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1. A. Crafton February 12, 2012 at 5:48 pm

   Lorex ECO 4 Channel Security DVR with 4 Indoor/Outdoor Security Cameras (Electronics)

   Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What’s this?)

   We tested this for about a week, in various situations. The fact that the system has hard-wired cameras meant our testing was limited to a reach within cable distance. For a permanent installation, you can stick these anywhere. They are both outdoor and indoor use.

   If you think that you will be able to enjoy split screen use on your PC monitor, it won’t happen. This system needs its own monitor. If you hook it up to your PC monitor, you’ll have to unhook it to use your monitor for PC use. However you are able to view as many cameras as you have hooked up (comes with 4) at once, via a quad screen display.

   You can access your camera images, live, online (instructions in manual). However in actuality this caused some difficulty. The images would freeze, lag, or otherwise not update, on a pretty regular basis. Hours spent trying to figure out why, left us frustrated. It was the same from our smartphone as it was on a remote computer.

   PROS
   The recording is crisp and clear, ID’ing someone on the recordings should be easy if necessary
   It works just as well in low/no light as it does in regular lighting

   Compared to other cameras we have tested in this price range, this is a great system at a great price, if you don’t mind the cons.
   This is comparable to a much pricier system we installed at our shop, and in my opinion the video quality and ease of playback on this Lorex system are actually superior.

   CONS
   Not wireless
   It needs its own monitor
   Online viewing can be spotty and tedious
   I had to buy another cable to work with the system

   Overall however we liked this system very much, the quality of the images on this system is better than many higher priced systems, and the ease of playback and finding events was impressive. We will eventually install this system throughout the house and enjoy using it full time.
2. Michael J Edelman February 12, 2012 at 6:47 pm

   Lorex ECO 4 Channel Security DVR with 4 Indoor/Outdoor Security Cameras (Electronics)

   Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What’s this?)

   I’ve been watching the price of security cameras drop for a while, but the price of this package really caught my attention- the same package is being sold at Costco right now for $50 more! Just a few years ago, a good IR illuminated camera would cost well over $100, and a 4-channel DVR would cost $350 or more- and here we have four cameras and a DVR for less than the price of a DVR alone. So just how good is this package?

   Pretty good, actually. I’ve only got one of the four cameras set up so far, but it works very well. Image quality is good, and the IR illumination provides coverage out to the boundaries of my small suburban lot. Setup is very easy. Plug a VGA video monitor (I happened to have a Hitachi LCD display left over from my last Windows system) into the DVR,, plug in the power and mouse, optionally run a cable to your Internet router, and you’re ready to start adding cameras. Each of the four supplied comes with a wall wart power supply, a mount, and 60′ of cable, which is probably enough to cover the typical small business or home with careful DVR placement. The cable carries both video AND power, so you can locate your power supplies on a strop alongside the DVR itself- much easier than running two cables, or trying to find power near the camera (although that’s an option.) I’d like to mount one camera on the front of my detached garage, which means I’ll have to make up a custom cable for that location. I’ve got a spool of surplus silicone-filled, buriable RG-6 that should work, and I can pick up power for the camera in the garage.

   My single camera is temporarily mounted out a second-floor window in the back of the house, but I’ll be adding the others once I decide where to drill, and where to run the cables. The easiest thing to do would be to put the DVR in the basement, along with all my networking equipment. You’d think having the DVR in the basement would be kind of pointless, but one of the really nice things about this system is that it’s networked. You can view the DVR output from any computer on your home network- or if you’ve got a smartphone, from pretty much anywhere. There’s a motion detector built into the DVR that allows you to program it to send you alerts via phone, another very useful feature that used to only be available on high-end systems.

   Summary: For the money, there’s a lot of hardware here. Time will tell how well it holds up under use, but so far it looks like a good value for the homeowner or small business owner looking for a good video security system that won’t break the bank.
3. S. Lawrence February 12, 2012 at 6:54 pm

   Lorex ECO 4 Channel Security DVR with 4 Indoor/Outdoor Security Cameras (Electronics)

   I bought this to use before going on vacation and have been satisfied with the results for the most part. A couple hours for the install, a few minutes to setup the software. Produces a great picture for daytime and a fairly good picture for nighttime. I love being able to watch the video feed on my Android Phone from anywhere I am. After a month I did have one camera stop working. I called and faxed in the information to get it replaced. I am awaiting a new camera so I will follow-up on this review once I see how well their customer service is.

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