LaView 4 Camera 960H Security System, 4 Channel 960H DVR w/500GB HDD and 4 600TVL Black Bullet Camera Surveillance Kit

It is what it is. There are so many options and things to consider when purchasing a home surveillance camera system. This particular one I purchased for a friend who had a very tight budget. It had very good reviews and US support. That and the fact I was buying through amazon is really what tipped me toward this system. Between amex and amazon backing the purchase I was very confident that any issues would be solved in good time.Like I said before. For the price it is very good. Very easy to setup if you have a reasonable amount of experience with IP networks and electronics. I had three cameras running hooked up to a TV and remote viewing outside the network with LaViews DDNS in about and hour and a half. The image quality isn't that great day or night but... "it is what it is" for the price and the image options are plentiful. With a little tweaking you can get a good idea of whats going on but, the cameras are only 600TVL and beyond 10'/15' your not going to identify anyone. Don't fool yourself.In closing.. For the price its a great budget system. works well enough in low light conditions and the setup was easy. US support also. I did call the support line but it went to voice mail. I would never buy one personally. The main problem with all of the analog systems that seem to have flooded the market is that they're all the same cheap crap. Even the IP systems are the same way. It's a take your pick situation and more money doesn't always seem to mean better quality. There is so much information out there now that it can be very confusing. If I were shopping for a home surveillance system personally I'd want good quality full HD 5MP IP cameras but, that kind of a setup would cost a bit more. If your on a budget this is a good system. If you can afford to, go full hd ip or hd sdi. $500+ range.

This security system has been a bit of a thorn in my side. I've been installing it gradually, when I have time. The first camera I installed seems to have a clearer image than the other 5 that I've installed thus far. I can't find a setting to get the other cameras to an equal quality. Additionally, when setting the cameras for motion detect, it works fine for all of them except the one camera that has the better image quality. Initially it would record non-stop, so I did what I could to set it for motion detection, then it stopped recording completely. The camera is functioning fine, I can see the livestream on my PC, and on my phone by DDNS, but for the life of me, I can't seem to make it record on a motion detection setting. It's frustrating. When you log into the DVR and attempt to increase video settings, it becomes questionable whether they'll be applied or not. You crank up the settings, click save, and more often than not it says "save unsuccessful" or Something about XML. This is so frustrating.Does it work, sure.Is it user friendly, no.Does it come with decent instructions, no.Is crawling through your attic with a fishing pole easy, no way.I needed this system after someone helped themselves to some of my Christmas lights, but in retrospect, I think I should have done more research. It's just not intuitive enough for your average person. Heck, I even had to find a video online explaining how to set up DDNS; that requires opening up 3 ports to your DVR's IP address, I suppose that's actually unavoidable, but it is unfortunate. The inability to get higher quality video settings to save is a big deal. If your seriously considering installing a security system like this, I'd look elsewhere, read the reviews, and if possible, find out how user friendly their instructions and UI are before making the investment.

I can't argue with the price and it can do 960H video...and it comes with the hard drive installed. Those are all of the really good things.However, the software could use some work. Out of the box, the resolution is pitiful and doesn't match up with the cameras that came with it, so the default configuration is fairly bad. You can only change the resolution from the console and you can pretty much forget about managing this over the network. Over the network only about half of the configuration options are available and it's confusing when you think you changed the resolution, but it still doesn't work right. The web based playback control crashes if any error is encountered and you then have to reload the page to continue. Web based playback is restricted to 4x speed while the console goes to at least 8x. Finally, the pre-record setting has no effect. At the most, it seems to get 5 seconds of prerecord and no more than that. I asked for a firmware update that might fix these issues, and the file I received from support didn't give me any indication of what version it was or even if it applied to my DVR. Firmware files are not directly available from the manufacturer, which is a bad sign, in my opinion.I can't fault it based on the price and features. But ... I'd like to see it live up to it's potential. LaView, are you listening?

It was super easy to set up just drill a hole in the wall outside and run the wires through your attic and drop down to the recorder and hook up to a monitor....I've never hooked up one of these systems before and it only took me an hour to get both cameras mounted wires ran and up and recording...let me note that I am a handy man and can fix almost anything...you have to have some basic handyman and technical skill to hook this up...basic.... it's a great reassurance that your exterior is monitored and the night vision is great!!! Very bright albeit in black and white... it's easy to review recording as well... I've had it for about a month now and wanted to wait to write the review...this is a great product for the money and it's cameras are great in the dark....even with no porch light I can clearly make out cars as they drive by and can also enlarged the image of I need a license plate number....thanks LaView....the only thing I recommend is that you get the four camera set up your going to want those two other cameras.....