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| Swann PC DVR 4 Net | 
 enlarge | Brand: Swann
Category: Photography
List Price: $99.95
Buy New: $52.95
You Save: $42.96 (43%)
New (28) Used (1) from $56.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 1535
Platform: Windows Xp
Color: Silver
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.1
Dimensions (in): 0.6 x 5.6 x 4.8
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: SW-R-PCDVR4
Model: SW-R-PCDVR4
UPC: 814282002979
EAN: 0814282002979
ASIN: B0007OKRIY
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 16-19 of 19 | | « PREV | | |
 I Don't Get It... October 28, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Why are some people saying (in these reviews) that this product has bugs and locks-up their computers? I am running a 4 year old computer 2.76 G with 1GRAM and I have NEVER had these problems.
In fact, I run 8 cameras simultaneously (with a non-gaming video card) with "pro audio" recording software (Steinberg Cubase SL) and often Internet Explorer, Excel and Word and still have not had computer lock-up problems. (Talk about a program that uses resources - Cubase!) This program has run 24/7 for more than two years.
I have found this to be an excellent choice for home or office security (for me it's both). This saves you wasted time getting up to answer the door for salespeople, when the dog barks, when the kids come home or wondering what some strange noise was so that you can concentrate on business.
I would recommend this gear to anyone. HOWEVER, I agree that the owner's manual should be re-written. (By the way, for the guy who thinks that it was written as a second language: What language do you think they speak in Australia?) Their phraseology, terminology and slangs differ and it can be confusing at times. Then again, that's what customer support is for and they have never refused assistance or tired of my inquiries.
 Good card but its has some faults.... June 28, 2006
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
The Good:
- Nice price point.
- Works well (exlcuding occasional startup lockups) and nice internet connection software.
- Great cameras, many available (I use the bulldog camera from them)
- Powerful software to record and monitor your security with. However, the manual is quite poor and some of the systems are hard to understand.
The Bad:
- Has to be 1024x768 resolution, if your resolution is higher you have to lower your resolution.
- The manual was written by someone who speaks english as their second language as someone else mentioned. So it is very hard to understand to say the least. I wish they would take the time to professionally rewrite this.
- The system restarts itself every 10-30 to free up resources which is a great idea but.... The program locks up on startup frequently. So in my case I have to get into the hot attic and restart the computer which has this card and runs my security system manually every couple of months.
Bottom line, good card and system, and if Swann Company took the time to fix the few minor bugs and released a patch and new documentation, it could easily be a 5 star security solution.
 PC DVR Net June 23, 2006
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This PCI card is installed inside your computer. Your computer must have Windows XP or 2000, but the system requirements on RAM and processor speed are overly strict. I am running this card on a 650 MGHZ HP with a mere 56 MB of RAM. It's obviously sluggish if I play back multiple cameras, but it records just fine. I also bought a pair of SWANN Bulldog cameras for outside, and 2 of the SWANN wide angle cameras for my garage and tool shed. This combo works great for me.
Otherwise, I agree with everything RY said in his review, especially about the need for a 10X fast-forward on playback. Regardless, the card works like it's supposed to, and the price is hard to beat.
Turns your PC into a security DVR - documentation sketchy March 13, 2006
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
Bought one of these a couple of months ago to pipe some security cameras into for monitoring the front of my house. Pretty simple to install if you've done a PC upgrade before. Comes with a roughly 100-page manual that was written by someone for whom English is a second language. (Or they didn't proof it very well.) Documentation is pretty bare bones.
As far as function, the maximum frame rate is 15 fps, and it uses MPEG-4 compression. You can set up timer based recordings, motion detection based recordings and so forth. I've worked with the motion based recordings, and it allows you to set the portion of the frame you use for motion detection. The user interface for playback cries out for a 10x fast forward, which this card doesn't allow. (as far as I can tell) There is a slider bar above the play button that gets you up to 2x or 3x, but if you want to look at 8 or 10 hours, its pretty brutal at 3x. If you use motion detection, there is a button that jumps to the next "event" (where the motion detection was tripped). That works pretty well and its how I have mine setup.
If I could give it 3.5 stars, I'd do that. Since this one is pretty cheap as capture cards go, I'll bump it to 4 stars.
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