Question 1

What is HDD?

Accepted Answer

It means hard disk drive, in other words it means the hard drive that you would record the video on. any 3.5 inch hard drive should work.

Question 2

does this recorder take a 2.5 or a 3.5in hard drive?

Accepted Answer

Good question.  The directions were unintelligible.  I would guess they were translated from Chinese by a computer program and they made no sense at all in English.  I returned the kit.

Question 3

Can these cameras that come with it be used outdoors?

Accepted Answer

yes,  I am using these cameras on two covered porches.  I do not think these cameras are rated as waterproof nor would I subject them to a unprotected area.  But I think under an eve they would hold up.

The quality of the picture with these cameras is not very good.

The price of the system makes it a descent investment and the recorder seems reliable.  T

Question 4

What did you use for storage?

Accepted Answer

When I purchased mine, I got a combo pack which included a 1 Tra bite Hard drive. It installs right inside and i paid $159.00 for the both as a combo deal. keep looking or ask for it. All for one price.

Question 5

Can you use BOTH and Ipad and an Android phone at the same time to monitor the cameras or can you only use one?

Accepted Answer

I believe you can only use one phone at a time to view the cameras.  Also, you cannot access recorded footage via a phone.  The web interface only works with an old version of IE, and not at all with real browsers.  I threw the DVR out and have gone back to using my old 4 channel DVR until I can find a reliable 8 channel DVR.

I strongly recommend against buying this product.

Question 6

Does it require installing a hard drive into the box? If so, what spec drive!

Accepted Answer

I put a 500 in my DVR and according to some post I read after googling that can record 18 days depending on what settings you use. The system can be set to overwrite when full, or you can set it to reset after whatever days you select.

Question 7

Hi
Are the cameras for this unit wireless? Do they run on batteries?
Thanks

Accepted Answer

Not wireless you need to run wires, remember wireless units only tramsnit signal, they still need a power source, either batteries or ac transformed to dc. Run the dual wire that comes with the kit.

Question 8

Do you need to have windows installed on the hard drive or can I buy a blank hard drive and just use it?

Accepted Answer

I put a blank hard drive on the box then format it and use it to record video with no issue.  It does appear to have it own operating system all ready on the box. Suspect it to be linux related

Question 9

How do you see the images when you are not at home?  Do they have a website you can log on to (much like yhe Yoics) or do you have to have some kind of network of your own?  Thanks.

Accepted Answer

You must port forward the ports of the dvr on your router  then you can download an app on your phone or view the dvr via the web. you must have high speed internet.

Question 10

Does this unit only work with Micro$oft Winblows Internet Explorer as a activeX plugin requiring elevated "trust" like the Zmodo and NightOwl?

Accepted Answer

Believe I was able to stream via Chrome on Ubuntu, though the quality was lacking and the interface/control was extremely limited.

A monitor hooked up directly to the box resulted in clearer video than I expected and the OS worked pretty well.  Never could figure out how to get it to email alerts and have yet to perfect the motion detection, otherwise it is a decent cheap system.

Jim O

PS - It was manufactured by an overseas company and I was curious about what data it "phoned home", so one day I'm going to hook up a network monitor  :)

Questions & Answers