Swann DVR4-1200

Failed twice – Was an external sensor camera but First one stopped working within warranty time. Was replaced by Swann. Second one stopped working within 18 months. I give up. Won't buy another Swann.

Check your system on a regular basis – I have had the swann system installed for 2 years now and i have never needed to use it till now. I have had damage done to my car and went to review the recordings only to discover that my hard drive isn't recording and it is completely fried. This makes the system completely useless to us and a total waste of money. Not a very long life considering what you need it for.

Swann Camera - DVR4-1200 - EASY INSTALL & USE – I have had this camera for 18 months and found it easy to install and found the menu easy to follow. Swann 24/7 phone life support excellent and when I upgraded my phone they helped me with no problems. This is a great unit for the cost.

good home video surviellance system – Firstly, do not pay $599 for this system, you can get it much cheaper online. If you need super clear video capture then this unit is not for you, it works reasonably well, but the quality of the video recordings is low end, you can make out whats going on, but if you wanted to record number plates and faces then this unit would not serve you well, unless all the action is like 3 mtrs away from camera and in suitable light. It comes with 4 X Pro-560 Cameras which in my opinion could be better, they have night vision, but once again, all the action needs to be fairly close for the video footage to be of any use.

The motion detection works well and is fully adjustable, the remote viewing also works well and allows you to keep an eye on things from anywhere in the world, it requires a bit of work fiddling with routers etc etc, but once you have it worked out it works well through explorer and smartphone (I have an Iphone and it works well with it).

If the picture quality was sharper then I would say this is a great little unit, I have uploaded a video sample onto youtube titled Swann DVR4-1200, if you would like to see the resolution look it up.

Even though I complain about the picture quality, I am reasonably satisfied with the unit, It is the first video system I have ever purchased and I can see whats going on around my home, ie cars driving up the driveway, people coming onto property, stray dogs etc etc, you just can't make out too much detail such as number plates or the colour of someones eyes, maybe I expect too much, for the price I paid I would have to admit its reasonable.

The cables are nice and long and you only need plug one power cable for all 4 cameras and a separate power lead for the DVR, running the cables through the ceiling in my home was very painful and I would rather poke needles in my eyes than to have to do that job again, but once its done you don't have to worry about it again. Also, you would think that a 4 camera system would be able to cover most peoples requirements, I thought that and I was wrong, if you can, get a system with 8 cameras because you will use all 8 easily.

I am adding this paragraph after having played around with the PVR's setting some more, I have managed to get much better results by increasing frame rates, the picture playback is much smoother now and appears clearer, you still won't be able to read number plates from 20mtrs away however, but a much improved recorded video for sure, only downside is that the higher res video requires more space on the hard drive, I suggest setting to DVR to record motion only, you will save heaps of hard drive space that way. The instruction manual which comes with this unit is very average, you need to tinker with settings a lot to achieve reasonable results. Inexpensive, reliable Needs a lot of guess work to set up.

Well worth for small business and home – We recently bought this DVR 1200 unit for our business. The key selling point being the ability to view via a smart phone. And i must say we are very pleased. So please we bought 2 more 4 camera units for home. As like the other review it takes some guess working. but the people on the Swann helpline are second to none with theyre imput and helpfulness. Couldnt have done it all without them so if you do get stuck on the techy bits, its well worth a phone call.

The picture is clear, mostly for montering, not really great for facial or number plate recognition. but excellent for simply surveillance and peace of mind. Also comes with everything you need to install the cameras, even stickers to warn off CCTV in place. Works great on the phone. only advise is to raise the picture quality to D1 as the best clear picture to use. it will limit the recording space to like a week as it takes up more memory. But it can be worth it. Just find a middle ground with what u need to have recorded. Or use the motion record which kicks arse. Great for phones, home securtiy. Helpful staff on phoneline