Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This cam is a Wansview NC543W.
UPDATE: 3/30/2011
The cam stopped working about two or three weeks ago. If I power-cycled the cam, it would work for about five minutes and then become unresponsive. Wansview emailed me the firmware after I contacted them about the problem, loaded the firmware and then the cam seemed to work okay. After about an hour of operation, it was broken again. I'm done with this cam. I think (not sure though) this cam appears in different permutations - Smarteye for one. Dealing with Chinese support via email was very cordial and they were responsive, but completely unproductive.
After reading the seller's (not Amazon unfortunately - it was ATC-whatever-LLC) return policy, it was a bit convoluted and I'm not sure what the warranty policy is. After reading ATC's diatribe about returns, I think I'm going to throw the cam away and never buy a product from ATC-whatever-LLC again and probably never buy a Wansview cam or its other variation, the Smarteye (assuming I'm correct about the relationship.)
What a shame...
--End of update--
NOTE: All features and functions will work in Internet Explorer (like two way sound.) You can view the video in Firefox/Safari/Chrome/etc., but you will not have full features and functionality.
I have several webcams keeping an eye on our ranch and I do have a bit of experience with higher-end models (Toshiba/Panasonic) so this review will evaluate this cam relative to my experience.
Basically, you shouldn't expect a ~$90 cam to perform like a ~$900 dollar one. There are a lot of trade-offs with the low-end models - a poor quality manual (in this case written in 'Chinglish') that assumes you already know most of what they are attempting to describe to you (they don't want to spend a penny more on a tech writer than absolutely necessary.)
The firmware might not be as fully developed as other higher-priced cams - case in point with this one is there are no real color balance controls. You get 50 or 60 hertz or outdoor mode. In lower light conditions, the color balance is really, *really* bad. The color balance might be really bad in brighter light, but I don't know since that is not my application for this cam. And the image sensor might not be first quality and size of it makes a huge difference. This cam will display a max resolution of 640x480, not too bad and a useful size.
So what about this cam?
For about 90 bucks, it is a pretty good deal. Here are some caveats and features:
- it is a good deal if you do not need detailed step-by-step instructions to set it up
- it is a good deal if color balance isn't a big issue
- it is a good deal if you can deal with a *very* incomplete manual - it has no explanation about the audio out, audio in, alarm connections, or any API (application programming interface.) In fact, it is like Wanssview allocated xx dollars (Yen?) to the manual - when that amount was reached, they pulled the plug on the tech writer. To be blunt, the user manual sucked big-time
- the IR (infrared) night view was very good. I don't know about the range since my objective is to keep an eye on an automatic animal feeder which was only about eight feet away from the cam. In total darkness, I can plainly see the feeder in all detail. I was impressed!
- it has no built-in microphone or speaker, but has the capability of both. The microphone feature does work - I tried it!
- in lower light the cam is not particularly fast - you will get image blur on an alarm trigger
If you buy this cam, "OSD" means On Screen Display - this is not mentioned anywhere in the manual. For "Motion Detect Armed" - Motion Detect Sensibility [sic] - 1 is the least sensitive and 10 is the most - it took an email to China to figure this out. 7 seems to work the best for me.
If 90 bucks won't make a difference with your kids eating and having adequate clothing or not, buy this cam and play with it. If 90 bucks *is* a big deal to you, I would stick with Linksys, Dlink, Panasonic, etc.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Wansview Outdoor Waterproof Wifi Wireless/wired Ip Camera with Night Vision, Motion Detection Alarm, FTP and E-mail alarm,with base/bracket
Easy installation. HD-quality video with night vision. Motion-triggered alerts. Free viewing over the web or your smart phone. PC-free recording. Easy expandability. Features-The video is compressed by M-JPEG. -VGA/QVGA /QQVGA resolutions optional . -Built-in web server, support video view and parameter settings by browser. -standard IR lens, support night vision distance up to 30m. -Support 802.11b/g protocol, can build up wireless monitoring.-Supports UPNP, port forwarding automatically on the router.-It uses metal shell,more suitable for engineering application.-Provide IP66 waterproof grade,more suitable for outdoors application.-Provide 485 interface,connect with external 485 Pan/Tilt.-Motion detection and alarm pin can be connected to external sensors to detect environmental situation.-Alarming record by email, FTP server. -Support three level of user authority.-Support upgrading online.-Manufacturer Device ID, DDNS at the bottom of each IP Camera. -Manufacturer provides free Central Management software, support Multi-view, record and play ,etc.-Support several browsers, IE, Firefox, Safari and Opera etc.
