Amcrest 1080-Lite 8CH DVR Video Security Digital Recorder, HD Pentabrid (5-1) Supports 960H/HDCVI/HDTVI/AHD and Amcrest IP Cameras, HDD & Cameras NOT Included, Security Camera System (AMDVTENL8-H5)

I have been using an Amcrest NVR for a while now along with mixed of Amcrest and ReoLink IP cameras. Everything is working flawlessly and I couldn't be happier. Since I have a couple of spare analog cameras, I decided to get an Amcrest DVR to make use of them. I purposedly got the system without HDD to save some money. As soon as I recived the DVR, I just used one of my spare hard drive. The DVR came with sata cable and screws to attach a hard drive. On the box, the DVR supports up to 6TB but in user manual, it mentioned only up to 4TB. It's conflicting info but since I was using 2TB hard drive, it didn't matter to me. I just want to mention it.Set up was easy. DVR recognized the installed hard drive right away and I just follow along with the setup on screen. It was almost similar to any other Amcrest system if you ever had one before. The system found the cameras hooked up and started the recording right away. I noticed the system is not recording the camera at full 1080p even though it should be able to. A bit weird but at least the quality is decent. I was also able to set up my WiFi camera on this without any issues.Overall, I am quite pleased with the DVR. The configurations are straightforward as usual, everything works out of the box. If you need a DVR for your analog and WiFi security cameras, this one covers it all for a low price.

Most people have said its hard to setup. I only had to plug it in, click next through all the options that showed on screen and everything setup perfect. For setting up IP cameras all I had to do was log into my email and password that I setup on my IP camera. Everything worked perfect as it should saved all my IP footage directly to the hard drive I installed. I put a solid state hard drive I had laying around not expecting it to work right but it worked just fine didn't even have to do anything to make it work.Pro: Everything was super simple to setup didn't have to look a single thing up to get it setup pretty much plug and play. The packaging was simple straight forward had everything needed to get hard drive installed, even came with a USB mouse.Con: Only the first camera is able to do 30 frames per second the rest are stuck at 15 frames per second not sure why. The screw holes for hard drive install aren't built for solid state hard drives but most people wouldn't use one for a camera system so not sure you can call it a con.Overall I've been using the system for almost a month with zero problems. I would recommend this system to anyone looking for a budget friendly DVR.

I had purchased an Amcrest system several years ago and the digital recorder gave up a few months ago. Even though I have a surveillance doorbell, I still wanted the recorder to do live viewing of the front of the house where I had two cameras already installed. This was an easy fix to replace my old recorder so I could do live and online viewing. I was able to swap out my old recorder and plug this one in, in its place. After running through the setup wizard I had my monitor viewing back in no time at all. The two cameras are always on a live monitor so we can see what is going on in the front of the house, as most of our living is in the back of the house. We can see at a glance who is at the door or pulling into the driveway or when the mailman comes for that matter.One thing to note is this recorder does not come with a hard drive. That is sold separately or you can add your own. Since I did not have one purchased I booted it up without the hard drive. The system assumes you will have a hard drive and therefore is alarmed to let you know the hard drive is not installed/not working. Problem was I could not turn that alarm off through the console menus. After a bit of research it was an easy enough solution to go online with my home network to access the devices menus to turn the alarm off.Menus and setup have changed from my old device but pretty straight forward once you get the hang of the flow. My cameras, (remember older) are lower resolution so the resolution I am getting is fine for my usage. All in all I would say this is a good setup at a nice price.

Having installed a few other "super high end" camera surveillance systems, I wanted to try a mid-range DVR unit and have been quite pleased with the Amcrest product line. Actually blown away by all the features & functionality of the 1080 Lite 8 & 4 channel DVRs. The AMDVTENL8 & L4 units allow you to connect 960H/HDCVI/HDTVI/AHD as well as even IP cameras where direct home-run is not practical. I saved some money by purchasing the DVRs without hard drives so I could install my own as need be, especially for some Habitat for Humanity projects where funds were limited. The 8 and 4 channel units offer so many features including scheduling, remote access with one's smartphone, alarms, motion sensing, email notifications, PTZ control, recording and much more. Amazing for the price.What really impressed me was the consistent, timely customer support by emails & phone calls from their knowledgeable technicians. Though I was somewhat knowledgeable from other product brands, the Amcrest is full of new features. Matt Oliver went out of his way to step me thru the setup procedures incorporating pictures, examples and even marking up my screenshots so I could commission these systems in record time. Over a few days and a dozen email exchanges, he clearly explained with patience all the settings I needed to address including how to port-forward thru Comcast router firewalls and broadcast notification emails. I have 2 systems fully operational.The company has also posted many training videos on their website covering many aspects in great detail. I would recommend Amcrest product line to anyone in need of quality mid-range camera surveillance systems and my DVR of choice for many future clients based on features, functionality, and especially customer support.John Lorens