Review on 🎥 ANNKE 8CH 5MP Lite Security DVR Recorder + 1TB HDD, H.265+ Hybrid 5-in-1 Surveillance CCTV DVR for Home Security Camera System with 24/7 Recording, Email Alert, and Motion Detection by Todd Adams

Updated review below: First review - I bought this to replace a DVR that was blown out by lightning. Tried to install last week. The biggest issue I had was getting all the settings correct so it starts recording (I bought one with 1TB of storage) and sends notifications to my iPhone. After downloading the software from their website a few times, I think I finally have the latest version. However, this does not match the screenshots in the support guides. For example, different terminology and a different look of the GUI. I've emailed support requests - the former received a useful response 75% of the time, the latter was sent this morning. I'm pretty sure the support is in Southeast Asia, so I'm guessing the answer will come overnight. We will see. I hope I can do this. The reviews for these DVRs are pretty bad everywhere. I would have gone with one of the wireless systems if I didn't already have so much cabling and infrastructure. If I get too excited, I can always do it. Updated Review - I received the support response mentioned above which suggests that I need to connect a monitor directly to the DVR to access a menu that allows me to tick the settings needed to enable notifications on the iPhone are required. So I pulled the monitor out of storage along with the HDMI cable to do this. Now I see the THIRD menu interface with the DVR. 1) the Guarding Vision software downloaded from the support site, 2) the user interface you see when you log in with the device's IP address, and 3) the menu via a direct connection to the NVR. Each interface differs in appearance, menu commands, and available settings. But with the direct connection I was able to tick some of the boxes indicated in the support documentation. I was eventually able to get the dash cam to stream and record video, send video to my iPhone/iPad, and create notifications on my iPhone/iPad. But it still took a few hours of trial and error. It seems that restarting the device and logging out and back into the software had some impact on the effectiveness of the changed settings. So in total I spent 25 hours just getting this thing to work. Too much time. And three different interfaces that ultimately require a direct connection for it to finally work (although other interfaces seemed capable of it) made this project overly complicated. Incidentally, the support team once suggested during my "initial review" that I mirror the screens to help get this working. I give them credit for this extension of support. They are on the other side of the clock and as I already have a working DVR I didn't take their offer. A clarification on my original review - I was referring to the bad reviews about "these DVRs". This was indicative of this type of product in general, not just the Annke DVR. It seems that all available dash cams have their flaws - both in terms of features and supporting materials. Final comments - through a lot of trial and error over time I managed to get this to work for me. Inexpensive DIY product. The documentation and support on the website need to be updated. Three interfaces caused confusion for me. Email support tried to help but was delayed. I don't enjoy the time I have to "rediscover this patient" to make adjustments.