Safety 1st High-Def Digital Video Monitor
by Dorel Juvenile Group
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List Price: Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Safety 1st High-Def Digital Video Monitor
Customer Review: Excellent Monitor
Summary: 5 Stars
When I was expecting my first child, I already knew I wanted a monitor and that I wanted one that had good quality video and audio, and no crackle. I had seen standard-quality audio come through with so much static and hiss that parents get in fights over whether to have the audio on or off. It can be extremely annoying if there is any interference.
So, I decided up-front to go for a digital video/audio monitor. That means very few choices and paying more money. The Safety 1st High-Def seemed like the only reputable choice, and had gotten great reviews, so I bought it. I didn't care about the portable nature or people's complaints about battery life or the blinking lights on the camera. (I thought my wife might, but she didn't either.)
First, it completely lives up to my digital expectations. We have cell phones, wireless internet, wireless home phones, etc. And we are in a condo where I can get about a dozen other people's wireless internet (and who knows what else) signals coming through the apartment. No problems. The video and audio are great. I even took it in the elevator and I got good reception a few floors away before losing signal. That's a lot of concrete to go through.
The portable nature of this is far more useful and convenient than I would have imagined. That is a big plus.
As for the downsides.... Battery life - I knew it would be bad from the reviews, so we leave it plugged in if we are in one place for long (living room, kitchen, or bedroom). That isn't a big deal, as the power cord is lightweight and easy to move around. User interface - They came up with one of the most counter-intuitive button interfaces around. You actually have to read the manual. Plus it doesn't have a huge number of features. Oh well. It gets the job done and you can master it if you read the manual. Don't plan on the grandparents figuring it out without some lessons. Super-bright blinking light on camera - In a dark room, it is a bit like having a lighthouse in there. Not too mention the funky LEDs glowing red for the nightvision. Our daughter has picked up on this odd electronic light gadget over her crib not that long after her birth. It doesn't seem to impact her quality of sleep though and we eventually taped aluminum foil over it.
One other good feature - It only plays the audio if it reaches a threshold. I think that is not an uncommon feature for monitors, but it works quite well on this monitor. Coupled with the fact that it doesn't get significant noise means that we get the audio behavior exactly how you would like - little or no sound unless baby is up to something.
As for the psychology of having a monitor and whether it is habit-forming or useful... We have had no issues. We find it very useful, but don't feel we have to use it all the time. It gives us a very good heads up as to when we should be extra quiet (shhh... she's stirring a bit), when to eat our dinner very fast (she just woke up, she has a couple minutes before she'll probably start crying for her parents), when her pacifier fell out as she's going down to sleep and a quick pacifier replacement will keep her from crying and getting worked-up, etc. We naturally have found when it is useful and when it isn't. We don't stare at it all day long from obsession.
In summary, I highly recommend the Safety 1st High-Def Digital video monitor.
Customer Review: Excellent range with crystal clear picture! Highly recommended!
Summary: 5 Stars
We have a relatively large home (~4000sq ft), and the nursery is unfortunately on one end of the second floor, while the family room is basically on the completely opposite side of first floor of the house. We tried several other monitors that simply couldn't provide a strong enough signal to broadcast from the nursery to the family room (probably about 100ft) without significant interference/static/etc. After several disappointments, we caved in and bought the rather pricy Safety 1st High-Def Digital Video Monitor as it was reputed to have a much stronger range than comparable monitors on the market. While we have not tried every brand, I can verify that this works flawlessly not only inside every single room of our house (including the far corner of the basement), but even around the outside of the property when we're doing gardening or washing the car.
The good:
1) Excellent Range, as noted above.
2) Clear picture - When the "night vision" is being used, the picture is clear enough for me to see the pattern on our son's sheets, and easily clear enough to tell whether he is sucking on his pacifier or has dropped it off the bed.
3) Terrific Sound Quality - Even when we have the monitor on its lowest volume setting, we can hear everything in the room, from the lullaby music playing in the background to the sounds of our son rolling over or sucking on his pacifier. It's even sensitive enough to pick up the sound of him lightly snoring!
4) Compact Monitor - If you do decide to take this outside, you're only carrying around something slightly larger (and about the same weight) as the average cell phone.
5) No interference with our wireless phones or internet.
The bad:
1) Small Screen - this is the compromise for having a compact monitor. The screen is definitely smaller than you would want if you were using it to watch all the time, but as mentioned above, it is more than clear enough to show you EVERYTHING you might want to see. To be honest, if I can't see it on this screen, I probably wouldn't see it on one that was any larger, and I would also probably be going upstairs to check anyways.
2) Battery Life - Several reviewers had commented on the battery life. It's not as bad as one might expect - we normally plug the monitor in during the day, and run it off batteries from about 7PM until sometime around 11-11:30PM. By around 12PM or so, it usually starts giving the low battery warning. During the night, we leave it plugged in on our nightstand and have never had a problem. Obviously the battery runs out faster if you spend all of your time checking the monitor, but I personally think that the way to be using a device like this is to basically have the audio on (which we do), and check the video when you hear something to see what's going on upstairs. We also make a point to keep the monitor plugged in when he's not asleep in the nursery so that we're always working with a full charge whenever we take the monitor downstairs.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking to get a video monitor with good range and signal quality.
Customer Review: Great monitor and worth the $$ -- wouldn't want to have a little one without it
Summary: 4 Stars
I have been using this product for 7 months now and love it!. It is worth every penny we paid. I researched several models and opted to give this one a try even though it was a new product with few reviews to use to help in making my decision. I have listed the pros and cons of my experience using this device:
Pros
**Great picture quality -- We haven't seen any issues so far with blurry picture, but then again the monitor is directly above my son's crib. I haven't seen a change in the picture when he moves and crawls around inside.
**No interference from other wireless devices -- We have quite a few...phones, routers, etc...and use them while the monitor is active.
**Automatic, smooth transition from color to night vision
**Belt clip is great to keep the monitor close at hand
**Volume adjustment is an important feature -- Static from the monitor is sounds almost non-existent during the day. However, at night the sound on the same setting as used during the day is a little annoying when I first put my head on the pillow. (I tend to be a light sleeper though so this might be the issue too.) When the sound is too annoying to alleviate the problem, I turn down the volume to a one or two setting. Doing so allows me to hear my son but not hear the static.
**View button works well -- You can check on your child without getting up in the middle of the night. We have found most often that our son is either adjusting during his sleep or making noise to make noise. It's nice to make certain he is okay without getting up to check on him.
**Dorel Customer service very helpful -- The view button on the parent unit recently stopped working. Given the timeframe from my date of purchase, it was still under warranty, but I could not return it to the online store from which I purchased it. So I contacted Dorel directly. They were really helpful and only too happy to replace the parent unit for me. I received in a few days.
Cons
**Battery life -- The longest battery life I have experienced is about 5 hours tops. However, this can quickly be resolved by keeping it connected to the power cord. It's just inconvenient when you're trying to work in other areas of the house.
**Interference when using the microware -- If I am using the microwave and the parent unit is on, there is interference if I get it too close. This too is resolved if I keep the unit 10 feet or so away from the microwave.
**View button stopped working, but as aforementioned the manufacturer was quick to send me a replacement.
Overall I would recommend and have recommended this product to anyone having with a little one. It's worth the money. Even though I did not pay the full retail value, those folks who purchase it now can get a reduced price.
Customer Review: Works OK - but not worth the price
Summary: 3 Stars
Purchased this after much review and comparison. Talked to others I know and box store employees. Amazon had the best price so I went for it.
Had no issue setting up the monitor or connecting to the handset. The color feature was very nice, but like other reviewers here have noted, unless the room is extremely bright, the feed defaults to B&W. That wasn't a big problem for my wife and I. The night vision works well.
Sound feature - the first night we put my daughter in the bed rather than the crib (the whole reason for buying it), I had it on setting one (soft sounds turn it on). When we woke up the next morning - my daughter was UNDER the bed sleeping. We did not hear a thing and my wife is 9 months pregnant and due to that, not a sound sleeper. Since then we have had the sound ON all the time. The slight static when the sound is on is not as loud as our old Graco monitor, but it is there.
I have three problems with it - two are minor and one is major.
First, the camera does not stand well on its own if you tilt the lens. I understand it is meant to be mounted but I would have liked the base part to have a little more weight.
Second, sometimes the camera does not focus when you turn on the viewer - all you see is static. I have gotten around this by zooming in and then zooming out. That normally resets the picture. The first time this happened I thought it was broken and played with it for about 25 minutes - standing in the same room - and could not get it to focus. Since then the issue is intermittent.
Finally (the deal breaker): this thing KILLS your wireless network. If you are running 2.4GHz wireless G forget it. With the monitor in the next room away from the computer I am only pulling down about 1Mb. If I bring the monitor downstairs, I get between 11 and 18Mb. Forget file sharing.
I need to decide (and soon) if I want to return it. I may downgrade to a 900Mhz model.
Edit - June 9, 2009: The Focus problem seems to come much less than before. I also changed the channel on my wireless router from 11 (the default) to 6 and I no longer experience any wireless interference, even when the handheld is right next to the laptop. It was a simple fix that I would recommend anyone try before returning the monitor.
Customer Review: Discontinued Model, Wireless Interference, Better Option Available
Summary: 1 Stars
We were not able to use this monitor. It interfered with our wireless network to the point that it would sometimes take 20+ minutes for the parental unit to locate the camera signal and the signal would be frequently lost. On the two occasions where we tried to use it overnight, this was a disaster. Also, we started having reliability issues with our wireless network while the baby monitor was on, our laptops and roku device were not able to connect. I called the customer service number to explain the problems and they offered to send a replacement unit. I didn't think it would fix the problem, but was willing to try. However, they no longer had any of these monitors in stock and it seems to have been discontinued. So, instead they sent me a newer model that is comparable, the Safety 1st Prism Color Video Monitor (sold exclusively at Babies'R'Us and BuyBuyBaby at the moment). The moment the new monitor arrived, it was infinitely better. After initial setup and charging of the parental unit battery, it worked instantly on startup. There is no static, and the video image is much better. The night vision feature is just as good and also had a nice brightness control feature which I don't remember the first unit having. Also, what I realize after getting the new model is that the controls on the old model are really a pain in the butt to figure out, you really have to read the manual to use all of the features because the 2 buttons are overloaded for so many operations. This is not the case with the Prism, it has intuitive controls for everything with good labels and displays more information at the top of the screen, like battery life, the date/time, room temperature (although it doesn't seem accurate, probably because the sensor is near to the ac adapter which I'm sure is generating some heat), the signal strength, an indicator if voice activation is enabled, and an indicator if the alarm clock is enabled, etc. I was able to pick it up and understand how to use it without reading the manual, it's a huge improvement. Don't waste your time with this discontinued monitor, I highly recommend the Prism instead. For the record, the customer service rep admitted that they had fewer problems with wireless interference on the Prism.