motospyder wrote:Which hard drive did you use...exactly? Are they all the same? That is, can I use a HD from a PC? I am just not sure which one to get. Thanks

3.5 inch sata drive.

I also was one of the ones who FINALLY got their Zmodo 4 camera DVR without the hard drive. I tried to set it up without the hard drive to see how the picture is, but got a black screen while using the VGA connection. I went and got a 1.5 Tera HD, extension cables, and also a female BNC to male RCA adapter to see if that would give me a better picture (or ANY picture for that matter). I installed the drive, and connected a camera. I do not get anything but a black screen. I tried both connections (VGA and BNC) and nothing.... I'm not happy! I will contact Zmodo on Mon (when they open) but is anyone else experiencing this? Does anyone have any advise on how to resolve this? I can not even make it to the main interface screen and here no beeps after I turned it on like it said I should..... HELP- Brgds - Mike

DennisWKam wrote:Ack! Sorry! Please email us at service@woot.com and we'll help you out.

I had the same problem... Bad batch? I'll have to wait til Monday to try to get someone from Zmodo to help. I hope they have good customer service. Did you get any resolution yet?

erroneous wrote:I got my order on the 11th, tracking info afterwards as well.

Opened it up, plugged it in, flipped the switch and nothing happened. Tried my own 12v power supply and still nothing...

That's 2 for 3 electronic devices I've bought from woot that didn't work out of the box.

I had the same problem... Bad batch? I'll have to wait til Monday to try to get someone from Zmodo to help. I hope they have good customer service. Did you get any resolution yet?

fierostetz wrote:did you remove the plastic film from the IR reciever on the DVR?

Yup! still no luck.

Also found the problem with the dead cam.
It's full of water so it don't work anymore.
Also one other cam was showing a blurry picture.
I noticed the inside of the one cam is starting to get water also. I cleaned the lens and all is ok.

I think a little bit of silicone caulk around the strain relief is needed on every one.
Seems to be a good gap between the case of the cam and the strain relief so water has a great way of getting in.

I'm kinda disappointed.

John

Just an update. My DVR stopped working with the iPhone application. I can still connect via the windows application, but I can only view the cameras in CIF resolution for some reason.

I also confirmed if you are not viewing the DVR directly from the VGA port, the display resolution is 352x240. This is using the "DVR client" software they ship with the unit.

So, you cannot save or even view streams greater than 352x240 resolution, unless you are plugged directly into the DVR. I cannot use my iPhone to view the streams at any res. These specs are far from what was advertised.

Okay, I bought 2 of these. I had some spare HD's sitting around, and I have a similar Security system out in my shop. (Lets me check to see if my shop cat is still around...)

So far, It's looking bad.
I've only unpacked 1 unit. First thing I did was put in a HD. While it came with HD screws, it did NOT come with screws to hold the case together.
Powered up and seemed to function, indicated no Video sources.
So I unpacked the cameras and hooked them up.
Now it says I have Video (Green R instead of Red X), but no video appears. All 4 panels are blank.

Guess I could go plug one of these cameras into my other system to see if the camera works, but I'd bet it does since this DVR says it has video. Just won't show it.

Okay, trying the 2nd unit.
Didn't bother putting a HD in it yet.
It does show live video for all 4 inputs.
CIF is only resolution choice.

Both of these are:
Software Version: 7.01
MCU Version: 1
Hardware Version: 7938
Release Date: 2011-05-27

Interesting. I switched back to the first unit to check it's version info, and now it's showing video properly.

Interesting things I notice about these.
1) At least one of mine still had the "Remove after washing" sticker on the little sonalert thing.
2) It has a serial port header. Wonder what could be done with that...

CasaDelGato wrote:Interesting things I notice about these.
1) At least one of mine still had the "Remove after washing" sticker on the little sonalert thing.
2) It has a serial port header. Wonder what could be done with that...

Mine has those stickers too. It also came without screws.

aaronwoolf wrote:Purchased it specifically based on the specs given: Record Resolution: NTSC: D1(704 x 480) The manual gives the same specs. However, the resolution can't be changed. The pitiful CIF (352x240) appears to be the only option.

I contacted Woot support, but haven't heard back. Has anyone gotten a response from Woot on this issue? (Since it only does ~25% of the advertised function, I requestd a 75% refund, as refund on my card or as a Woot.com credit.)

Yeah, CIF does suck. I had recently bought a Proximus 4 camera system from TigerDirect on sale for $220 (w/500GB HD) and had been expecting this system to be similar.
The proximus system does 400TVL resolution, which appears to be what this system was advertised at. CIF is FAR FAR worse, and renders this system nearly unuseable.

cyberey66 wrote:You might be able to use firmware from another manufacture.

Anyone had luck using/finding alternate firmware? (to rectify the pathetic 320x252 resolution limitation, which doesn't match the product specs or manual)

aaronwoolf wrote:I contacted Woot support, but haven't heard back. Has anyone gotten a response from Woot on this issue? (Since it only does 25% of the advertised function, I requestd a 75% refund, as refund on my card or as a Woot.com credit.)

I contacted Woot, their reply was, "the referenced video resolution is for video playback only." This doesn't make sense on a few levels. Firstly, the playback is at CIF as playback implies something was recorded. Secondly, if they meant live view, the live view is also CIF. The only way to view D1 is locally at the DVR box with a monitor plugged into the back.

This place sells the DVR too, and claims D1 recording at reduced frame-rate. I emailed them to ask for firmware, just in case.

http://www.anyworld.com.cn/DVR-8114HV-5-35.html

cyberey66 wrote:This place sells the DVR too, and claims D1 recording at reduced frame-rate. I emailed them to ask for firmware, just in case.

http://www.anyworld.com.cn/DVR-8114HV-5-35.html

Nice- let us know what you find

I'm awaiting a capture card (pci) so I can just use the cams with my own server. I have an sff atom machine, should be able to serve 4 cams w/ 2gb ram, right? Worst case, card was only 14 bucks I also ordered a y-cam after playing with one at work. Only 640x480, but the night vision is incredible.

fierostetz wrote:Nice- let us know what you find

I'm awaiting a capture card (pci) so I can just use the cams with my own server. I have an sff atom machine, should be able to serve 4 cams w/ 2gb ram, right? Worst case, card was only 14 bucks I also ordered a y-cam after playing with one at work. Only 640x480, but the night vision is incredible.

Well looks like my dvr just died, it beeped then went unresponsive. I powered it off/on and got no video. Power and network lights on only. Did an arp -a and the dvr's not pulling an address, verified via my dhcp server. Sucks, I'm not too keen on climbing back on my roof to pull all the cables down for an rma. First woot that I really regret.

Worked for 5 minutes, but on boot up the second day it was DOA.

putyouallin wrote:I also was one of the ones who FINALLY got their Zmodo 4 camera DVR without the hard drive. I tried to set it up without the hard drive to see how the picture is, but got a black screen while using the VGA connection. I went and got a 1.5 Tera HD, extension cables, and also a female BNC to male RCA adapter to see if that would give me a better picture (or ANY picture for that matter). I installed the drive, and connected a camera. I do not get anything but a black screen. I tried both connections (VGA and BNC) and nothing.... I'm not happy! I will contact Zmodo on Mon (when they open) but is anyone else experiencing this? Does anyone have any advise on how to resolve this? I can not even make it to the main interface screen and here no beeps after I turned it on like it said I should..... HELP- Brgds - Mike

I had a similar problem. It worked for 5 minutes when I first plugged it in, and the next morning I tried to turn it on and it was dead.

choxnpinz wrote:I had a similar problem. It worked for 5 minutes when I first plugged it in, and the next morning I tried to turn it on and it was dead.

maybe the reset will work for you - reboot it, when its finished booting, hold rewind until it beeps

alternatively, open it up and remove the cmos battery (cr2032 button cell) and jumper the contacts, then reinstall the battery and power back on. good luck

fierostetz wrote:Well looks like my dvr just died, it beeped then went unresponsive. I powered it off/on and got no video. Power and network lights on only. Did an arp -a and the dvr's not pulling an address, verified via my dhcp server. Sucks, I'm not too keen on climbing back on my roof to pull all the cables down for an rma. First woot that I really regret.

You may just want to leave the cameras in place, and get a different recorder. I've been looking around, and 4 cameras with 50' cables cost about the same as we paid for this complete setup.
So, even though the recorders are junk, I'm probably going to keep mine just for the cameras.

fierostetz wrote:Nice- let us know what you find

I'm awaiting a capture card (pci) so I can just use the cams with my own server. I have an sff atom machine, should be able to serve 4 cams w/ 2gb ram, right? Worst case, card was only 14 bucks I also ordered a y-cam after playing with one at work. Only 640x480, but the night vision is incredible.

Have you found any PCI DVR cards that work with Windows 7? They're very rare. All I find are Windows XP/2000 cards and they don't work with Windows 7 no matter what.

Also, what's a y-cam?

Thanks!

I have yet to receive a shipping notice for my zmodo purchase. when I go to "my account" it says everything went well, but no delivery yet. What is up, woot?

kjrehberg wrote:Have you found any PCI DVR cards that work with Windows 7? They're very rare. All I find are Windows XP/2000 cards and they don't work with Windows 7 no matter what.

Also, what's a y-cam?

Thanks!

y-cam is an IP camera that has some phenomenal low-light abilities. The college I do IT for has a bunch of Axis and Toshiba security cameras, and the y-cam's low-light performance trounces cameras costing into the thousands. The resolution is pretty low (640x480) compared to the other cameras there (2mpixel) and the FOV is pretty narrow, but they're awesome. An outdoor enclosure for the y-cam is also only 60 bucks, so that right there is more interesting to me for home use. I have 2 of these zmodo cameras pointed 45 degrees apart, I was going to put the y-cam in between them. It does motion-alarm as well as sending stills/video when there's motion, which I could use to get an approximate time from the cheaper zmodo camera/dvr. Kinda a product enhancer for the cheaper cameras.

aaronwoolf wrote:I contacted Woot support, but haven't heard back. Has anyone gotten a response from Woot on this issue? (Since it only does ~25% of the advertised function, I requestd a 75% refund, as refund on my card or as a Woot.com credit.)

I heard back from Woot today:
"The sale advertisement was incorrect as you stated and Zmodo should be contacting you regarding this to hopefully resolve this in a very quick and efficient manner. If you have not heard from Zmodo by Tuesday, please let us know so we can further assist."

I guess I'll wait a week and see what happens.

aaronwoolf wrote:I heard back from Woot today:
"The sale advertisement was incorrect as you stated and Zmodo should be contacting you regarding this to hopefully resolve this in a very quick and efficient manner. If you have not heard from Zmodo by Tuesday, please let us know so we can further assist."

I guess I'll wait a week and see what happens.

They actually just called me. They were polite and said they are currently coming up with options for us.

cyberey66 wrote:They actually just called me. They were polite and said they are currently coming up with options for us.

For all of us who bought this Woot? I sure hope so.

I installed my 4 channel system this past weekend. It worked for a day, then I lost VGA display. Switched to composite video and that lasted another day. I also note now 1 camera has horizontal lines thru it. I am not keen on ripping out the wiring efforts. I am a big WOOT fan, but we'll see how they handle this RMA.

It's Thanksgiving and I'm giving thanks I haven't received my unit yet cause from the posts here it sounds like I won't be giving thanks when (or if) I do. Thanks

cyberey66 wrote:They actually just called me. They were polite and said they are currently coming up with options for us.

Hmm, should we all go to the ZMOdo site and register?

Interesting. I just looked at the ZModo site, and the "Specifications" page for this recorder is blank.
Was it blank when the Woot sale was happening?

Cameras image washes out in bright light. IR range is as advertised, but image is noisy. There are better cameras available for a little more money.

Anyone else been having the problem where the video only works sometimes?
2 out of 3 times I've powered this up, I get no video. The camera panels have the green R showing they have signal, but nothing is displayed.

This is a very nice surveillance system for home and/or small business. Hard drive is not included but you can get one at best buy for about $50 (1 TB), which is plenty of memory and you have a security system for less than $175. Like others commented, day view is good, night is ok. Must install cameras at least 10 to 12 feet away to have a full view of what you would like to capture.

CasaDelGato wrote:Interesting. I just looked at the ZModo site, and the "Specifications" page for this recorder is blank.
Was it blank when the Woot sale was happening?

The DVR specs don't appear on the package page but on the page for individual DVR they do, http://www.zmodo.com/4-channel-cctv-surveillance-security-dvr-record-system.html. Zmodo said the specs posted by Woot were incorrect.

cyberey66 wrote:They actually just called me. They were polite and said they are currently coming up with options for us.

Well, I just got back an email from support that basically says "so sad, too bad".

"I apologize, that was a mistake on Woots end. They erroneously submitted that description for our product. You'll need to have a different DVR to correct that or contact Woot for a return. Our website www.cctvhotdeals.com has our newer DVR's if that's what you're looking for."

Combine that with the flakey video display. (it only sometimes shows video from the cameras) I think I'll be shipping these POS back.

CasaDelGato wrote:
"I apologize, that was a mistake on Woots end. They erroneously submitted that description for our product.

How can they explain the fact that if you google the DVR-8114HV, every description says playback, encoding and resolution in CIF,HD1 and D1?

Has anyone had any luck with the DVR client that comes with the system? I have got it up and running, but can not get it to record on motion detect. I know it is detecting motion because the switching option works (camera zooms in on motion) but nothing records. I am trying to have a backup recording should the DVR get stolen. Thanks!


I have windows XP and am networked wirelessly in the house. I can see the video feeds and can manually record video by right clicking on the feed and selecting "Start Record" but can not get the record on motion to work. It works just fine on my DVR system, just trying to get the client software to do it as well.

Can't get it to work for more than 2 hours. I have tried 3 different hard drives. (all new and swapped out at best buy.) I called tech support and the guy argued with me that it was a hard drive. He was supposed to send me an RMA for a return/swap which he never did. I guess I'm calling them back tommorrow.
When it did work the night vision sucks, never got to see it in daytime because of work schedule and it only works a couple hours then craps out. Customer service there is terrible, they argue with you, don't follow through with what they're supposed to do. My advice is to spend more money and get a quality system instead of this pos. Never again will I buy anything with zmodo on it.