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 range, and that's about it...
Summary: 3 Stars
I used to have a Summer Infant monitor. (read my old review on that one)
It wasn't digital, so picture quality was so-so.
THis one - has a decent picture quality and almost no noise.
I have returned it and bought the Lorex LW2002W Digital Portable Color LCD Wireless Surveillance System (read my review on that one as well).
Here's what I discovered after using for a week.
Receiver screen is too tiny.
The picture is from way too far and that does not help with the size of the screen. You can basically see that there's a kid in the crib or there isn't :)) My camera is not positioned too high, it is about 5'5" from the floor and just a little higher than my 3 year old can reach from his crib.
The zoom-in feature is a good idea, but it blurs the picture too much, so basically useless.
The receiver is way too small. Don't know if this is good for some people, but my previous Summer infant huge receiver was misplaced by my husband and we still can't find it. So this one would be a bigger challenge to find :)
Also I figured that camera in color would not be useful for babies who are usually sleep in the darkened rooms, like mine. Night time - it would be black and white anyways, but daytime naps my son also takes with his shades totally closed - so black and white picture again. So if yours is the same - save money, get the black and white monitor.
Hope this helps
Customer Review: Read directions or call tech support--this monitor is better than you think!
Summary: 4 Stars
We've had our Safety 1st digital monitor for about 2 months now. The most difficult part is really reading the directions, and learning how to set the monitor so the baby's image is on the screen 100% of the time--if that's indeed what you want. Admittedly, we had to call tech support to figure out how to use the monitor like we wanted. In other reviews, so many folks complain about the logo coming up before the baby's image, but they don't realize that's an energy-saving feature (the image can stay on 5, 15, or 25 seconds, then it blacks out, and turns to sound-only). You can turn this feature OFF so that the baby's image is up on the screen all the time, without having to press the "View" button to see the baby again. Of course leaving the image on 100% of the time means the battery runs out sooner if you use the monitor cordless, but big deal--if we have it on for hours, we just plug it in wherever we are in the house. We've found this monitor to be great because it's small, portable, has great reception, and a clear image. You can also add additional cameras, if you have multiple children in different rooms. Because we've had a good experience with it, I've recommended this monitor to several friends. Safety 1st should update their product directions, so that people understand they can turn the energy-saving feature off, but their tech support was very friendly and helpful when we called.Customer Review: Great Monitor - No Interference but screen is small
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall the video monitor works great and has no interference. I have the summer infant one & we love it but it's NOT the digital one so it only has 2 channels on it so we can see our neighbor's child on it on the one channel. We didn't mind nor did they BUT when we had our 2nd child, we needed the ability to see both kids from 1 camera so the summer infant one was no longer an option although we LOVED it.
So this camera had a better picture quality than the Summer Infant digital one. Also the Summer Infant digital one was too too bulky and big and the screen size was small.
The one drawback to this monitor is that the screen is not 2.5 like our old Summer Infant one but because it has a nice zoom feature, it made up for it. We really like it so far and there are no interference issues.
The other drawback to this monitor is that when you use it with just the rechargeable batteries, it only allows you to view the baby for a breif few minutes (maybe like 1 or 2 mins max) when you hit the view button. Our Summer Infant one used to keep it on for a bit longer than that so I'm not constantly having to hit the "view" button to see the baby. On the other hand though, you can plug it into the AC adaptor and then you have the ability to view the baby nonstop and the screen doesn't shut off. I suppose they have the auto screen shut off to save batteries.
Customer Review: Great monitor
Summary: 4 Stars
Love this monitor. The parent unit is small and lightweight, just wish the screen was a bit bigger. The sound is clear, no static, and the picture quality is okay for me. Love the fact that it is digital and we don't have to hear the neighbor's kid. Haven't had the issue with the rechargeable batteries. It is only off the AC adapter during naps and a couple of hours after bedtime when my husband and I are watching TV. We have no problems with Wifi as with other reviewers. The camera has a green flashing light that my husband taped over with black masking tape. I have no issue with the Safety 1st logo when I want to use the screen. It is only there for a second. I think it is a filler while the thing is booting up the image. I love the fact that I can mute the volume. It gives hubby some shuteye in the morning when DD wakes up and I play with her in her room. We keep the volume on the lowest setting and one click it is muted. Parent unit navigation is not as intuitive as l like, but it didn't take me long to figure it out. We have not tested the range yet so I can't comment on that. Supposedly, you can add multiple cameras so I'm hoping this is the only monitor we'll need once #2 comes along. I wish I bought this a long time ago instead of the audio only analog.Customer Review: A major disappointment for $[...]
Summary: 1 Stars
I often dismiss negative reviews of tech products if there are enough good ones to outweigh the negatives -- figuring that most people have no idea what they're doing. Well, this time I got burned enough to write a review!
My unit worked so-so for 3 weeks (correctly, but it is poorly designed as I review below), I was pretty disappointed though, but I figured the deal was done and I had to keep it. Then, after three weeks it just totally stopped working. It would establish link between base and remote but after 5 minutes drop out. I was secretly thrilled to have a chance to return the unit as defective for a return. Best possible outcome.
Pros:
Small parental unit
Cons:
Only digital zoom/pan, which is pretty much worthless
Clunky interface with loud beeps after each keypress. The software on the handset is horrible.
Green flashing light that your baby could easily be kept awake by
Often blurry reception when just a room away. Goes in and out.
Hideous battery life on the portable unit. Probably 20 minutes with the video running.
Its expensive
Broke after 3 weeks. Great quality, safety first. How about putting quality first.
My advice: steer clear of this one.