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Iran, Tehran
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694 Review
62 Karma

Review on Secure Your Property With Firstrend Newest Wireless Security Camera System: 8CH 1080P NVR With 4 2MP IP Cameras And 65Ft Night Vision - Easy Remote View And P2P CCTV System (No HDD) by John Langdon

Revainrating 4 out of 5

I BOUGHT 2 OTHERS AND THIS ONE IS SO MUCH BETTER! (UPDATE w 4 PROBLEMS)

Hi. I bought the XMARTO units in a couple formats and they sucked. - They never stopped needing attention. The OS / interface was terrible. They failed constantly. The hard drive link failed. The cameras lost connection all the time. - I bought NEST cameras with much the same result PLUS the added misery of only getting to see who robbed you if you agree to be on the hook to pay a monthly subscription fee forever. Then I bought this (Firstrend 8CH with no hard drive.) - I placed the cameras in the same positions as the 2 other systems I'd had in place here, only FARTHER. and they worked! - They work ALL the time. - They reach farther. The OS / interface is MAGNIFICENT. - The only drawback is a delay on my monitor if there's too many cameras writing video to the hard drive at a time, but I don't care. It works. I don't have to babysit it and repair it all the time, and the video that IS written to the hard drive is clean. - I say all this while knowing and fully acknowledging that this is a cheap system with cheap processing capability and that more expensive systems could process the data without any delay and capture more frames and process motion sensing better than this one does. - But for a cheap system. this is amazing. You can get a better processor. but you CAN'T get a better processor in this price range. This thing is awesome for the dollar. and if you want it to process faster, use fewer cameras. It will never flinch if you only connect 2 cameras. I have 4 connected and it does ok.Be warned: This is a wireless ONLY unit. - Yes, the cameras have CAT5 connectors on the back. but the DVR/NVR box does not have INPUTS for them. So if you buy this you WILL be using it wirelessly. That means hard limits on your distances. - Mine are about 60 feet through 2 walls, one of which is concrete and they're doing very well. - Do not expect them to go farther than this, you will be disappointed because of the physical limitations of wifi standards, not by the brand.UPDATE, MANY MONTHS LATER: I now struggle with the reality that these are only 70 degrees wide angle, and most of my prior cameras were 120. So these are not "ultra-wide" in the security industry, nor are they "super wide because they use the latest technology". - These are narrow. Compared to the norm you can find all over amazon. This makes it very hard to cover my property and this company does not seem to offer any wider versions of the cameras so you get what you get. -2) Secondarily, the operating system, (which is mid-level. kind of terrible, but almost all security camera OS software is terrible. so this is in the middle. ) I was hoping to update to smooth it out and make some of the bad grammar and glitchiness go away. but was then advised by Firstrend that "this is it" / "We advise users to NOT update the firmware" etc. - Garbage. Not advancing. --3) The AVI codec (the actual video format) is terrible and does not function well with Mac / Apple machines. I have to transcode it to store and use it on my computers. Its a HUGE extra waste of time if you ever do capture something you want to save and send. which you will. which is the point of the system.4) There is only 1 USB port. so. you get to have your mouse plugged in, or your USB storage destination. Not both. In order to offload videos you must click a "begin timer" button, and then it says (using broken english tech words) "you have 60 seconds to unplug your mouse and plug in your thumb drive". That's just sad from my vantage point.So. after time I have dropped 1 star. It's still better than the XMARTO equivalents by miles, etc.

img 1 attached to Secure Your Property With Firstrend Newest Wireless Security Camera System: 8CH 1080P NVR With 4 2MP IP Cameras And 65Ft Night Vision - Easy Remote View And P2P CCTV System (No HDD) review by John Langdon



Pros
  • No
Cons
  • The cameras may not be discreet enough for certain settings