D-Link DCS-2000 Internet Camera

Rating:
Summary: Good camera for the price
Review: I have both the wired and the wireless versions of the 2000 series in my house and I've been pretty pleased with them. It's very easy to setup and get the basics working - I had a little trouble figuring out how to get my Linksys router to forward requests from outside the firewall to the correct camera but that has more to do with me being a bonehead than anything else.

I like the video survalence software quite a bit, the motion detection stuff is slick, easy to use and works well. Similiar feature sets on other cameras (i.e. Apex) will cost you quite a bit more.

Couple knocks that kept me from giving it 5 stars - the email notification stuff (Which works with just the logic built into the camera itself) doesn't fire off reliably. About 1 in 4 events did not result in email - however those same events always recorded with the video survalence software. Their on line knowledge base/support pages are kinda weak (no searching capability!). The picture could be better for outdoors - I'm looking into alternative CS lenses to see if I can improve it.

Over all those are minor knocks on what is really a great product over all.

Rating:
Summary: Good camera for the price
Review: I have both the wired and the wireless versions of the 2000 series in my house and I've been pretty pleased with them. It's very easy to setup and get the basics working - I had a little trouble figuring out how to get my Linksys router to forward requests from outside the firewall to the correct camera but that has more to do with me being a bonehead than anything else.

I like the video survalence software quite a bit, the motion detection stuff is slick, easy to use and works well. Similiar feature sets on other cameras (i.e. Apex) will cost you quite a bit more.

Couple knocks that kept me from giving it 5 stars - the email notification stuff (Which works with just the logic built into the camera itself) doesn't fire off reliably. About 1 in 4 events did not result in email - however those same events always recorded with the video survalence software. Their on line knowledge base/support pages are kinda weak (no searching capability!). The picture could be better for outdoors - I'm looking into alternative CS lenses to see if I can improve it.

Over all those are minor knocks on what is really a great product over all.

Rating:
Summary: might be good for home or office use.
Review: I tested a DCS-2000 out as a security camera for my small retail store. I upgraded the firmware to 1.07 and IP surveillance to 2.12. At 320x240 i can't really make out a face more than 15 ft away, but a person moving at 10 ft alway causes the video to become choppy. I guess this system is good for areas where there are not much movement and where there is no need to have a clear image to ID a unknown person. The software and idea of this system is good, but that is about all that is good about this system.

Rating:
Summary: There are better alternatives
Review: I tested this camera, and if you don't need the built-in audio support, the AXIS 2100 Network Camera is the industry standard and a better choice. Considerable better image quality, especially at lower light conditions, and at the same price. If you want even better functionality and performance Axis also has a professional series of surveillance network cameras, (but are at least twice as expensive).

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: I've tried two of these units now, and neither of them work. The first wouldn't even get to where it's webserver was running and their tech support was useless. The second one will at least show a picture, but sometimes it likes to ignore web requests. Plus they seem to try to make it hard for you. It's very non-intuitive and has alot of things hard coded that shouldn't be.
I guess this is an alright BASIC camera, but don't expect it to be able to do anything cool at all.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful colors and sharp image
Review: If you focus this just right you can do a whole lot of good for the image quality. We have it setup to send an image to an FTP server everytime someone comes to the front door of our office. We don't get a whole lot of traffic, so it works out ok. I can vouch for the motion detection since not just the front door is in view of the camera. we select the area of what the camera can see for motion detection. and have it upload an image when it sees movement within that area of what we designate.

This is all very simple to figure out and worth the short time it takes to set up. Our company is glad we purchased it and will likely invest in another if we ever need another camera or a new one.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth the somewhat high price ...
Review: This camera is a bit expensive, but it serves its purpose quite well. I set this up in my kids' play room. It can serve up video and audio from within the room it is in and I am able to view that with Internet Explorer from any computer in my home. This way I can keep an eye and ear on my kids while they play in the other room while I am in our home office working. I get a lot more done knowing that they are behaving and not coloring on the walls or something.

Set up was rather easy. It is easier that setting up another computer on your network for sure. Plus it comes with instructions that make it even easier. Just follow the steps they have laid out for you.

I give it 5 stars because of the ease of use, the video quality, the time and worry it saves me, and it's ability to be a stand alone device. Just plug in he power and make sure it is hooked up to your home network.

Rating:
Summary: Works Excellent, with Good Picture Quality
Review: This was setup to view my backyard a couple months ago by looking out a window from inside. I was able to watch my dogs from work or when I was on vacation. Now I have it setup inside to watch the front door. I also have it streaming on my home network and when anyone comes to the door I check who it is before I open it.

The audio works fine, but I don't use it anymore. The setup is very painless and you just need to follow instructions. Getting it up on a webpage is a little tricky but I did it eventually.
I like this camera and would recommend this to others.

Rating:
Summary: Decent quality, excellent software
Review: Well, I chose to ignore the blatant Axis commercial someone put here as a review. I own the D-link 2000 and the Axis. The Axis is more expensive, has poorer software and is a royal pain to set up and configure.

The D-Link, while suffering some low light issues, is a snap to configure and update, simple to set up as a live web-cam or security cam. It's included security software is great! I actually now have 6 D-link cameras set up as door monitors, security, and to watch the dog (seems to be a popular use - what do we expect them to do, dance?)

Bottom line - not a better bang for the buck!