PRODUCT REVIEW – Amcrest Qcam 3-Megapixel (2048 x 1536) POE Weatherproof IP66 Bullet IP Camera with Super High Resolution 2048TVL @ 25fps, Night Vision up to 65ft, 70° Viewing Angle

I have another amcrest camera that I actually like more than this one which has a really nice picture and has less resolution. I have an amcrest NVR that supports POE. I thought that I could just plug this into my NVR and it would work just like my other camera. Wrong. So first of all there is no documentation with this camera. It does come with a mini disk which is useless to me because I have a mac that does not have a dvd / cd drive with a tray. I was able to get the information off the cd at work which was kind of a pain but at least I got it. I downloaded a Qcam app and was able to see my camera no problem. I have it hooked to my NVR but I cannot view the picture on the monitor but it is recording. I have no way of getting the recording off the NVR because I can’t view it. I tried to playback via the browser and IP address but it won’t let me playback, I’m assuming its a mac problem, I’m sure it works fine on Internet Explorer (that’s what the tech told me anyway, he could playback my camera recordings on his end) .I guess it’s not totally compatible with my NVR which is my fault for not checking. Otherwise this camera works great I am able to use the app. The only thing I don’t like about it is its not as adjustable as my other bullet camera, I wish I could rotate it more. My other bullet I can move it from right to life more, this one you can only move at the base and then have to tighten it up, but it does have a nice picture. Again, amcrest is not really that mac friendly. I’m sure everything works better with a PC.

I received this product at a discount in exchange for my honest review.

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PRODUCT REVIEW –Amcrest NV1104E 1080p POE NVR (4CH 1080p/3MP/4MP/5MP) Network Video Recorder

I read the reviews and questions on this product before purchasing it and it seems everybody is installing a hard drive. I assumed that it came with a small hard drive and people just wanted more space to record their live camera. So I asked fellow Amazon reviewers about the hard drive before I purchased it and I received no answers. I specifically asked what can this nvr do without a hard drive and all i got was a sarcastic answer that said ‘it dances’. That should’ve been my first clue. So I downloaded the manual before I even purchased this and the manual states that it has a hard drive but you can replace it. It does not have a hard drive please see pictures of the inside of this product. Lucky for me I had an extra hard drive laying around or I would be livid that I bought a new product that I have to buy something additional for. Also the plug for the hard drive is for a 3 1/2 inch drive so if you want to add a larger size drive, which there is plenty of room for, you would need an adapter, more money and parts. I have two outside cameras that I wanted to hook up to the NVR, both Amcrest,. I was able to hook up one of the cameras which was fairly easy. The second camera that I wanted to hook up is an Amcrest Qcam which is a POE camera, I was able to connect it to the NVR but I cannot view it on my monitor screen, but I can view it on the computer screen, weird. I had some problems viewing my cameras via Amcrestview as well as the app so I called customer service. The rep, Mario, took over my computer and pretty much set the whole thing up for me so I was really happy. He told me they were having some issues with amcrestview and the app and they are working on it. He also showed me a different way to view my cameras while away from home. Both cameras are recording but the one camera I cannot view from the NVR monitor and when I go online to view the cameras I cannot playback my recordings I am assuming its because I have a mac and it’s the browser I am using which kinda stinks since I can’t view the feed on my nvr monitor I guess my nor isn’t really compatible with the amcrest qcam. I really like this it suits my particular needs just wish it came with some kind of hard drive and there was more mac support but overall I am happy with it. I am sure everything works better on a pc.

I received this product discounted in exchange for my honest unbiased review.

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PRODUCT REVIEW –Amcrest HDSeries Outdoor 720P WiFi Wireless IP Security Bullet Camera – IP66 Weatherproof, 720P (1280TVL), IPM-722S

I had some issues at first with this camera but now that it is up and running I really like it. Here are some things you should know before you buy it though. There is no instruction manual, there is only a quick start guide in the box, and a mini cd which I couldn’t use on my mac mini, because I have no cd tray. You can very easily go to the website and download a pdf of the entire manual. I really had this thing going in about 4 minutes without even reading the manual. Make sure you screw on the wifi antenna right away I totally forgot and then wondered why I couldn’t connect to wifi, duh. I had a problem picking out where I was going to install it because it is wired and needs an outlet to plug into, it does work on wifi so you don’t need to plug in the ethernet cable unless of course you want to use the NVR and record things yourself. The camera records on the amcrest cloud which is free for one camera (you can pay a fee and add up to 64 cameras), but is limited to 4 hours of recording or you need to subscribe, if you want to keep the recordings for 7 days its $6 per camera, 14 days $10 per camera and 30 days $15 per camera. I looked at the recordings and they are excellent and there is no lag. I checked the night vision and that is really good too. Otherwise you need the amcrest NVR which isn’t a bad idea for multiple cameras and recording the video yourself. The amcrest app has many settings and you can connect your camera to your wifi network from there, I was able to scan the code on the camera and viola it showed up, you can change some settings on the app but there are more settings through the IP address on your web browser. I am having problems with the app (4/8/2016), sometimes it works other times it says ‘login timed out’ (I called Amcrest and they said this is a known issue they are working on). I try through the browser at amcrestview.com which is free but it tells me the device is offline (same issue that the app has which they say they are working on) so I can only view my live feed when I am home which is silly. I called Amcrest support and found an awesome tech named Mario who showed me another way to view my cameras when I am away from home. Apparently there is Blue Iris software (I think it’s $50) which allows you to record to your computer but I don’t know because I have a mac and the software is for windows only. I tried downloading three different security software programs for mac and none of them recognized my amcrest camera. There is no SD card in this, so the only way for me to record something the way I have it setup is to manually hit the record button or hit the take a picture button when I am viewing the live feed, and then it will save to my computer. It does not record to my computer when there is motion on its own, looks like I do need the NVR if I want constant recordings unless I want to pay a fee to amcrest cloud. I had trouble setting up the email alerts at first with gmail, I did a little bit of googling and found out that I had to change a setting on my gmail which allows less secure apps to access my gmail and it worked fine after that. After one day I noticed a lot of flickering on the screen on my live feed and some red and blue colors would flash on my live feed and app as well. I called customer service and they gave me an RMA number and a prepaid label and had me return it. I just got the new camera and hooked it up the the NVR so at least I have my own recordings. I am disappointed that the app and the amcrestview do not work and shows my camera as offline when I am watching it live on my computer I am hoping they fix this soon. I spent a lot of time on the phone to get this thing working properly with my NVR. It is not so mac friendly but it works great now. The picture is great and I am really happy with it. I think it would be much easier to set up with a PC.

I received this product at a discounted price in exchange for an honest review

Amcrest Outdoor Bullet Camera buy here on Amazon