 "Good camera; bad user interface" | 2010-02-13 |
| - Reviewed By entrepreneur and web developer from Southern California |
GOOD:
The image quality is nice. I managed to get 2 cameras viewable over the internet, on the same page. Customer service is very helpful and knowledgeable, but I wouldn't be surprised if every user was forced to call them up at least once before they get the camera working over the web, as it's supposed to.
BAD:
The user interface is terrible. Setting up a trigger to email myself pictures is a pain, and takes way too many steps. If I set up a second trigger (say, a timer and a separate motion detection) then I have to fill out every option again from scratch.
The instructions on the camera were clearly written by some engineer with poor grasp of the English language. Such gems as:
Motion deactivation time: "After the motion detecting, until the time when it is appointed it elapses, because the next motion detection is not done, there is a possibility where you cannot acquire the picture."
Overall, once you get it set up, it works fine. But in addition to the price, consider how many hours you'll need to spend with the setup, and whether you're pretty experienced with networking and router stuff. |
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| "Solid basic net camera" | 2009-08-11 |
| - Reviewed By R. Jordan from Palatine, IL United States |
I got this camera as a Gold Box special last year, and have had it in regular use since then. The picture quality is decent for the price, and better than my no-name netcams, even the ones with interchangeable CCTV type lenses. There is a loss in versatility since it is a fixed focus unit with no optical zoom capabilities, but again, for the price, you can't expect all that.
The good:
- decent low light capabilities. It won't stop fast moving objects like a car going by but it will trigger on the movement.
- Excellent control of motion sensitivity. This camera detects motion by changes in the images from one shot to the next; it does not have a thermal or other motion detector, like some higher end units. You can tell it how sensitive to be; my dog yawning won't set it off, but getting up, rolling over, etc will.
- Mailer and FTP functions. First I set it up to FTP files to my webserver; it sent a picture once per minute on a schedule, and also sent a set of consecutive images when motion was detected. By viewing my own web page I could keep an eye on the dogs at home. Now I have it set to email those images to GMail, which also works fine.
- Works with powerline networking; we don't use wireless. Cheap home power-line network adapters let us put the camera wherever there is a power outlet without a bulky access point or a long network cable.
- Both scheduled AND triggered images can be handled.
- Works fine with a decent firewall (I use a Sonicwall) to allow direct access to the camera from the internet, with security.
The not so good:
- The mounting parts are restrictive. A tripod would be better. It can be hard to get this thing mounted and aimed solidly if you don't want to screw it in place.
- The swivel can barely tighten enough to hold the camera against the strain from a normal ethernet patch cord. You may need to tie-wrap the cable to the mount to prevent it from pulling the camera off-aim.
- Digital zoom is a farce; it simulates zoom by losing resolution
The bad:
- The software is windows only. It is entirely possible to use this camera with any standard web browser but the fancy software provided only work with windows.
I am very happy with this unit, especially at the Gold Box price. |
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 "Cheap camera, good options" | 2009-08-05 |
| - Reviewed By B. Pulsipher from Utah |
| I really like the panasonic OS/SW with these cameras. This one is REALY cheap and requires power and cat-5 to work. If you have that and can fix this on a specific area (no zoom, ability to move, etc.) go for it. |
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 "Decent quality for a low end netcam" | 2009-06-17 |
| - Reviewed By F C from Central, NY |
If you are in the market for a low end network camera you really can't beat this Panasonic. Setup of the camera was very easy as I was up and running within a half hour. Couldn't beat the under $60 price either.
Very happy so far |
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| "Does what it should and does it WELL!" | 2008-12-02 |
| - Reviewed By Tarun Chachra from Hillsborough, NJ |
Its labeled a pet cam...but it doesnt have to be for pets alone!
I bought this to use in a SERVER room in our company's network operations center. It was basically set to keep an eye on specific servers that were giving us some issues and we could not ascertain if it was hardware or software.
We plugged this puppy (no pun intended) - had it setup inside of 15 minutes and pointed it to a rack that held 3-4 servers. Then we got to work monitoring on a regular basis inside our office as well as over the internet.
Voila - it worked perfectly - we found our HARDWARE problem and then moved the camera back on to a wall for regular room monitoring.
Do NOT expect this to give you HIGH RES images...but it does a GREAT job in giving you the quality it should. If we can get enough detail to find a faulty server then this will do what it should for you to keep an eye on your PETS....
Enjoy! |
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| "Works well" | 2008-09-16 |
| - Reviewed By techobserver from Pittsburgh, Pa USA |
This product functioned as described, was easy to set up and the image quality in both the 320 - 200 and 640 - 480 vga mode was very good.
Plugging into a wireless access point allows you to bridge connections.
Four stars since it does not support sftp or https uploads, otherwise very nice deal. |
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