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Zmodo 4CH\4Camera Sony CCD
$139.99 + $5 Standard Shipping
Condition: New

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Hmm woot iv been looking past few weeks... Anyone have any sample video? Mobile so hard to look myself

Security cams on Woot? Must be every other day again. We must live in a world full of fear for such high demand.

I'm done with analog systems like these. You can't make out enough facial detail to ID anyone. I'm waiting for a good deal on some 2 megapixel outdoor day/night IP security cameras.

Can you buy the no hard drive model and add one yourself?

Carnivore wrote:I'm done with analog systems like these. You can't make out enough facial detail to ID anyone. I'm waiting for a good deal on some 2 megapixel outdoor day/night IP security cameras.

I am so with you on waiting for some TCP/IP 2+ MP multi-camera setups at a price we will/can afford to purchase them for..!!

I just installed one of these yesterday (the previous January version of the Zmodo 16-channel kit) and the BNC cables bundled with these were very delicate and inferiorly made.

I think the wires were damaged while it was fed through the pipes because I connected them before installing and it worked as it should, but after installing the wires and connecting the cameras it was nothing but "video loss" no matter what we did. We set up four cameras (out of eight) and only two had video. I had no problems with the DVR and cameras.

I'd suggest using a more rugged BNC wiring (can be bought from Amazon, eBay, Frys, Best Buy, etc) like the Swann's if you're planing on feeding the wires through some pipes (especially with bends) and cover the heads of the cables with masking tape. That pretty much worked for me.

Did I mention how crazy the lines get tangled? @_@;

Some installation tips:
- Cover the wire heads (as stated above).
- Test system before installing.
- Get better wires!!
- Length of cables may be too short, either get a longer wire or connect two cables with a coupler from RadioShack ($4/each).
- You're going to need at least eight hours installing depending on how you want to hide your wires.
- Don't expect it to be crystal clear or able to read a licence plate.

Noxide wrote:Can you buy the no hard drive model and add one yourself?

I'm pretty sure you can.. it's like swapping out a hard drive for a desktop.

And a sample video (of the previous model, which I would assume would be alike because I don't see the current versions yet):

Australia_ wrote:Security cams on Woot? Must be every other day again. We must live in a world full of fear for such high demand.

You have the option of checking today's woot and clicking away. Sorry this bothers you. As someone who just had his convertible top slashed, I'm looking for security cameras/recorder like this.

Noxide wrote:Can you buy the no hard drive model and add one yourself?

Yes. Ive got the 4 camera and 8 camera models (4 camera one came without a hard drive). Pretty easy if you've ever installed a hard drive before.

This is fun we can see which states are the most paranoid. (for good reason maybe)

What would it take to watch these from remote location, can they be viewed over an IP address? IE nanny cam.

Carnivore wrote:I'm done with analog systems like these. You can't make out enough facial detail to ID anyone. I'm waiting for a good deal on some 2 megapixel outdoor day/night IP security cameras.

I got ones of these on a day special at Home Depot for a little over 400 shippse....http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6697371&SRCCODE=PRICEGRABBER&cm_mmc_o=2mHCjCVybgwTyz__wyCjCVqHCjCdwwp&cpncode=27-141561679-2

rslong wrote:What would it take to watch these from remote location, can they be viewed over an IP address? IE nanny cam.

Second this... Anyone know? Would like to get this but the Ability to see it from an IP or On my phone is just as important as the DVR aspect.

joshobra wrote:I just installed one of these yesterday (the previous January version of the Zmodo 16-channel kit) and the BNC cables bundled with these were very delicate and inferiorly made.

I think the wires were damaged while it was fed through the pipes because I connected them before installing and it worked as it should, but after installing the wires and connecting the cameras it was nothing but "video loss" no matter what we did. We set up four cameras (out of eight) and only two had video. I had no problems with the DVR and cameras.

I'd suggest using a more rugged BNC wiring (can be bought from Amazon, eBay, Frys, Best Buy, etc) like the Swann's if you're planing on feeding the wires through some pipes (especially with bends) and cover the heads of the cables with masking tape. That pretty much worked for me.

Did I mention how crazy the lines get tangled? @_@;

Some installation tips:
- Cover the wire heads (as stated above).
- Test system before installing.
- Get better wires!!
- Length of cables may be too short, either get a longer wire or connect two cables with a coupler from RadioShack ($4/each).
- You're going to need at least eight hours installing depending on how you want to hide your wires.
- Don't expect it to be crystal clear or able to read a licence plate.



I'm pretty sure you can.. it's like swapping out a hard drive for a desktop.

And a sample video (of the previous model, which I would assume would be alike because I don't see the current versions yet):

As was mentioned in previous postings for zmodo camera systems ditch the cables and buy a spool or two of cat-5 or better Ethernet (use cl rated cable if pulling in plenum, etc) and then get a pair of bnc and power dongles for each camera on ebay.

The dongles seem to vary widely in price, connectors, and quality of construction but they let you run cables significantly further distances and much more easily than trying to mess with the bulky connectors. You should be proficient in crimping CAT5 RJ11 connectors to use this method.

Note that the dc signal will only make it about 200ft or so, so you may need a separate dc power supply for longer runs.

I WOULD NEVER BUY ZMODO AGAIN

I got a 4-camera package off Woot a few months back. I hate it so much, I'm making my first product comment on Woot.

1) the interface is awful. Full of "made in china" typos, it's almost impossible to use. Like your Mac or iPhone? This is completely the opposite.

2) speaking of Mac ... the website doesn't work on Macs. Yes, it's in a web browser, they could have easily designed a universal interface ... but no, you're 100% screwed if you have a Mac. (the supposed Mac app didn't work at all-- check its 1 rating in the App Store)

3) So I got the iPhone app. Useless. The reliability of the network connection it sends is atrocious. It sends a signal, but continuously drops one camera or another -- which makes NO sense from a networking perspective ... it's the DVR sends the signal, not the individual camera... so how could it drop only one camera?? Yet I get "Network not found" type messages on one or 2 cameras EVERY time I use the app.
So if something happens downstairs while I'm home, do you think I'll be able to quickly check my app and see who's down there? Not likely.

4) The quality of the saved video is vastly lower than watching it on a monitor ... even after I've (supposedly) maximized all the quality settings. So I probably won't even be able to make out the Perp's face afterwards.

Anyway ... That's my experience, please do your research, and know how awful this product it is. And Woot -- please, don't sell Zmodo crap again!!!

bluemidget wrote:I got ones of these on a day special at Home Depot for a little over 400 shippse....http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6697371&SRCCODE=PRICEGRABBER&cm_mmc_o=2mHCjCVybgwTyz__wyCjCVqHCjCdwwp&cpncode=27-141561679-2

That is a regular DVR just better quality but no 2mp system

Australia_ wrote:Security cams on Woot? Must be every other day again. We must live in a world full of fear for such high demand.

Lotta demand for ghost-hunting equipment, though.

tmblehigh1 wrote:Second this... Anyone know? Would like to get this but the Ability to see it from an IP or On my phone is just as important as the DVR aspect.

This seemed to be a black art at first because zmodo manuals may not always clearly describe the subject.

First you need a dvr with the hard drive or buy one yourself and install it. I would recommend staying away from SATA lll drives as the zmodo dvr we used would not boot with a SATA lll drive installed. I think the drive acts as a buffer for remote viewing over networks with higher latency.

Then connect the dvr to your LAN and make sure you know its address on your network. For remote viewing a static (or reserved dhcp) address works best. Change the default password on the dvr. Note that the passwords in my manual were wrong but an online version listed the correct passwords.

Then set up port forwarding in your router/cable/dsl modem for the required ports for remote viewing. These may be different from model to model. Zmodo does offer a service to do this for you for $$. They do seem to document this fairly well in the manuals that I have seen and port 8888 seems to be a default port for this among zmodo dvrs. There is also a remote server port too that you may need to proxy but you can test these without breaking too much. Zmodo seems to stress the fact that they don't want you to change he ports but I didn't have any trouble changing one to 443 in the hopes that it might be allowed over standard ssl ports (even though the traffic isn't ssl ).

Once you know the internal ip of your dvr and have setup port forwarding you will likely want to set up a dns alias for it and will need a service to do this for you unless you own and/or manage a domain name that you can add additional names for AND you also have static ip addresses from your isp. Most people will probably need to use a free dynamic dns service to associate their dvr with a friendly name.

Once you have a friendly name registered it is time to load an app on your phone. MeyePro and ipcamviewer seem to be popular ones for the android and have ad and ad-free versions available. The apps included with zmodo will work with either iPhone or droid but aren't as user friendly. Setup the app to use the full dns name, dvr ports, password and user name and you should be good to go.

You may want to test with the ip first or go to a windows pc and use the remote viewer activex plug-in that loads in your browser to test all of this. Sorry mac users but I don't think there is a remote viewing option for you. The www.whatismyip.org site is handy for for testing as well if you aren't comfortable with the dns stuff at first. Note that your ip address will likely change for most isps so this method isn't a good long term solution to replace using one of the many free dynamic dns services.

Good luck!

^ wow! Sounds like a major pain for the small private user. I need a 1-4 camera setup that I can access from my iPhone anytime. Maybe a motion detection alert, but that it is. Hrm..

Edit: thanks for takin the time for that, one great thing about this website is the discussion and comments.

jniedle wrote:I WOULD NEVER BUY ZMODO AGAIN

I got a 4-camera package off Woot a few months back. I hate it so much, I'm making my first product comment on Woot.

1) the interface is awful. Full of "made in china" typos, it's almost impossible to use. Like your Mac or iPhone? This is completely the opposite.

2) speaking of Mac ... the website doesn't work on Macs. Yes, it's in a web browser, they could have easily designed a universal interface ... but no, you're 100% screwed if you have a Mac. (the supposed Mac app didn't work at all-- check its 1 rating in the App Store)

3) So I got the iPhone app. Useless. The reliability of the network connection it sends is atrocious. It sends a signal, but continuously drops one camera or another -- which makes NO sense from a networking perspective ... it's the DVR sends the signal, not the individual camera... so how could it drop only one camera?? Yet I get "Network not found" type messages on one or 2 cameras EVERY time I use the app.
So if something happens downstairs while I'm home, do you think I'll be able to quickly check my app and see who's down there? Not likely.

4) The quality of the saved video is vastly lower than watching it on a monitor ... even after I've (supposedly) maximized all the quality settings. So I probably won't even be able to make out the Perp's face afterwards.

Anyway ... That's my experience, please do your research, and know how awful this product it is. And Woot -- please, don't sell Zmodo crap again!!!

Yeah the video quality is not super but if you do your research for consumer dvrs you aren't going to get better than 480 lines of resolution unless you go with a cmos type camera. The one posted here has actually slightly lower resolution than the previous offerings but much better night vision with the large number of IR LEDs.

I'm not sure about the signal issues but using MEyePro and a 4G LTE phone or standard wifi N router the signal was rock solid on a phone or windows laptop. I was amazed that there wasn't much latency between a live or remotely viewed connection on smart phone or laptop.

tmblehigh1 wrote:^ wow! Sounds like a major pain for the small private user. I need a 1-4 camera setup that I can access from my iPhone anytime. Maybe a motion detection alert, but that it is. Hrm..

Edit: thanks for takin the time for that, one great thing about this website is the discussion and comments.

Ha! Maybe I made this seem harder than it is. Actually there is a pretty good article on the subject at http://zmodo.info/port-forwarding-iphone-android-zmodo and there is a link to their professional services there if you prefer that option.

Take a look at their NVR article on their home page at http://zmodo.info/ as well if you are interested in a wireless ip based system if you want to avoid having to run cables.

There is a lot of other good info there too of you are configuring a system or just want to do some research.

ParadiseDave wrote:You have the option of checking today's woot and clicking away. Sorry this bothers you. As someone who just had his convertible top slashed, I'm looking for security cameras/recorder like this.

I know my options, thank you. I'm just pointing out the frequency of security cameras. I'm sorry about your convertible top.

Installed the last zmodo system offered here at a dog boarder to monitor their kennel and dog play areas and they were plenty happy with it.


My only regrets were the zmodo cameras which had poor IR night vision but slightly better resolution (480 line zmodo models vs the 420 line sonys). It looks like the night vision is much better on the Sony cameras offered here. Picture was ok and the owners could recognize the dog handlers and any dogs in the field of view.

The field of view is pretty narrow with this type of camera as well and you may have to plan your camera placement carefully.

Lastly it would have been nice to have a larger model dvr to add more cameras later to help with the narrow field of view. I suppose one could get a wide angle or PTZ (pan tilt zoom) model but these are typically quite a bit more expensive.

Also sound would have been nice to capture but most bullet type consumer cameras don't offer this even though these dvrs do have rca inputs to combine sound channels. Not sure if it records audio and allows it to be heard via the remote viewer as well.

darkinc wrote:Hmm woot iv been looking past few weeks... Anyone have any sample video? Mobile so hard to look myself

Gave this video to the police and he was arrested for criminal trespass 3hrs after it shot the video. This is from the 8 camera version

I solved the wire problem by using CAT 6 cabling for the main runs. I cut the ends of the included cables and spliced those onto the CAT 6.

joshobra wrote:I just installed one of these yesterday (the previous January version of the Zmodo 16-channel kit) and the BNC cables bundled with these were very delicate and inferiorly made.

I think the wires were damaged while it was fed through the pipes because I connected them before installing and it worked as it should, but after installing the wires and connecting the cameras it was nothing but "video loss" no matter what we did. We set up four cameras (out of eight) and only two had video. I had no problems with the DVR and cameras.

I'd suggest using a more rugged BNC wiring (can be bought from Amazon, eBay, Frys, Best Buy, etc) like the Swann's if you're planing on feeding the wires through some pipes (especially with bends) and cover the heads of the cables with masking tape. That pretty much worked for me.

Did I mention how crazy the lines get tangled? @_@;

Some installation tips:
- Cover the wire heads (as stated above).
- Test system before installing.
- Get better wires!!
- Length of cables may be too short, either get a longer wire or connect two cables with a coupler from RadioShack ($4/each).
- You're going to need at least eight hours installing depending on how you want to hide your wires.
- Don't expect it to be crystal clear or able to read a licence plate.



I'm pretty sure you can.. it's like swapping out a hard drive for a desktop.

And a sample video (of the previous model, which I would assume would be alike because I don't see the current versions yet):

So the video quality isn't all that great, what other vendor's products do a better job?

Scooter32401 wrote:I solved the wire problem by using CAT 6 cabling for the main runs. I cut the ends of the included cables and spliced those onto the CAT 6.

Yeah but to get 60 feet of CAT-6 cable (times 4) would cost you another $150 making this deal still not worth it, no?

pooterwooter wrote:Yeah but to get 60 feet of CAT-6 cable (times 4) would cost you another $150 making this deal still not worth it, no?

You can get 1000' of CAT5e cable for $80 at monoprice or check your local hardware store:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=105&cp_id=10233

wkearney99 wrote:So the video quality isn't all that great, what other vendor's products do a better job?

If your goal is better quality, then it is likely you are looking for a different type of camera not necessarily a specific brand. There is a good overview of the difference between cctv cameras and megapixel cameras at the zmodo link below:

http://zmodo.info/camera-types-and-things-to-consider-when-shopping-for-a-surveillance-system.php

I bought the 8 channel system back in June. It was advertised to include 4 cameras with 3.2 mm lenses. Two of them came with 6mm lens which in that configuration is really a long range lens. It was way too "zoomed in" for use in any area of my home set up. It was also speced to include four 60’ cables. It came with two 50’ and two 100’. It did not include the mounting screws for the hard drive or the DVR cover screws. I complained to Woot, they said it was not their problem since Zmodo shipped it. I complained to Zmodo and they said I could pay for an "upgrade" and return the two cameras and if they were satisfied that I did not damage them they would refund the balance of the difference. I sent them the Woot link which clearly specified the cameras to have 3.2mm lenses but that made no difference to them. I think I was being offered a sour deal on that since Zmodo advertises the two cameras on their web site at the same price yet they wanted me to pay for an upgrade. Each email to Zmodo took a week or more for a response.
The Zmodo DVR is not very user friendly. Linux based OS. No help screens. The manual is very basic and poorly translated from another language. I could find no on line support. The networking is very complex, but may be easier for someone with networking skills. I have been on phone support 3X and networking still unresolved. 20+ minute wait each time. Central time bankers hours. I had no problems getting what I had to work. I did some significant wire pulling through several walls for two of the more distant cameras. I taped up the ends well and they came out fine. I purchased my own hard drive (a 1.5 TB for $75 from geeks.com) and it installed easily. The resolution is fair but as other have said you are not going to read license plates. The price was certainly good though, but I guess you get what you pay for.
For these reasons I will probably not buy any more complex electronics from Woot.

ThunderThighs wrote:Yes, you can. It will accept a SATA drive up to 1TB.

Specs indicate 2TB max.

I bought the one a few months ago with no drive. Went to Fry's and bought a 2T sata rated for video for $130. It was easy to install and will hold months of video. I'm thinking about getting this one with the drive since it is alot cheaper. Want to try the 500Gb one. Seems like enough space.

joshobra wrote:I just installed one of these yesterday (the previous January version of the Zmodo 16-channel kit) and the BNC cables bundled with these were very delicate and inferiorly made.

I think the wires were damaged while it was fed through the pipes because I connected them before installing and it worked as it should, but after installing the wires and connecting the cameras it was nothing but "video loss" no matter what we did. We set up four cameras (out of eight) and only two had video. I had no problems with the DVR and cameras.

I'd suggest using a more rugged BNC wiring (can be bought from Amazon, eBay, Frys, Best Buy, etc) like the Swann's if you're planing on feeding the wires through some pipes (especially with bends) and cover the heads of the cables with masking tape. That pretty much worked for me.

Did I mention how crazy the lines get tangled? @_@;

Some installation tips:
- Cover the wire heads (as stated above).
- Test system before installing.
- Get better wires!!
- Length of cables may be too short, either get a longer wire or connect two cables with a coupler from RadioShack ($4/each).
- You're going to need at least eight hours installing depending on how you want to hide your wires.
- Don't expect it to be crystal clear or able to read a licence plate.



I'm pretty sure you can.. it's like swapping out a hard drive for a desktop.

And a sample video (of the previous model, which I would assume would be alike because I don't see the current versions yet):

I did not see in the lit if you could expand beyond the three cameras included. would like to have a six camera system at least. i know many come with a set of cameras and can be expanded. thanks

Scooter32401 wrote:I solved the wire problem by using CAT 6 cabling for the main runs. I cut the ends of the included cables and spliced those onto the CAT 6.

Unless you are (really) good with a soldering iron or you want to buy a bunch of radio shack parts, the quick way to do this is to crimp RJ45 ends on the CAT 5 or 6 cable and pick up a pair of these audio/video power RJ45 baluns from ebay for each camera:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313&_nkw=bnc+video+audio+power+balun&_sacat=0

Note that many of these include audio RCA connectors but you can just tie those up for use later if you ever upgrade the cameras.

Also note that a set of these includes a male & a female DC power feed for each camera that you can tie into the zmodo power splitter for cable feeds of under 200'.

matesjnv2 wrote:I did not see in the lit if you could expand beyond the three cameras included. would like to have a six camera system at least. i know many come with a set of cameras and can be expanded. thanks

You would need a DVR with more inputs. This set includes 4 cameras and four video inputs on the DVR max.

1badv6 wrote:

Gave this video to the police and he was arrested for criminal trespass 3hrs after it shot the video. This is from the 8 camera version

Cool.

Does anyone know if this will work with already-existing analog security cameras? The connectors look the same.

I got the 4 channel kit several months back. (http://www.woot.com/offers/zmodo-4-channel-surveillance-system-with-4-weatherproof-ir-cameras)

I wanted more cameras so I picked up the 8 channel. (http://www.woot.com/offers/zmodo-8-channel-surveillance-system)

The 8 channel cameras are much much better in quality even used on the 4 channel DVR. Honestly the camera is what makes or breaks the system with Zmodo.