KGuard CA104.V2-C02 4 Ch DVR + 4 CMOS, 420 TVL, Bullet Cameras, Surveillance Kit Solution

Pros: Honestly I guess you could say the price was a Pro but not much more

Cons: Well lets see. Does NOT come with a hard drive. When I got the hard drive it would not format. No meaningful instructions in the box. Screws were cheap and nearly stripped just trying to install the hard drive. This company's tech support is non-existent. It is basically a answering machine and they don't call back. Picture quality was really low. Camera does not handle light changes.

Other Thoughts: You get what you pay for I guess. I was drawn to this because of the price but there is a reason this unit was so cheap. Spend the extra 20 bucks and get a quality system

Pros: 6 months in and it already helped us nab a perp. This was out first system so not much expectations but it works as promised. Cameras are clear, no problem with setup. Worked with a WD 1tb drive no problems. Menus are well layed out and use logical steps. Came with all necessary mounting hardware and hex key. We like it, would definitely use this brand again should we need more.

Cons: Front bezel mounting tabs broke taking it apart, very flimsy. Wrote KGuard and they shipped another out. Wish you could disable the lights on the front of the DVR as to not attract attention. Have to remove sunshade off cameras to access the screw that lets you rotate the camera on the base. Hard to get off. These problems would not stop me from purchasing this unit again.

Pros: The cameras & recorder work.

Cons: The support, user interface and documentation is either nonexistant and worthless.

Other Thoughts: Did not get the advertised manufacturer rebate.

Pros: It will work for a couple of months. Night visioon is worthless unless the area is lighted.
Tech support is by E Mail. After 2 weeks I got to talk to the techie? He said I don't know what is wrong????

Cons: Poor CHEAP Qualitty of DVR. I had to fight with Support (laugh) for 3 weeks. the techie said he could not find out why it did not record, no mouse or remote. DUH The circuit board (MAYBE)_???
I bought a 1 year warranty and am fighting with BankersWarranty.

Other Thoughts: Buy a Q SEE

Pros: NONE

Cons: Do not buy this junk, I have gone through 3 hard drives because they do not tell you that you should not use a green hard drive, 2 DVRs becuase its cheap plastic and now one of my cameras for no reason went down. This is cheap junk. DO NOT BUY IT. Plus they do not have 24 tech support. I have called twice and they did not help me at all. I have sent 300 to 400 dollars more then I should have.

Other Thoughts: JUNK!!!

Pros: great product lost of features. Good quality during day/night. When it arrived it took me about 5 hours to run all wires plus a cat5 line for internet.

Cons: The cd is scratched......could load the manual or DVR software.... after a while of research i finally figure it out....

Other Thoughts: I`m still finding out how to install mobile access to my Android 2.2

Pros: Purchasing a 4 channel DVR with cameras included at such a low price set my expectations pretty low. I've had the system up and running for a month now. I have to say I am very impressed with it. Setup was not difficult. I had it visible to the outside world on the internet almost immediately after opening (the main reason I wanted the system was to be able to monitor the house and pets when I am away). I spent the time to make the camera installation look professional and ran the wires in the walls/ceiling to have a nice, clean installation. The web interface works great. Refresh rate through a browser is good enough that I can see my pet bird blink. I also access the system through my Android phone, although the software for the iPhone does not work (as of 8/31/11). With 1TB hard drive installed, it can record all four channels, 24/7 for about 30 days. If you turn on motion recording only, 1TB would probably last six months before overwriting. I am VERY happy.

Cons: My biggest complaint with the system is more a manufacturer problem than a system problem. The software they provide for the iPhone does not work. They recently released a new version of it. I was hopeful, but it didn't work either. I know the problem is not with my set up because I have it working on my Android-based phone and can access it through the web. One small issue I had was the cd with the software (which is really not needed) was broken upon receipt. Things one could complain about: cameras that are outside during daylight sometimes have trouble interpreting colors correctly. For example, my grass shows up as gray. Also, when in IR mode (dark), there is a fair amount of noise in the image. Neither of these issues concern me though because you can see people and objects just fine. My last "con" is the cameras are NOT wide-angle at all. The viewing area is very narrow. You can purchase a wider-angle camera if this is too much of a problem.

Other Thoughts: I am thrilled with this product. I am considering purchasing a second unit, in fact. Important: if you THINK you may need more than four cameras, be sure to by the 8 channel DVR. After getting mine installed, I kind of wish I would have bought the 8 channel to keep everything on one unit. For my setup, a second 4 channel will work out okay because I am going to use one for home monitoring and one for pet monitoring. I can share the login information for the pet dvr with friends and family that want to view my birds, for example, while still keeping my home camera system secured. Final thoughts: If you are looking for a neat, reliable way to keep an eye on your house, look no further. This unit WORKS and the price is great. Even if you have to add a wide-angle camera (for your driveway, for example), your total cost will still be very reasonable. Hopefully they get the iPhone App working properly so the unit will function as advertised. Until then, my Android will work.

Pros: Cheap, good video, ie9/ semi compatible.

Cons: No hard drive, tough instructions, must be an IT Engineer to figure this one out. Default IP is not set to DHCP, set up as static from the factory.

IP connected has a 2 second delay, whereas the direct connect VGA has sharp crisp resolution.

Other Thoughts: Youre probably NOT going to read the manual. So here is the easy setup.

1. Plugin only 1 camera
2.Fire it up, RIGHT click anywhere, click MENU/NETWORK
set the IP address you want to use.
3. On your computer go to, start/run type in: CMD <enter> type: IPCONFIG <enter> and view your IP Address, mine was [EXAMPLE]10.1.1.10, so i set the DVR to 10.1.1.254, something easy, (you cannot go pass 254 ppl, verify the subnet/gateway, copy the setting to the DVR, save & Reboot.

DOES work with the newer IE versions.
Once rebooted, type in 10.1.1.254 in the internet explorer.
Install the ActiveX, a yellowish bar, wait... Close it out, and open the IP again, and click the COMPATIBILITY MODE [icon looks like a ripped paper icon]

Install the rest of the equipment.

Pros: inexpensive unit. One power source for all cameras, so no grounding issues causing video roll. audio i/o option to embed with video. multiple types of outputs for video. full control with both remote and on-unit buttons. multiple record and playback formats. internet accessible without any additional software.

Cons: inexpensive unit. video/power cable thin and can easily be cut/torn by sharp corner. the sun guard on the cameras have become discolored. poorly written instructions. did not work with my blackberry when it said it would.

Other Thoughts: remote internet access is made easier with a DynDNS.com account, but is available directly if you know your IP address.

Pros: The camera system is cheap. It does not include a hard drive, if you get one it needs to be sata. Installation is not that hard, screw in the screws to mount it, run the cables. As far as monitoring, pretty simple, plug them in to the receiver, and plug in the receiver to the monitor. Works great outside if you have extra night lights, porch lights, or neighborhood lights around.

Cons: The night vision is ok. If it is pitch black outside, the camera only gets 20 feet. My backyard is shaded by trees, so hardly any light gets to it, and the camera facing back there can't see anything at night. The material in which the cameras are made out of are ok, but I would like to see how it holds up after a few years. Quality is about a 6/10, i have one at my front door and can clearly make out faces. I have one facing where cars park (about a 25ft distance) and faces become pretty hard to recognize. But do beware, if you do not have a light directly lighting up an area you want to monitor at night, and the radius is more or further than 20ft - 25ft, forget it, won't see anything.

The worst part - This unit allows you to remotely view camera feeds from anywhere. But caution, there are zero instructions included, and VERY VERY difficult to setup, even with prior networking/dmz knowledge. If you don't have your CCNA lol this is going to be a pain.

Other Thoughts: Remote viewing requires - dynamic dns, dmz, and special browser plugins which you can't find anymore, as well as for smart phone viewing you get this 3rd party app (iPhone for me) which doesn't work. Has a 1/5 star rating, and its the app the manufacturer suggested.

Made in Korea or China - Customer support is gone, don't expect any. All printed / typed material is translated from another language to English, so difficult to understand.

Cabling - Cameras come with about 60ft cabling, one cable has the video feed and power, so only need to run one cable per camera.

Unit Visibility - The receiver lights up about 40 lights when its powered on, and can be bright. This wasn't an issue for me, but for those who are going to hide this unit, thiefs will easily find it.

Lens - the lens are flat, so no wide angle fish eye view. It looks straight ahead.