Customer Reviews

SVAT CV0204DVR Web-Ready DVR Security System with 4 High-Resolution Indoor/Outdoor Night Vision Surveillance Cameras

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

I recently bought this system and spent yesterday installing and tinkering with it. I am quite happy with it! Here are my thoughts: Everything that came in the box was as expected, save that the DVR didn't have an S-video output as I had seen it with before (I believe I bought an "upgraded" one which didn't have the output). I was initially disappointed, but later found that the regular video-only composite output worked fine for me. That was my only disappointment with the system, and it has turned out to be a non-issue. One of the big things I was looking for was ensuring that each camera didn't require a local power source, as I didn't relish the idea of running receptacles to each camera location. This one has a single cable with an S-video connector that runs to each camera and carries both power AND video signal, so that worked out great. Installation was a breeze (despite spending a day in my attic) and the components worked together the first time I put the system together. Bringing the picture up through the web was also a snap as well - the instructions in the user guide are quite good for what you need to do. One of the biggest complaints about this system (and really all others in the sub-$1000 price range) that I had read before buying it is the lack of night vision clarity. I don't know what people are talking about with this particular system because I was impressed with the picture I got from the night vision from the cameras - out to about 20 feet away from the camera in a completely dark inside room and with some lights (like indirect lighting through windows) my outdoor cameras were able to have a complete field of view. As far as installation, I am not a techie, but installing it was very straightforward and made sense. It went together quickly and though it took me a day to install, the majority of that time was spent running cables through walls and through ceilings to have all of the cables hidden from view. Data recording is a snap, and changing menu items is easy as well. The only thing I wish I had known before I installed the cameras is their field of view, which I had expected to be zoomed out a bit more than they actually are. Had I known what I was going to see, I would have probably mounted the cameras back a little further from the areas they are recording in order to get a better overall view. My suggestion would be to lay the system out BEFORE installing it to ensure that you are happy with the view that you have before you start drilling holes and running cable. Overall, I am very happy with the system and I have already recommended this system to a family member who is planning on buying it as well. I would highly recommend this to anyone!

My company bought this system to monitor an industrial robot. They work great and the picture quality is decent. It interfaced with our network easy enough. It is a great resource to be able to review the video history and even save screenshots and .avi videos to our pc's.

Only cons that kept this from getting 5 stars:
1. The camera mounts are terrible. They are poorly designed and have to be readjusted often. We fixed this by globbing silicone caulk around the base so they wouldn't move.

2. There is a well known hdd problem with these units. Apparently if you are recording and lose power, the hdd can get corrupted. This happened to us a few months after installing it. Luckily, all I had to do was use the reformat option in the menu and the hdd worked again even though we lost the data.

3. If you lose power you can lose all of your settings (camera setups and IP addresses) It can be a pain to fix but not that big of a deal.

4. When reviewing video history, the dvr makes chapters every 45-60mins. You pick one of these chapters and then have to ffw to the part you want to see. The ffw can be pretty slow and it takes awhile to get towards the end of the chapter.

Other than listed above we have been very happy with this system. At six hundred bucks you just can't beat it. We just ordered another and I'm sure it won't be the last.

We recently purchased and installed the SVAT web ready DVR system at our place of business after being hit by thieves and vandals. The night vision cameras were unbelievably bright in a dimly lit area. Some of the features I like about this unit is of course the night vision cameras, the ability to view the cameras over the internet, the ability to record continuously or as motion sensors.
This unit was well worth the money. We have not been burglarized or vandalized since installing these. The presence is an excellent deterent. HOWEVER, If they come back -- We are ready!

SVAT CV0204DVR Web Ready DVR Security System w/4 High Resolution Indoor/Outdoor Night Vision Surveillance Cameras I recently purchased this item after going through the past couple of years with some moderate vandilism and criminal mischief around our house (ie. taking our decorative hay bails and lining them up across the road, stealing our decorative garden light, and breaking into our backyard to let our dogs out ultimately with one getting struck by a vehicle.) Anyway, these events led me on the hunt for a way to secure the place my family lives. I researched many types of camera systems and even consulted some experts and with my security background I came to the conclusion I need something simple and easy to install. When I came across this product, I knew I found what I was looking for. Well priced, good coverage, connects to the tv in the living room or any tv in the house for that matter, and I can see it from anywhere in the world! One point here, if you work for the government or somewhere with major firewalls, don't plan on being able to access this system from their network, I already tried and it doesn't work. Anyway, the installation was easy, I did spend most of the day in the attic running cables, but it was worth it. As far as the night vision goes, it works fine for me, although it's so windy here I do have to keep the lenses clean of the dust that blows around. The pictures day and night are perfect for my needs and it's in full color during the day. I did have some trouble with my internet service provider at first when I was attempting to access the system over the internet. But, a couple of phone calls to the SVAT support desk and I was up and running without any problems except the whole government computer issue. I now have full coverage around the house and my worries are minimized.

I recently bought this system it arrived on time and well packed. This being my first system that was not so complicated to set up. I really liked the power supply / cable connection set up SVAT has with this model. I get only B & W picture on my LCD TV not a big issue maybe needs adjustments and color off my computer.Day time camera pictures are very good and clear to 50 ft Night 25 ft and clear maybe more with outside lights. The best thing is to check the operation of the system prior to running the cables.Do a dry run with the cameras and check your angles set up was quick and simple after that.Up and running a week without any issues well worth the price so far. If not this model I recommend a security video system no matter what the perp says the tapes don't lie busted is busted Better security software & Remote would be a nice upgrade all in all I'm pleased

Read the ending! It quit and I couldn't get help from support.

I like the product pretty well. The biggest problem I encountered was trying to get support from SVAT. I couldn't get anyone to answer the phone. Note, I would only hold for about 40 minutes due to cell phone charges. My efforts to reach support was in their business hours of either 8-5 or 9-5 eastern. I left a message please call me back while I am trying to set this thing up. I was off that Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I emailed them please contact me while I am trying to set this thing up. Bottom line someone called me Monday while I was at work. I had gone four days needing input from the support people and couldn't get it.

My installation was non typical in that I choose to install the dvr in a hidden place in my workshop. I don't see the value in storing the dvr next to items like the TV and computer that are likely to be stolen during a break in. Due to that chosen location, it was necessary to run approximately 100' of Ethernet cabling to my router. I already had conduit from the shop to the house so that wasn't too bad. My shop is in the back yard detached. To get cameras where I thought they should be to cover both the house and the workshop, I opted to bury conduit out to my garden area. I put two cameras in bird houses, one I had, the other I had to build. You would have to be looking for the cameras to see them.

That leads to why I wanted to speak to someone. The length of conduit required that a extension cable be necessary. That's not an issue in itself. But the length of conduit was going to require that the coupling would be underground. I worried that water/condensation would affect the connection. I wanted some guidance as to if a longer than 60' extension cable was available or if there was a way to make one. I never did get good information from the support people. I came up with it myself. The extension cable is nothing but a long s-video cable (4 pin). I found some on the Sam's Club website (Clovers or Glovers) that I think would work. The extension cables at Radio Shack are 6-pin. I made my extensions with cat-5 wire and s-video connectors. I had to have a patch cord to change one female to male.

The unit works most of the time. However, I have had to reboot the dvr on a few occasions due to it being frozen up. Also, the remote location of my dvr requires viewing via internet only (unless I carry a TV out to the shop). The viewing on my laptop works well however. You can control most functions from inside the house. You can't access the setup menu to set the date and time.

I still have not completely broken the code on world wide access to my dvr. The issue lies in the fact that I have a dynamic IP address i.e. it changes regularly. In order to access your dvr, you have to know the ip address. The SVAT people have not been overly helpful in that area. There is a "free" web service you can sign up for that is suppose to be the key. However, SVAT people don't support it because it's not theirs and the other people don't offer support unless you upgrade to the paid version. I may just be missing something.

Update: I sent the dvr back to Amazon and got a replacement one. It has worked flawlessly for I guess a couple weeks, however long its been. I had arranged to send it back to the SVAT folks; however, they wanted me to send the unit to them and wait for them to send it back. I choose to send it back to Amazon. Amazon sent out the replacement unit right away and paid for the return of the faulty one.

Update: Working good for a couple more months. You need some light at night. They would probably work ok in close quarters with no added light.

Update: June 2010 I wouldn't buy one of these after all. I haven't been able to view the images from my computer for months and months via the network. I thought the dvr was recording even though I couldn't see it. I found out today when I took my TV out to see what is going on that the DVR/Hard drive is toast.

I called svat support; the lady told me, first it was out of warranty, then I could try and find someone that would sell the svat dvr separately.

The web interface is pretty mediocre and limited. Looks like it was put together by a high school student. You can't just pick a recording of an event and download them onto your computer - you have to watch recordings as if you're sitting at a TV and controlling the unit via the front panel. Also, it doesn't seem like you can turn off or change the password for the administrator account. Awesome.

The cameras show blues in weird shades (yes I tried the [limited] adjustments) and the image quality isn't great. I have yet to mount the cameras outside, so I can't comment on their long range performance. Short range (~10 ft) zero-light performance is good.

All in all, the price is pretty good for what it is. However, I wish I would have pieced together my own system with a better DVR and better cameras.

EDIT: Nevermind, this thing sucks. 2 of the inputs stopped working. The cameras are fine, the actual unit has internal issues. I wish I could downgrade it to 1 star. Waste of money.

I'll give this five stars because it's an ambitious effort for under $600.00

However, read all the reviews carefully for the cons; there are many and none noted seem unfair. Just take them into account before jumping into anything.

If you do not have prior networking experience, and/or hard wire experience, do NOT buy this as it can eat you up. In my area, installation was offered for $250.00. If you can get that deal, go for it. Otherwise, be prepared to work, perhaps hard, to get this to do what you want it to do.

If you do have prior networking and hardwire experience, keep in mind that this system, used fully, opens up your PC to all sorts of evils in order for it to work remotely. You may want to set up different profiles/users to get around some of this. And, if you have done lots of hardwiring, this system has you making some pretty big holes in things and leaves you wondering what to do with the excess cable, wondering how well the soft cable will hold up under stress and time, and so forth. My use for this system is short-term and I have a spare laptop to dedicate to this, so I'm OK with lots of the downsides just mentioned.

Out of the box, this deal is simple enough. I was disappointed, to the point I quit asking, with tech support. I had no problems (after reading and heeding all the reviews) installing the system. But, fine-tuning it and getting more out of it without their input was just wishful thinking. It worked well enough for what I wanted to do, but it is by no means a "heavy duty" system or a "one size fits all" solution.

First off, you have an effective range of 15 to 20 feet. It's handy for seeing that "something" is going on. But, it's not really a good ID system to prove "who" was doing something.

Second, four cameras is probably not enough for any real security. Again, handy for some things - like, "Is somebody in the driveway?". But, once you start thinking about it, there are many areas around home or work that you might want to keep an eye on. And, anyone who wants to sneak up on you can check out the camera layout easy enough and find a way to get to you without being seen.

Third, reviewing and off-loading video is slow, clumsy, and, akin to video editing. It has fast-forward features, etc. But, rewind is slow and viewing/copying is in real time. In fact, for practical purpose, everything happens in real time. Unless you know when something happened, you'll be at this a long time. And, if you have it on FF3, you may miss the tiny bit of activity that happened entirely.

Fourth, it would be nice if it could be set to record ONLY motion. From what I can figure, when it detects motion it records at the frame rate you set... Meaning, in real time it can do x frames per second, but when motion is detected it begins recording at x times 4 frames per second so you can see more detail. If your actor is moving quickly, you may get nothing at all, or, nothing at all useful.

I'll stop there. It's a good "nanny cam," and it can be handy for watching day-to-day real time comings and goings. Do not, however, bet the farm on this thing. It's just not solid enough to count on it for a lot.

Still, for under $600.00 AND providing some remote access ability, you can't knock it on the very basics that it CAN deliver.

the camera is easy to set up, pictures is fine,but It has 2 big draw-back:
1)The hard-drive was not too stable, it failed alot(may be twice a week)
when it fail, all function disable, you need to unplug the power then
reconnect to made it work again, you may lost some important time when
you need it.
2)The unit only support single function, if you want to play(watch) the
record in the hard-drive, you must stop the report first, it is not very
good because you miss all the time while you view, you never know what
may happen on those time.

I install video surveillance systems and a few years back I started seeing SVAT units. Since then I have installed many of them with no problems. They are not high end units but are perfect for home and small business. The DVR does generate ALOT of heat so needs good air circulation. The night vision is ok, 10 foot max without some other sort of ambient lighting but the cameras are good in low light so just a regular porchlight is plenty to light most of a yard and keep the camera from going to B/W mode. Need install in Kern County CA area by licensed contractor? contact me: LONNYISHERE(at)GMAIL(dot)COM