Samsung 16-CH D1 Resolution Real-Time DVR (No HDD)

Comments about Samsung 16-CH D1 Resolution Real-Time DVR (No HDD):

I bought and installed this system about two months ago to watch over our building operations and have been happy with it. My biggest complaint is the web viewer network device. The instruction manual does not explain how to review the cameras on an external viewing platform. It tells you everything you need to know about internal, but not external. One has to go search online or call Samsung for support. It's not a hard system to set up until you get to the internet functionality - here the instructions often left me scratching my head, but with some time, trial & error, I figured everything out. I suppose someone well versed in networking protocols would breeze through this setup in a snap, but it took me quite a few hours to figure it out and dial everything in.

That said, it's really super awesome to be able to dial up my store on my iphone any time day or night, or watch it in better resolution on my partner's laptop (the iphone resolution is on the low side from the compression used). The cameras are not very sharp, but they are adequate. The night vision works well and the motion detection seems good. I think I've been getting about a month's worth of video stored on the hard drive before it starts to re-write over itself, with the dvr set to record on motion only. I haven't tried the audio recording yet, but i just bought a mic so we'll see. The interface in the dvr itself is pretty clunky - looks almost like a pre-windows dos sort of deal, though it does use a mouse. It's best to access everything through the windows explorer plug-in (once you figure out how to install the thing). The plug-in works well, allowing you to access all of the dvr's functionality over the internet, from adjusting settings to downloading and saving video files.

One other mark against this unit is the format it stores its video files in: ".264" I wasn't able to find any kind of application for a mac that could play this file - quicktime didn't like it, and neither did anything else I tried it on. ".264" is the file extension on files you get when you put a thumb drive directly into the unit and tell it to offload files. Luckily, if you use the explorer plug-in over the internet, it will download these files and you can watch them immediately through the plug-in, and it gives you the option to output them as .avi files. One more reason to only access this unit through the internet interface. Oh, and the usb port on the unit only likes thumb drives, not hard drives. Also, it seems that the internet explorer plug-in only works on a pc (i have to use my girlfriend's computer). There might be a workaround for this, but I haven't figured that out yet.

Great value for its price!