Zmodo ZMD-DC-SBN6 16CH H.264 Real-time Security Surveillance DVR with Internet & Smartphone Monitoring CCTV System - No hard Drive

I've had two 8 channel Zmodo DVR's (one was returned due to bad channel inputs), and two 16 channel Zmodo DVR's. Lets just say I have pretty good experience with this company's CCTV equipment.I have 24 cameras installed in and around my home connected to 16 and 8 channel Zmodo DVRs. My friends and family think I am crazy, or a pervert, or both. I don't care.I can view my cameras from my Android based tablet and phone, both using "IP Cam View Pro" the absolute BEST app for viewing Zmodo DVR's. Contact me if you need help setting up this app with your DVR. I can also help with your router and port forwarding if you need it.I do love these DVR's even though the directions are written by an idiot, and I say this strongly because Zmodo can pay someone with decent english skills to re-write the manuals so that they make sense. When you take your DVR out of the box. Take the manual and CD and throw them away. They're useless.Make sure you set the "maintain" feature to be enabled for a daily reboot. Without this, they will eventually stop responding via network (browser or your phone).Each DVR I have uses a different active-x Internet exploder based program to view the channels. They all suck. But what they do nicely is show you the video. It's not HD, but we don't need HD to see when the UPS driver is coming down the drive, or your buddies are throwing cigarette butts in your yard.This is OT, but before throwing out the camera that gets really blurry (and it will), take it completely apart and unscrew the lens from the circuit board and clean. These may work outdoors, but they're not sealed in anyway. They let moisture in and get dirty relatively quick. Oh, and the IR LED's can go bad, or something that triggers them goes bad. Overall, I've had decent luck with the cameras, and for $65 you can get 4 new cameras, each coming with 60' of cable, mounts, and the power adapter.There is other software that Zmodo "says" works with their DVR(s), but I have done nothing but wasted time installing it and uninstalling it after trying different things they suggest.Bottom line, they are pretty good for how cheap they're priced at. I have 4 out of 32 cameras die or piss me off enough to get slammed on the ground. I had one 8 channel DVR get RMA'd due to bad inputs. And their top of the line 16 channel DVR with 16 audio inputs and all the bells and whistles, it's network connection would die frequently and stop responding. It would require a reboot to work again. Actually, I've had many network issues with the DVR's that use the same active-x software.Getting the videos off the DVR's is a painfull process. I have one DVR where the .264 files that it saves is skewed out of aspect. The resolution of the videos you get are 700x200 instead of something that's 4:3 aspect.Zmodo's support crew is very friendly, but they don't have a problem telling you DVR you bought from them isn't covered by warranty.

I’ve had this DVR for 2 years now (but I’m in the process of upgrading my hardware). This DVR has basic features and an equally basic user interface. I would say that this DVR is crap but it works as expected for an entry level, bottom tier piece of hardware. Note that this DVR is rated at CIF resolution which means it only records and displays 352 x 240 px!!! Certainly your cameras are going to be underutilized as they’re probably in the range of 380 – 1080 lines. The DVR’s 240 lines is not enough resolution to make out finer details. Even when viewing a single camera on my 19” monitor I often wonder if this is what images look like to a legally blind person without their glasses on. So if you need to be able to recognize faces and see exactly what is in someone’s hand then spend the money and buy a HD DVR! But in all honesty this Zmodo DVR serves the purpose if all you care about is the general movements of things, as was my initial intent.I can see cars coming and going from my cul-de-sac but it’s hard to tell the make and model of cars, and forget about reading license plate numbers with the CIF resolution. I saw the vehicle that broke into my neighbor’s car but couldn’t tell if it was a Jeep or a Durango. I caught my wife bringing the garbage to the curb last winter and slipping on the ice and having garbage fall out on top of her. Haha, I must have watched that clip a dozen times! I’ve seen countless arguments between my kids but it was too hard to tell if someone was shoved, punched, poked, or if there wasn’t actually any physical contact at all. But it makes it easier to get the truth out of the kids when I ask them, “What am I going to see when I look at the video?” I even saw my neighbor’s tree fall down on top of my shed during a big storm. So all in all, I love having a DVR and cameras outside and within my home. I just wish I would have originally spent more money for a higher resolution DVR 2 years ago, because until my research right now, I always thought my cameras were the limiting factor on the low-res images when in fact it's been the DVR limiting the resolution this whole time!I’m not sure if my port forwarding (DHCP) settings were incorrect or if it was the DVR, but I was never able to view the DVR’s video remotely. As a reference - I’ve had some Easy-N and D-Link cameras that made it super easy to access those cameras remotely. I’ve never got the audio to work either but maybe that’s because I was too lazy to buy a BNC-to-RCA adapter and then buy an RCA-to-3.5mm jack adapter for my speakers.

Parfait !