Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

First, all the one star reviews that just say "Garbage" or "Crap" .... ignore those. if you can't say why it is bad, don't review. That being said, here is my review. I had worked in the security industry for almost 15 years, and after a rash of eggings and vandalism in my area I looked at this for a quick solution. For $200 this system has more potential than systems I have installed that cost more than most cars. PROS: Includes a 1 TB hard drive... most at this price have no HDD! Small footprint (about the size of 2 vhs tapes... if you remember those) If standalone, this system is basically plug and play. When networked, I can not only see live video from my android phone, but also review past video. (have not tried apple, yet, will follow up) Cameras are small and pretty solid for the price, IR illumination works as it should, but plan on about 35' ~ 50' of good IR illumination in pure dark. Nice wide angle view, I had no issues with blurry/blank/black/curved/etc//... images.. HDMI and VGA output. HDMI is very clear. I use VGA currently because the unit is in our basement, but I wish I had a spare HDMI monitor... Menu is a little off, and no real instructions are provided... but it is not hard to figure out. System runs almost silent, so if you have it in your living room you probably won't hear it at all. All mounting brackets, screws, cables, are included! all you need is a USB mouse, VGA monitor or HDMI TV/monitor and I would suggest a USB thumb drive if you plan to export video. For $200, the video quality, both day and night surpassed my expectations. The camera image is basically like a higher end 720p webcam. yes, there is blooming from street-lamps, there is a bit of lag on playback over networks, but we are talking $200!!! for this price I am shocked! Single wire install for cameras! no need for power and video cables, ... one cable does both... but see below. 15+ frames per second! (depending on your settings) CONS: (a lot of these are petty complaints) Cameras have a micro USB connector on them, not an RJ45, ... so if you plan on wiring long distance not using the factory cable, keep this in mind. The cable is RJ45 to Micro USB, only 4 wires used which makes me believe it is not TRUE POE... but I have not tried or tested that. It was not necessary for me to extend any of the cables on my first install, so I can not provide info as to how far the cables can be extended. with a quick visual inspection I can confirm that the RJ45 is crimped as "B" When connecting cameras, the image may appear pink at first... this is due to the IR cut filter not resetting. reboot the camera and it will work fine. Two of my cables were not the 50' as advertised, ... more like under 40'... guess I got the end of the spool. didn't affect my install, so not an issue for me. The lack of good instructions was frustrating, and the app is a bit awkward at first... there is a learning curve, but it is not impossible to deal with. If you are expecting 1080p for this price... sorry. not gonna happen. 720p is the limit at about 20FPS Power adapter! 110VAC to 19v. I suspect this will be the weak point. Have not tried to upgrade the HDD... unsure if it is possible.... BUT External USB storage is an option. Did not pair with a Vera Plus system at the time of this review. Some IT experience may be required. If your Router/Firewall blocks port 8000 and port 9000 by default, it may need to be reprogrammed to allow remote access. AS OF INSTALL: I bought 2 of these thinking "well, if 8 cameras out of 16 work, I'll be happy" All 8 cameras on the first unit came up instantly (see note above re: IR filter) The system has been recording 5 cameras for 4 days at a reasonable frame rate and the hard drive is not even close to being taxed. I have already ordered more of these to install for family and friends and have recommended it to co-workers. * I am not currently a security system installer, not affiliated with any security company, not being endorsed or obtaining a discount by the manufacturer of this product for this review.