I use it in my oldest systems with no other options. I keep mine ON continuously.
It works great with Windows XP. It is not shipped "Vista ready". It is not 64 bit OS compatible, but really that weakness is common to most hardware/software. It also is not Linux compatible. No false claims of broad compatibility are made.
You can put up to 4 of these cards in a single PC, if you have that many old style PCI slots. That would enable 16 cameras to be attached. I found that the wiring to 5 or more cameras to be more trouble than it was worth. Got tired of long wires everywhere. I use one weak, stripped down, PC in my garage hooked up to 4 cameras watching the front of my house. I have another similar setup in a back bedroom to watch the sides and back. This means a lot less wires in the house.
I really do wish Swann would update the product, software, and documentation and release a Linux solution.
However, the core functionality to watch and record my house when I am not there makes this a great product a great value (when on sale). Even at $80 or $90 you can still build your own scalable system, paying only for what you need when you need it, for less than buying a complete DVR package. But if you are not comfortable tinkering, a package may be better for you.
Customer Review: Great card, not so great software & manual
Summary: 4 Stars
Pros:
+ Great card (mine supports 4 ports). I use it w/ Max Day/Night came and DIY tinycam.
Cons:
+ Manual is bad. Needs to be rewritten.
+ Software has bugs (in settings/configuration, I can not select some options as they are out of view. I have tried to select them in various screen resolutions, but no success).
+ Software can more intuitive (User Interface).
+ If you use RCA extension cables and have multiple cameras that support AUDIO, it would be difficult to handle audio for multiple cameras. Manual should talk about various scenarios of configurations. Card should be able to handle audio on its own and have onboard audio ports as well to connect audio cables.
+ Swann Tech support is ok. Out of 4 calls to AUS. tech support on different issues, 3 tech reps gave correct information. The one really screwed up and could have damaged my camera (incorrect power adapter/supply spec). Alway check manual for specs.
Two Lessions learned:
1. I found out hard way that not ALL cameras (such as MAXI Day/Night Cam) support Audio.
2. If you replace lens on day/night vision cameras (such as MAXI D/N cam) with WIDE ANGLE lens, you will LOOSE night vision (due to special filter wide angle lens, at least from swann, uses). This is what I was told by Aussie Swann Tech Support.
Customer Review: I Don't Get It...
Summary: 5 Stars
Why are some people saying (in these reviews) that this product has bugs and locks-up their computers? I am running a 4 year old computer 2.76 G with 1GRAM and I have NEVER had these problems.
In fact, I run 8 cameras simultaneously (with a non-gaming video card) with "pro audio" recording software (Steinberg Cubase SL) and often Internet Explorer, Excel and Word and still have not had computer lock-up problems. (Talk about a program that uses resources - Cubase!) This program has run 24/7 for more than two years.
I have found this to be an excellent choice for home or office security (for me it's both). This saves you wasted time getting up to answer the door for salespeople, when the dog barks, when the kids come home or wondering what some strange noise was so that you can concentrate on business.
I would recommend this gear to anyone. HOWEVER, I agree that the owner's manual should be re-written. (By the way, for the guy who thinks that it was written as a second language: What language do you think they speak in Australia?) Their phraseology, terminology and slangs differ and it can be confusing at times. Then again, that's what customer support is for and they have never refused assistance or tired of my inquiries.
Customer Review: Turns your PC into a security DVR - documentation sketchy
Summary: 4 Stars
Bought one of these a couple of months ago to pipe some security cameras into for monitoring the front of my house. Pretty simple to install if you've done a PC upgrade before. Comes with a roughly 100-page manual that was written by someone for whom English is a second language. (Or they didn't proof it very well.) Documentation is pretty bare bones.
As far as function, the maximum frame rate is 15 fps, and it uses MPEG-4 compression. You can set up timer based recordings, motion detection based recordings and so forth. I've worked with the motion based recordings, and it allows you to set the portion of the frame you use for motion detection. The user interface for playback cries out for a 10x fast forward, which this card doesn't allow. (as far as I can tell) There is a slider bar above the play button that gets you up to 2x or 3x, but if you want to look at 8 or 10 hours, its pretty brutal at 3x. If you use motion detection, there is a button that jumps to the next "event" (where the motion detection was tripped). That works pretty well and its how I have mine setup.
If I could give it 3.5 stars, I'd do that. Since this one is pretty cheap as capture cards go, I'll bump it to 4 stars.
Customer Review: Good card but its has some faults....
Summary: 3 Stars
The Good:
- Nice price point.
- Works well (exlcuding occasional startup lockups) and nice internet connection software.
- Great cameras, many available (I use the bulldog camera from them)
- Powerful software to record and monitor your security with. However, the manual is quite poor and some of the systems are hard to understand.
The Bad:
- Has to be 1024x768 resolution, if your resolution is higher you have to lower your resolution.
- The manual was written by someone who speaks english as their second language as someone else mentioned. So it is very hard to understand to say the least. I wish they would take the time to professionally rewrite this.
- The system restarts itself every 10-30 to free up resources which is a great idea but.... The program locks up on startup frequently. So in my case I have to get into the hot attic and restart the computer which has this card and runs my security system manually every couple of months.
Bottom line, good card and system, and if Swann Company took the time to fix the few minor bugs and released a patch and new documentation, it could easily be a 5 star security solution.