Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have tried out quite a few baby monitors, and the motorola monitors are the best. I originally purchased the MBP36 which was very good, except it had an unforturnate mishap with the screen of the parent monitor causing some dead pixels. Motorola happily offered to send a replacement, and instead of sending me another mbp36, I received the newer mbp43-2. I found the reviews of this model were sparse or inaccurate and thus prompted me to post here. Sorry about the length! The two models are very similar, (except, of course, the mbp43-2 has two cameras which is like mbp36-2). Several reviewers stated that the motorola improved the video quality in the mbp43 -- I did a side by side comparison in different lighting with the zoom turned on and I could not tell a difference. Not a big deal because the quality is good, but any claims of greatly improved resolution are not accurate. One professional review I found stated the mbp43 does not have temperature sensors on the camera units, which it does. This is a huge feature to me because I can tell if the temperature drops in the baby's room at night (which is does) and how much she needs to be bundled. Different rooms in the house are certainly different temperatures and changing the central thermostat doesn't really let me know how warm it is in the baby's room. The biggest difference between the two units is the design of the pan and swivel of the video monitor. Anyone can see the difference in the two by looking at the product picture -- the mbp36 is slightly more compact with the ball head sitting very close set into the base. The mbp43 is raised slightly higher with the camera ball attached on either side to a small extension from back of base of the unit. Aesthetically, it looks very nice - I don't think it's any much better or worse than before. However, the new design allows the camera to tilt DOWN more. It is only a few degrees more, but it makes HUGE difference. Unless you mount the camera base on the wall, the unit base will be setting on table/dresser/shelf/etc. You would usually place it on a dresser that is ABOVE the crib/bassinet looking down into it. With the mbp36, I would have to place a wedge prop underneath the base (which made it unstable and kinda annoying) to get the camera to angle low enough to look down into the crib and get a full view. With the mpb43, i didn't have to do this because it can simply point lower! Sure, it doesn't point down extremely deep, but the few extra degrees are EXTREMELY helpful. The motors on both units are extremely quiet -- no difference. It will not wake a baby and if you are not right next to it and straining to listen, you will not hear it tilt and pan. The buttons are raised and rubberized on the mbp43 parent monitor compared to the mbp36, I guess this is an improvement, but to me it doesn't really matter. This makes it easier to operate in low light by feel, and also helps those users who complain about hitting the microphone button accidentally and transmitting audio to the camera - waking up or disturbing the baby. I never had this problem at all with the mbp36, but I read reviews where others have complained incessantly about this. Anyway, the buttons are more tactile and require slightly more pressure to operate which should prevent this. The 3.5" screens appear the same on both models and as it has been stated in other reviews of the mbp36, is detailed enough to see slight raising and falling of the chest to see the baby breathing. Night vision is excellent and powerful enough to see across an entire room with the IR ring built into the camera (not just a small window directly in front of the camera with heavy shadows as in other brands). The mbp43 has two screw mount attachments built into the base of the cameras. This makes it extremely easy to mount to a wall if desired, even easier than the mbp36. Also the power cord wall mount is greatly improved in the mpb43 -- lower profile, easier to plug in a tight space, and less likely to cause a problem with bending and causing a short. I don't know how many reviews i read that said you couldn't mute the monitor, or couldn't turn off the screen. You can do this with either unit easily. Muted audio is great sometimes, because there are indicator lights on the top of the parent monitor that still indicate the audio level if it is picking up any sounds. Likewise, turning off the screen and using the device strictly as an audio monitor is nice sometimes too--also saves battery life when unplugged. If I couldn't mute the audio when I wanted to on these monitors, I would have been frustrated -- that was almost a deal breaker for me when I read other reviews before buying. Battery life is exactly the same. Any differences are on account of the age/use of the battery. All NiMH batteries drastically reduce battery life after a year and they are simple and cheap to replace with a generic brand on Amazon if you use the parent monitor without it plugged in for extended periods. (I have bought replacements from the beginning to swap out when necessary). The video range is great! Much better that the 590 ft it states. This I suppose could be better or worse depending on radio interference/shielding/position of the camera and monitor, but I can actually walk down the street quite a ways before it cuts out. If you had to run a quick errand to the neighbors to borrow a cup of sugar two doors down, you could still probably be in range. Features it lacks: This product does not have a VOX feature to mute sound until it picks up audio. This does not matter to me as I do not have any static sound from the parent unit and VOX doesn't seem that it would add a lot. It also does not offer a split screen/simultaneous monitoring of multiple rooms. Not a big deal to me either, as a 3.5" screen would be compromized shrinking the picture in half or into quarters. Simultaneous audio is not possible from multiple cameras, but the scanning feature alternates between camera feeds approx every 8-10 seconds. You cannot record video from this device, nor can you add a second parent unit monitor, but I do not know any non-ip wifi cameras that support this. You cannot invert the video -- this kinda bothers me and almost made me drop a star because it would be simple to add this feature and would be very helpful. I don't want to flip the parent monitor upside down to get a right side up picture when mounting this directly on the ceiling. The only way I can figure out to get around this is to make or buy a right angle bracket to mount the camera on the ceiling or just mount it on the wall near the ceiling. Flipping the video would be much more elegant and simple for ceiling mounting. Also, a belt clip is not included and would have been nice for carrying the parent unit around the house when necessary. However, these monitors, I feel are currently the best on the market in terms of quality and function. The customer service support is unsurpassed. If you want a wi-fi monitor, then don't get this model. But remember, not only do you have the security concerns of internet video feed getting hacked (if you worry about that stuff), using your iphone or ipad app to monitor your baby does NOT work as well to truly monitor. Do you want texts if your baby makes a noise? Can you truly monitor audio? Apps running in the background do not allow you monitor a baby in the same way--the device constantly goes on powersaving mode or standby which cuts out live video and audio feed. It works great when you are actively using your phone/tablet/computer, but the moment you set it down, you lose dedicated monitoring. Manufacturers are trying to code software apps to try their best to solve this problem with pop-up alerts, pushing, texts, etc., but it still doesn't match a dedicated monitor. Also, many wi-fi cameras a have delay in transmission between 5-15 seconds. Some of the high end wi-fi models have great video resolution (MUCH better than the mbp43), but many market them as pan and zoom cameras because you can pinch and zoom a static camera feed--this does NOT mean the the camera is actually physically panning or tilting. Sure, looking at the iphone at work to check the video is cool as a novelty, but does that really help you take care of your baby? You're not there. Yeah, I'd love to check in with baby if I've got a sitter and am out to a movie. Maybe give grandma the password to look-in remotely (could be creepy), but there is skype for that. The biggest problem with wi-fi models right now is that there is no decent device on the market that also offers a dedicated monitor (Summer infant peek plus is not a solution). From what I can tell, Foscams are the good wi-fi ip cameras, but they are strictly ip devices. If a company develops a good camera with a dedicated monitor AND can stream to your computer/ipad/iphone then you would have a GREAT device. This would require both Wi-Fi ip broadcasting and standard RF broadcasting, which I assume has not been cost effective to produce. The only real work-around I can see is to use or buy a separate ipod touch as a dedicated parent monitor and buy a separate audio-only baby monitor. Not a great solution for me, but I guess it works for others. Anyway, in my opinion this camera is currently the best on the market. Summer infant doesn't compare. Samsung tries to compete but isn't there yet. Withings has a lot of bells and whistles as a wi-fi but it simply not as practical (and its night vision glares horribly off its base if it is even slightly tilted). I've read wi-fi Foscams are alright, but they have no dedicated monitor, very poor audio monitoring, some delay in video feed and the night vision IR ring glows red in the dark. Other brands are not at the same level. This is the best monitor that Motorola makes and and I highly recommend it. ~Paul