Home Security Reviews
The home security industry thinks they are selling products to professional installers. In reality the market is now mostly consumers. Unfortunately, the "marketing" materials are still written for professionals and completely useless for anyone else. Plus, security system components are manufactured in China with manuals written by folks whose native language is NOT English.
Below is the sales pitch for a four camera home security system. On the left are links to the technical details for the same product.
"...makes home and business security easier with this all-in-one security solution, complete with a 4 Channel H.264 DVR with built-in 7” retractable LCD, and 4 weatherproof color CCD cameras. Video footage is recorded and retained on the pre-installed 320GB hard drive.
... system will maximize your recording time and transfer video files over the Internet more efficiently with H.264 compression, compared to DVRs with MPEG4 or MJPEG compression. Record and playback digital video in CIF real-time or display a larger video image size with the D1 recording option. Setup motion detection and email notification options, and backup up your vital scenes to a USB flash drive or hard drive. Have peace of mind while you are away by remotely monitoring and managing your system through any PC over IE Browser. You can even stream live digital video directly to your iPhone or other supported 3G Smartphone. (See Phone Support Details Below). There is no monthly fee for accessing your DVR remotely. Register... for a Free Dynamic Domain Name (DDNS) to easily access your ... system.
...cameras incorporate Sony CCD image sensors for sharp quality resolution, and 12 infrared LEDs for up to 30 feet night vision. ... solutions can deter potential burglars, keep your family secure, and allow you to monitor your home or office staff more effectively. With ..., surveillance can be handled remotely – worldwide. "
Just for fun, here is a little quiz:
Is this an alarm system?I thought so. But I eventually noticed the system as described didn’t include any sirens. Motion detection is mentioned, but that only tells the system to start recording video. In other words, this is a home monitoring system, but not really a home … MORE>>> |
Will this system work with a Mac?No. Notice this phrase in the narrative “managing your system through any PC”. That does not include Macintosh. |
At night, how far away could you tell it is your spouse walking toward the door?Impossible to say. The description says “up to 30 feet”. I will be doing some testing to confirm things, but suspect that while you may be able to detect motion out to that … MORE>>> |
Is this a wired or wireless system?Wired. The narrative never says. You have to get into the details to see that each camera comes with sixty feet of cable. Wireless is a very popular feature so it would have been mentioned prominently in the narrative if it … MORE>>> |