SVAT UC1700 Portable 64MB DVR Hidden Camera in an Air Freshener (Color)

by SVAT Electronics

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3 x 4 x 1 inches ; 1.9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000GIUHD6
• Item model number: UC1700
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,252 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Want to take surveillance and recording capabilities wherever you go? You can. The UC1700 has a built-in high resolution camera and has two recording modes: continuous and manual to be sure you don't miss a thing. The user friendly design and on screen display make it easy for you to set the recording mode and to play back the video. The flash memory is built in and this device has auto electronic shutter, auto white balance and auto gain control for quality covert surveillance. Also contributing to the portability of this unit is the ability for it to operate on four AA batteries (not included) or with the included AC adapter. The option of selectable compression image qualities and frame rates is also available to customize your viewing and recording. RCA video output is possible so you can view the images on a larger screen.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Works well, January 24, 2007

By 

Timothy B. Dereg (Redmond, WA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SVAT UC1700 Portable 64MB DVR Hidden Camera in an Air Freshener (Color) (Electronics)

For such a small, portable device this Color Digital Video Capture camera gives a pretty good picture. Colors are rendered accurately, and the video resolution is good - not exceptional but good. It has a couple of external switches for selecting continuous or motion-activated recording and trning the power on and off. Most of the controls are in the menu, where you can select the amount of motion to trigger on, level of quality of the recorded video, etc.

I just wish that it used a removable memory card rather than its own 64 MB hard-wired flash memory, as you need to connect it to a TV or similar device that has an RCA-type video input connector in order to program it or view the recorded video. And having more memory would be helpful (more on that later in this review).

It doesn't have sound ***sigh***. You can set it to record continuously or only when it detects motion. If you select the 'Motion Detection' mode, the sensitivity level in the menu has a wide range (1 to 99), but it takes a lot of experimentation and changing of the sensitivity level to get it right. (And you have to have it connected to a TV the whole time you're experimenting because that's the only way to view the menu for changing the sensitivity level.)

There aren't any guidelines for what number to set the Sensitivity level to for a given situation. I find that a level of 10 to 14 works like I would expect motion activation to work. You can set it so high (99) that you have to walk within inches of it to trigger the recording mode. It seems to trigger on the movement of heat sources as well as changes in the pixels of the monitored area, as I have had it record a few times during the night in my living room when no movement was occurring.

You can set it to record only until the memory is full or start at the beginning again and automatically overwrite. The frame rate is adjustable, from 1 frame every 10 seconds up to what its menu calls MAX (about 15 frames per second, although it seems to depend on what level of video quality you have selected). At 1 frame per second and at best-quality settings, it can hold slightly more than 30 minutes of video. It can run on 4 AA batteries that, according to the user manual, will last about 6 hours. It also comes with an AC adapter. It has a wall bracket that allows you to set it for any angle. If there's an interruption in electrical power when it's using the AC adapter it automatically powers back up in RECORD mode again, a feature that ALL security video hardware should have.

UPDATE:
I see there are a couple newer versions out now that have up to 1 GB of memory. Prices for the 1 GB version vary from about $340 to about $450. I find the cheapest to be at DefenseDevices dot com.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for nursing homes and problem areas, July 3, 2007

By 

Terrence Lo "Terrence Lo" (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: SVAT UC1700 Portable 64MB DVR Hidden Camera in an Air Freshener (Color) (Electronics)

Our customers have used this in situations where putting an elaborate recording device was out of the question (nursing home. the customers were worried about elder abuse). In the 3 cases, they worked flawlessly from the start, and captured the evidence they needed to confirm their worst fears. Clear picture, easy to use and outstanding overall. Only thing we hate is there's no way to clear out the video memory short of recording over it.

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good camera for it's price, July 14, 2010

By 

S. Kretchik (Wyoming, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: SVAT UC1700 Portable 64MB DVR Hidden Camera in an Air Freshener (Color) (Electronics)

I got this camera a while ago because I felt someone had access to my apartment, but that's another story.
i wanted to get a camera immediately to catch the perp but didnt want to spend alot of money incase i was crazy.
i found this little baby and got it quick from amazon.
now it took a couple days of trial and error to know how to set it so it records all day and how the sensitivity should be set. and no there is no sound. But quality of video is very good. Just do some trial and error tests and read the manual and it will be fine.
Obviously it is not extremely high tech, but if you have a small space to set it and just need basic read outs to see whats going on, this is perfect especially for the price. In the end it gave me the evidence i needed and i find myself using it whenever i need a work request on my apartment. becomes very easy to use once you get it down.