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: Great unit overall
Summary: 5 Stars
I think this is an overall great unit. It is probably an order of magnitude better than non-digital solutions. The picture and sound do not have any interference on them (but there are some digital artifacts from compression). The zoom and pan feature (available when zoomed in 2x or 4x) doesn't actually cause the video camera to physically move, but it is still a useful feature (we use it almost all the time). The "High-Def" is nice but doesn't mean its 720p or 1080i! Also, I was able to use the unit without reading the manual, though I picked up some good information after looking at it.
Overall it seems to work really well but there is some room for improvement. The night vision doesn't work so well if the camera is more than a few feet away from the subject. I also wish it had a mode that would automatically turn on the video monitor when motion was detected. There are a lot artifacts if there is a lot of motion, but since this is a baby monitor, if used as a baby monitor, then it's not a problem. It doesn't come with AA batteries for the camera, but the camera is capable of running on batteries (3 AA's). The included 3xAAA batteries are for the monitor.
UPDATE 2008-12-18: We have been using this for months now. It has been dropped many times on laminate flooring and is still working. The flashing green light on the camera is a bit annoying to our child so we cover it up when needed. All in all, we're still very happy with this purchase even though it's not perfect (battery life could be better and had to "reset" the camera at least once to get it to not overexpose).
UPDATE 2009-11-06: Still working great but unfortunately the bright blinking green light was and still is frightening to our child... now just seeing the camera scares him so we mostly just use the microphone. The really need to address this... like making the light much less bright or some control option where you can just turn it off or make it stop blinking after a few seconds or some other design. Suggest wrapping the bottom of the camera is a black sock or something that hides most of the light.
Customer Review: five stars: Safety 1st High-Def Digital Video Monitor via amazon
Summary: 5 Stars
FIVE STARS FOR Safety 1st High-Def Digital Video Monitor via amazon.
ten stars if it is possible to input.
the other brands failed me:
i have monitors from:
i have 4 summer baby 1.8inch 900mhz cams [picture quality very poor, excellent excellent audio!!!!],
i also hav 3 goscams -horrible analog video/audio after 4 weeks usage,
, and i have 3 lorexs cams- 1 short circuited, other 2 does not charge battery after 3 weeks.
and i have several other lower quality but hi-priced BRANDS.
all 10 of my SAFETY FIRST DIGITAL CAMs AND MONITORs ARE GREAT
[ one was a reject, but it was BOUGHT ON ebay]:
SAFETY FIRST constant audio has LOUD, CLEAR output. [CONSTANT AUDIO ON , or turn off if you want]
it also has best digital signal [picks up even signal across the street from my house!].
it has best digital non intrusive signal,
[no one else can pick up signal and see the video/audio.]
also IR LITE CAN BE TURNED OFF so it won't attract attention.
also LITE and COMPACT,
also BUTTON keypad BEEPS CAN BE TURNED OFF FOR STEALTH.
also easy camera and monitor signal pairing takes 10 seconds.
over 18 months still excellent.
etc, etc.
SAFETY FIRST is the camera and monitor of choice .
it has all the features i need ,
to keep an eye on what matters ,
and to put an end to a situation.
the sitution that's under control:
the husband beating up the wife.
abusing wife for years. [ verbal , emotional; , physical ,mental abuse ]
the dozen safety 1st cams in house stopped the abuser , nothing else worked,
safety first is fantastic.
this long lingering problem was solved by safety 1st.
-the concerned relative.
Customer Review: I returned it
Summary: 1 Stars
I was not satisfied with this monitor. I wanted to like it as it has an essential feature of being digital which gives you privacy (who wants to think of someone hearing/seeing in your house?)- but in the end this feature did not make it worth living with the negatives of the device. I was going to keep it just because I was lazy, anyway, but then the picture quality fuzzing out and as I couldn't see baby, I returned it.
I don't like it for all of the reasons the reviewers before me stated. Those same things were true for me. The signal- fuzzy a lot of the time, sometimes I cant even see anything which is the main reason I am returning it. The picture quality is not so great either. My friend's summer monitor again had a much much better picture. And the constant, giant flashing light on the camera is so stupid- who designed this? Also adjusting the camera is SO loud - you can't do it while baby is sleeping.
Many reviewers said that the safety first sign flashing on before being able to see the baby was annoying- and I should have listened to them, as it really is. The function of a video monitor is to SEE your baby, and so when the visual timed out (you can have it on constant viewing but that eats batteries) I was always pressing the view button and having to wait before I could take a quick peek. Annoying when you are constantly peeking in. With the summer's infant monitor, (my only comparison ) you can just click a button and see the baby right away. Small detail, but it becomes bigger if you want to peek in all the time like I do. (I don't own the Summer monitor though so can't give it a fair review- don't know the cons)
I DID like that the parent's monitor was small, but that made for a small screen too.
Over all I say skip it, unless you have a problem with hearing your neighbors and vice versa- then the down sides might be worth the privacy.
Customer Review: Excellent monitor with a few 'fixable' minor annoyances
Summary: 4 Stars
Love this monitor, it works great. Here's my thoughts on some of the typical issues listed in other reviews which I saw prior to purchasing:
- Blinking light on camera annoying
- Splash screen "safety first" annoying
- Range
- Display slow, displaying 'artifacts'
- Monitor 'failing' by going white and not displaying a picture.
I've had this monitor for 4 months so here's my opinion on these issues.
- Blinking Light - Put a piece of electrical tape over the light, isn't pretty but very minor issue, wouldn't not buy this because of the darn light.
- Splash screen - It displays for about 1 second, again, wouldn't not buy this because if it, I don't even think it's annoying actually.
- Range is EXCELLENT. I live on 5 acres, I took it to my neighbors house and can get image/sound just great. very very impressed by the range.
- Display slow... when it is far away, yes, it get's choppy; when I'm in my house it looks excellent. THIS IS A BABY MONITOR, not a video camera, works great for its intended purpose.
- After 4 months my wife dropped the camera in the crib and the monitor went solid white. If you bump it you get a partial picture back. After some 'research' I found that the monitor is connected by a ribbon cable to the circuit board and the cable popped out, I opened the unit (4 small screws) and reseated the cable which fixed the problem. It's very deicate to disassemble and I'm quite confident this void's the warranty so I wouldn't recommend it but I didn't want to send it back and be without it as I don't know what I would do without the monitor so I fixed it instead.
That's the only issue we've had with it. Otherwise we love it and I would give this a 5 star.
Customer Review: Does not function as advertised
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this monitor for three reasons
1) The claimed 650' reception capability
2) The claimed non-interference with wireless networks
3) Security (not seeing someone else's kid on the same channel).
I can't verify point 3, but the product wholly failed on the first two counts. I live on the second floor of an apartment building, so I had hoped that I could use the monitor to get the mail in the lobby while my child is sleeping. Unfortunately, the reception cut off about 10' outside my doorway. I tried repositioning the camera but could not improve upon the results. While the product worked everywhere within my apartment, it did not function far beyond the door and did not work at all when on another floor. To get less than 30' of reception from the product is simply unacceptable when it claims 650'.
The device also takes down wireless internet networks whenever it is functioning. Even if you are willing to live with the problem, there's a good bet that your neighbor's wireless network is also being affected. Hence, I could not in good conscience continue using this product even if I was willing to tolerate this disability.
A few other minor issues--
The handheld unit is not well designed to stay upright--it topples over too easily.
Also, although the unit is clearer than analog devices, it also emits a hiss even when the room is completely silent.
The so-called zoom function is merely a software trick--the image is doubled in size but half as clear.
The only great aspect of the product is the night vision. Even in near-total darkness, the image is fairly good. But this singular positive side does not even begin to make up for its numerous flaws.