Customer Reviews

Defender SENTINEL11 4 CH H.264 15-Inch LCD-DVR Security System with Mobile Phone Access and 4 Indoor/Outdoor Night Vision Surveillance Cameras

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought 2 of this system because of the 5 star reviews but apparently I didn't get as lucky as the other guys who bought this troublesome system. Comes withuseless, cheap screws...almost every single one broke half way in even when the holes were pre-drilled. I had to leave some of them in to not damage the plastic mounting base. Hopefully the camera won't fall off. Image quality is decent but not impressive. after 1 hour of rain one of the "outdoor" cameras burned out and was filled with water on the inside. 24/7 customer support is non-existent...no one ever picks up the phone. I would not buy this again.

I have a camera that is full of water and called customer support. After being on hold for 15 minutes I had to leave a message. The next day I received a call back and was told THAT THESE CAMERAS ARE NOT FOR OUTDOOR USE. She told me to read there web page something about IP rating!!! Like I know what that is?!?! Might be great for inside but worthless outside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Spent $800.00+ and can through it in the trash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bought this on 12/05/2009 for my house; it's fun and very easy to install.

I put one facing my drive way and one at front door, two at my backyard.
Sitting in my family room watching monitor, I can see if my cab or friends are arrived. I can also see what my dogs were doing when I was on vacation.

After 5 months of excellent performance, one of the camera died, but I think it's acceptable.

This system has become one of the must have in my life.


Update on 07/22/2010:
I woke up this morning and found this system died completely! Really good system, but only last 8 month.

I bought this for installation at our church. The system is quite complete, with all the cords, connectors, etc that one needs. I did also order the 4 pack of extension cables, and needed all 4 of them (one per camera) due to the layout of our church office, and not having any basement in which to run the cables.

As noted elsewhere, the camera's ball mount is not the most sturdy, but I haven't noticed any shifting in position - yet. Once installed, the four cameras all worked, and so did the monitor/DVR. However, one camera did not work well in low light mode, with lots of dancing horizontal lines in the picture, which pretty much obscures the image. When the lights are on in that back hallway, the picture clears up perfectly, so it only affects the low light mode. I sat on the phone for ten minutes with no answer (being told I was first in line the whole time), gave up, and emailed for customer service. It took Defender's customer service over 3 business days to answer my email (instead of the promised 24 hours), but they will issue an RMA for the exchange of the camera. Also, their online customer support chat has never been working when I've looked.

After much effort, I was able to network the DVR and set up the port-forwarding on the router to enable viewing over the internet on my home PC. The video also is viewable from my Blackberry, which is pretty cool! The Defender-USA website has good resources available, including router-specific networking instructions, in a video format.

The image quality is quite good in normal mode, and acceptable in low-light mode.
All in all, I give this system high marks for affordability and functionality, with demerits for the chintzy mounts and the less than stellar customer service access and response time.

About two weeks after the install two of three outdoor cameras fogged up. When I called support they told me to return the cameras or just remove the lense caps and wipe the moisture from inside. I removed the covers and wiped the lenses and in about a week they became covered again. If I am having rpoblems in November I can't imagine what it'll be like in July and August.

The young lady in support has sent me an RMA-I'll start there and let you know how it goes.

I needed a system that was easy to install and use. The Sentinel 11 was that and more. The night vision is awesome and the clarity of the images are great. It took about 6 hours to set the system up, but that was only because we had to crawl in a very tight ceiling to get it done. After one camera was installed, everything else was easy. The system can be viewed from anywhere you are. There are lots of features with this system that make it user friendly. Compared to the more expensive brand this affordable system is up to par and on the same level as those costly systems. I researched the Axis brand and came across Defender and I am more than happy that I chose this system. Like I said, it is an awesome security system. Great product!

I've always been daunted by installing a security system. Going to the local Fry's had different cameras, power connections, Recorders, monitors, and SW. I was not sure what would work with what. I received the Defender and set it up in a couple of minutes (to test everything). Then ran the cables and now I have a good home monitoring system. Everything works as planned. The phone access is a bit weak but I'm sure this will get better over time.

I highly recommend this product.

this is a work of art, has the night vision that is so clear and awesome, this really is an awesome device, its kinda hard to work with cuz it has so much gadgets and info but it all in deed is worth the effort to try and figure out cuz with zoom night vision recording memory the device has a lot to offer and for its price the cheapest i had found its damn well worth it

The cameras are cmos type, so green grass looks pink, black driveway looks green.
Night vision sucks.
Power supply has loose connection.
Customer support is poor at best.
One camera IR bulbs are out on one side, although this is new unit I have to send the camera back before I can get a replacement. This can take up to 4 weeks.
I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon but this is the absolute worst I have purchased.

I bought it for my market and as soon as I installed it, I took it of
The wires are terribe
Monitor has blanks
Cameras--- The worst in this device - no matter the distance, you can't recogrize face...
DON'T RECOMEND