Customer Reviews

Veo Observer Network Camera (Ethernet)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The camera works ok and image is reasonable quality. It has one significant drawback: only one user can view it a time. This may be ok if you know you are only going to view from one location, but otherwise this is a pain. If you accidentally leave it logged in somewhere and try to view it from another machine, you're stuck.

The viewing software is a Windows ActiveX control, so there is no way to view the camera from other operating systems.

I was a bit harsh on this camera when I first started messing with it, but after a week I've warmed up to it. The images are decent, the auto white balance is above average, the built-in microphone works well, and the integrated pan & tilt puts this unit above the other web cams in its price range. Compared to the other web cams I have, wireless as well as wired, this one is well worth the money.

Now for a small reality check. It's not a 640x480 camera, its 320x240. You have the option to enlarge the image in the application's built-in web browser, but it just doubles the 320x240 image. Forget about the digital zoom. The image is nice though, well above average for a web cam with sharp focus, good contrast and excellent color control. You can opt to allow the system to run on auto or manually select exposure as well as red, blue, and green levels.

The description below the camera on this page says: "Microphone required for sending audio" which is confusing. It has a microphone built-in. You can add an external microphone to the camera if you like, but the inputs are bare wire terminals instead of mini plugs. The built-in mic should be good enough for most uses.

The Veo also has a display that shows you the last three digits of it's IP address, so if you have a DHCP server on your network you can see what address it's been assigned. The kit comes with a low profile bracket and mounting plate that lets you attach the camera to a wall so that it can cover just about any room using it's pan & tilt controls.

I plan on buying a couple more of these things.

Compared to the other netcams out there that have built-in PAN and TILT functions, the price makes it a great deal. I wanted to use it to create a time-lapsed movie of my backyard going from a dirt lot to a personal oasis 8-). I was disappointed that the provided software only gave me basic functions (record, snapshot, pan, tilt, zoom). I WISH it had capabilities like
- scheduled monitoring (ex. record from 8am to 5pm),
- software-based motion detection (currently requires an optional sensor),
- 'take a snapshot every X seconds' feature.
Also, it sucks that only one user can access the camera at a time. Has anyone figured out a way to stream the video (or snapshots) over the Internet (so a bunch of people can view the webcam)?
Currently, the only third-party software application I could find that supports the Veo Observer is Netcam Watcher Professional by Beau Software (www.beausoft.com).

Buyer beware!
Every single product I tested made by Veo does not perform half of what is claimed on the box or advertised by sellers. Quality is simply not acceptable if you will make it work.

Dont expect ANY support! There is no 800 number, nor filing out customer support form on veo.com brings any results. After trying couple of times with the letter below, I did not get any reply from them, not even that my email was received!

I guess VEO mentality is:
-we will make a crappy product,
-we will make up stories about performance,
-we dont care if product does not even work,
-we dont have to spend any money for tech support,
-we will take your money and run,
but some fools will still buy our products!

Here is what was emailed to company:

This is the third Veo camera exchanged from Circuit City that I am not able to make it work correctly.

Computer: 2 years old Dell Dimension XP, SP1, with ad on PCI 5port USB 2 card made by Ratoc.

Camera: Velocity Connect

Problem: -after installing the software and connecting the camera, "Found new hardware wizard" tries to install the software, but the result is "Cannot Install this Hardware, because the wizard cannot find the necessary software..." Pointing to CD, does not find drivers either.

It could be the USB card. If you want to know more about Ratoc USB2 card or problems people have with them, follow the link: http://www.usbman.com/Reviews/ratoc_usb_20_5.htm

But those problems seem to be with USB 1 devices. And this Ratoc card on my computer works fine with HP Laser printer, Pioneer DVD burner, etc.

Camera works with usb1, but the reason I bought it is because of the resolution.

The low light resolution is horrible! What a lie on the box where it states "ultra low light lens"

I feel sorry about VEO products, because I am not able to make them work on none of my computers. Other product I had to exchange for this Velocity camera was VEO Network Observer. The software could not install on none of the computers. This specific Dell mentioned above and other computer with DVD drive. The CD simply could not run, just kept spinning. CD itself was without any flaws.
The camera could be accessed with the browser , then worked for 2 minutes and then all it could do is show vertical streaks .

This camera I exchanged for the same one thinking that installing software would help, but had the same results. Even making the camera work, quality can be described "could not catch a thiev"

Would never ever buy anything made under Veo name

I went through two of these cameras at a local store, the pan/tilt wouldn't work.

email (twice) to tech "support" had no response.
email to customer service bounced.
no phone number listed on web site

Though google, I found a company # and spoke to a tech. They said they have had a bad production run and the pan/tilt didn't work due to motor problems. So much for QA. Could RMA, but they don't cross ship, and I don't trust them to wait. I'm going to return #2.

Camera offically only works with ActiveX (Internet Explorer) and only one user can connect to the camera.

Using a perl module at http://www.kahunaburger.com/blog/archives/000157.html I was able to write a script to capture an image and store it to disk once per minute. (To build a time-lapse photo). Not easy to work with.

Image quality good, but without the pan/tilt I might as well buy a cheaper camera. I certainly wouldn't trust the company.

I have installed one of these before and found it to be a really good product. I was a bit disappointed that the bracket didi not come with it as with the original product however I can live with that.