Night Owl MPEG4 Internet Ready 4 channel DVR w/ 4 Night Vision Cameras and 500GB HD (Tiger-4500)

Pros: Fairly Easy Setup

Cons: *Stopped working after using it a few times.
*Takes forever to get video off of the DVR and you lose a lot of quality (which isn't great to begin with) in the process.
*Their customer service staff have no clue what they're doing.

Other Thoughts: I could go on and on about why you shouldn't purchase this unit and more importantly why you shouldn't purchase ANYTHING from this company but I will try to keep it brief.

I run a paranormal investigation team and we purchased this unit because we're broke and it was inexpensive. We were NOT expecting high quality. The DVR stopped working after we used it approximately 8-10 times. It's now been over 2 months since I returned the DVR to Night Owl to repair or replace under warranty and we still do not have a working unit.

Not only could Night Owl not find my DVR (even though I had proof of delivery) but once they did find it, they sent the DVR back without a power supply and have since sent me the WRONG power supply twice. I still don't even know if they fixed it as I can't turn it on.

I really don't know how hard it is to send back the correct part for a unit that your own company produces, but apparently for Night Owl it's pretty much impossible.

Avoid at all costs.

Pros: It comes in a box.

Cons: The cameras require 300mA each, multiply that by four cameras.
The camera power supply is only rated for 1000mA.

The DVR only supports 60FPS. You have to divide that between four cameras.

The power brick for the DVR made a "POP" and died.

The video quality is so poor that you cannot make anything out.
The image on all channels is blurry and washed out.
The system is supposed to be color, but you would swear that it is black and white.

Other Thoughts: The menu system on the DVR itself is a joke.
I've had VHS VCRs that were better.

I unfortunately bought two of these systems.
At least I have spare parts... Goodie



Newegg rocks!

Pros: easy install. if you have mechanical background.

Cons: Purchased late Nov 2010. Unite has had problems since day one. Sensitivity is to high. Did a work around by blocking most areas in camera range. Trees branches anything that can move. Someone came on my property and damaged my boat attempted to review only to find unite would not go into menu mode to access memory called Night Owl. They are Helpless call for hours to get thru on forever hold for teck. Told to try several override codes none worked. Told to use online report to get RMA for unite return to them. That was on the 18th of march tried contacting 2 more e mails no response. Try calling 6 x disconnected after 15-30 min. Do NOT Buy no service no repairs

Pros: Great system for the do it your selfer. Great price for the home. Easy to install and maintain.

Cons: Just had the power cord supply fail. Will update on the company's response and results. Resolution is low but great optics for a cheap system with night vision.

Pros: The cameras work well even in very low lighting, an easy system to set up. User interface is simple to navigate.

Cons: The DVR locks up after just a few days of use and requires a reboot. This will happen more and more frequently the longer you run the system. Night Owls customer service department tried to help me but really could only recommend I unplug it and plug it back in then format the hard drive. I returned mine directly to Night Owl and only had to send the DVR. I got the DVR back about a week later and was soon back to square one. DVR freezes up. Thinking this must be an overheating problem. I then took the top cover off and rigged the feet so the unit is sitting furter off the table. This helps considerably, but still not perfect I still have to reboot 2-3 times a week. The next step is to install a computer fan onto the DVR and make the tiny air vents on the bottom of the unit larger.

Other Thoughts: If you enjoy tinkering with electronics this is the security system for you!!!!!!
P.S. internet viewing software does not work w/ Windows 7.
This would be an awesome system, if only it worked.

Pros: The hardware is easy to setup. I had a camera up and running within a few minutes. The cameras are heavy-duty but the mounting screws are not. I snapped a few when screwing them into my eaves.

Cons: The hard drive is very unreliable. One day it will record and the next day it will not record. The date stamp is constantly changing and my recorded files will be temporarily "lost" until I reset the hard drive. Sometimes it will show it is recording, but it will not record. The motion sensors don't work well at night. The software is not user-friendly. I am unable to get the hard drive onto my network. I am unable to get the USB playback feature working on my Windows 7 system, only on XP. The record feature on the USB playback does not record properly. Online support is non-existent.

Pros: The cameras it comes with are decent. Cabling being included is handy.

Cons: - Freezes and slows down after short periods of use
- Manufacturer won't do much about it
- Remove viewing and administration is really lame
- Mobile phone support is a joke/non-existent

Can't return just the DVR..must return ALL cameras AND wiring it came with.....almost impossible to do after you've put the wires in your wall before finding out the onboard software won't run for more than a day.

Other Thoughts: Buy something else. The manufacturer will NOT stand behind this unit.

The unit I received functioned fine in a few minutes of testing so I went forward with installing all the cameras and wiring how I wanted. I then find out that after the unit is on for a few hours it runs slower and slower until it finally locks up. Remote access ceases to work at this point and recording drops slower and slower until it is producing useless imagery. Manufacturer acted very surprised to hear this and promised to call me back. THEY NEVER DID.

The kicker is that you can not return just the DVR to newegg, and the manufacturer's help is a joke. You would have to pull all wires out of your walls and cameras off the ceiling in order to return it all to newegg. I ended up buying a better reviewed, linux based unit for half the price on another major tech website and using the cameras from this one

Lesson learned: There are no good cheap DVRs on newegg right now.

A bummer experience. I usually lo

Pros: none it never worked pictue was so bad u cldnt make out any detail. called tech support, what a joke, they told me what do i expect for the price and its for nite only. didnt even try to c if it was a setting or something.
newegg rocks as always and i already ordered another from them

Cons: what a waste of time

Other Thoughts: stay away

Pros: So far so good. About three days of continuous recording and it hasn't stuttered or froze up yet. Comes with about everything you need to hook it up, including the USB-A to USB-A to hook the device to a computer for backups (and network cable). Has the Western Digital AVVS Greenpower drive already installed (at least mine has that drive). Really simple setup. Included cable is enough to run the cameras in most homes.

Cons: You must have IE 7 or greater installed to view the cameras over the network along with some other functionality. The web controls rely on Active X. Larger homes will probably need to get longer cables. Remote seems to only work when directly in front of the unit, probably because of the small IR receiver cut-out.

Other Thoughts: IMO really good for a starter kit. Cameras actually surprised me with the clarity and resolution. The menus are text driven but are surprisingly thorough for setting up just about everything on the box. Need to get me a external drive to plug into it.

Pros: Easy set up & cameras do a decent job

Cons: Constantly locking up. Have to reboot A LOT. Cameras will go completely dark, it loses track of time, and reviewing is clunky at best. Remote control has to be within feet of unit.

Other Thoughts: worried that when I really need to rely on this that it will have locked up and end up being just a novelty. Still debating on whether I want to return it or not. Certainly would not buy another of their products. Going to contact company and see if there is a firmware flash that may remedy the problems.