Showing posts with label Safety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Safety. Show all posts
video baby monitor from levana
Does what it says it will... The Levana Clear-Vu digital baby monitor does exactly what it says it does, and it does it well. It sets up easily and transmits a clear picture in both light and dark. It's a cute little unit that is attractive and easy to use. The nightlight feature is pretty and soothing. However... i feel it is lacking in a few features, and could use a few basic design adjustments.
First, the quietest sound level that it will adjust to is still VERY loud. I don't need to hear EVERY SINGLE breath that my baby takes, i just want to know when she's crying.
Second, the switch for turning the video on and off is very tricky to do at 2am in the dark. It would be far easier if it had a push button on the front of the unit than the slide click on the side. It's such a pain that i've taken to just sleeping with the unit tucked into my hand so that i don't have to fumble around in the dark to turn on the video.
Third, the switches on the camera are all on the bottom of the unit so that once you have it mounted in it's holder on the wall it's extreme;y difficult to change the settings.
Fourth, and probably THE most annoying is that the monitor unit has no stand other than the charging unit. It needs a belt clip and/or pop-out stand like the other Levana models have.
Additionally, I would like to purchase another charging base, but cannot find one anywhere, not on Amazon and not on the Levana website. You'd think they'd be more than willing to give you more things to spend your money on. But maybe I'm nit-picking, because honestly, it's a very nice product that i will keep and continue to use. But if I had to pick a "perfect" monitor, this would not be it. review By K.
First, the quietest sound level that it will adjust to is still VERY loud. I don't need to hear EVERY SINGLE breath that my baby takes, i just want to know when she's crying.
Second, the switch for turning the video on and off is very tricky to do at 2am in the dark. It would be far easier if it had a push button on the front of the unit than the slide click on the side. It's such a pain that i've taken to just sleeping with the unit tucked into my hand so that i don't have to fumble around in the dark to turn on the video.
Third, the switches on the camera are all on the bottom of the unit so that once you have it mounted in it's holder on the wall it's extreme;y difficult to change the settings.
Fourth, and probably THE most annoying is that the monitor unit has no stand other than the charging unit. It needs a belt clip and/or pop-out stand like the other Levana models have.
Additionally, I would like to purchase another charging base, but cannot find one anywhere, not on Amazon and not on the Levana website. You'd think they'd be more than willing to give you more things to spend your money on. But maybe I'm nit-picking, because honestly, it's a very nice product that i will keep and continue to use. But if I had to pick a "perfect" monitor, this would not be it. review By K.
baby video monitor with temperature sensor
When I got this baby monitor I was impressed with its quality! I have three, going on four, kids and we've used a variety of monitors from various manufacturers and this one impressed me the most. The audio quality is great, DECT makes things interference and feedback free, there's a handy "page" feature for if you misplaced the receiver, and there's no hassle getting the anything paired or on the right channel like cheaper monitors.
I also liked the ability for two-way communication, which the manufacturer claims is good to "sooth your baby". I personally don't trust that claim (cranky babies liked to be held, not talked to), but it is EXCELLENT if you want to keep an ear out for troublesome toddlers who are supposed to be going to bed! You might be surprised to discover how quickly they dart under the covers once a booming voice lets them know they've been discovered playing around!
As far as the quality goes, everything about this monitor seems well thought out from the ergonomics of the charging dock to the ease of instrumentation, impressive range and intelligent power throttling features (better battery life). You get your hands on this monitor and it just feels slick and careful in design. It's smaller than it looks in the picture (considerably smaller than other monitors I use) which is great! This is the first monitor I used where the receiver can easily slip into a pocket with room to spare. It's thicker than an iPod Classic, but shorter and not as wide. However, it also comes with a belt clip and lanyard if you prefer.
The monitor, despite its power, is tiny too: squarish and smaller than my fist. It would easily tuck into a corner of a dresser without taking up much space. The only thing I would have liked to see is a video camera which other monitors of similar price points come with. That said, I think this monitor is well worth the price, and it's certainly the best designed monitor I've used. review By P. Colin McGraw "AV, Computer & EnviroTech Nut" (Castle Rock, CO)
I also liked the ability for two-way communication, which the manufacturer claims is good to "sooth your baby". I personally don't trust that claim (cranky babies liked to be held, not talked to), but it is EXCELLENT if you want to keep an ear out for troublesome toddlers who are supposed to be going to bed! You might be surprised to discover how quickly they dart under the covers once a booming voice lets them know they've been discovered playing around!
As far as the quality goes, everything about this monitor seems well thought out from the ergonomics of the charging dock to the ease of instrumentation, impressive range and intelligent power throttling features (better battery life). You get your hands on this monitor and it just feels slick and careful in design. It's smaller than it looks in the picture (considerably smaller than other monitors I use) which is great! This is the first monitor I used where the receiver can easily slip into a pocket with room to spare. It's thicker than an iPod Classic, but shorter and not as wide. However, it also comes with a belt clip and lanyard if you prefer.
The monitor, despite its power, is tiny too: squarish and smaller than my fist. It would easily tuck into a corner of a dresser without taking up much space. The only thing I would have liked to see is a video camera which other monitors of similar price points come with. That said, I think this monitor is well worth the price, and it's certainly the best designed monitor I've used. review By P. Colin McGraw "AV, Computer & EnviroTech Nut" (Castle Rock, CO)
motorola video baby monitor with 1.5 inch
PROS:
Design - Nice visual design.
Size - About the size of an iPhone, small and convenient.
Weight - Light and easy to carry.
Carrying Convenience - The belt clip can be rotated to function as a kick stand and is also removable
.
Screen - Small but gives a clear and crisp image, can be turned on or off so it doesn't glare brightly at night. The audio still works even when the video is off.
Menu - Easy to navigate and change settings.
Sound - The sound is clear and there is no static. I like that it is encrypted and secure.
Battery - I use the monitor for about 7 hours total during the day and the battery is only drained about half way. I don't leave the video display on though. (Tip: On the battery itself is the suggestion to charge the battery at least 16 hours before using.)
Price - I got this for 80. I consider that a great value.
CONS:
Night Vision - Image is ok, details are lost the farther you put the camera from the target area. I have two kids that share a room and I initially wanted to try to get a view of the whole room. The image is easy to see in the day but the night vision infrared bulbs only reach so far. As a result I had to put the camera closer to just one crib.
Volume - The highest volume is about the same as noises in real life. I list this as a con because my old monitor's volume goes much higher. It was easier to wake up to at night.
Voice Activation - This monitor has a feature that turns on the microphone when a certain noise level is reached. When the noise level is below that threshold the mic is off. There is no way to turn this feature off or adjust the sensitivity. I noticed the closer the camera is to the baby the higher the sensitivity and the more noises will come through on the monitor. (Tip: if you push the video on/off button you can activate the microphone and listen in on the kids.)
Visual Sound Alert - My old monitor had lights that would flicker on when the monitor detected sound and the louder the sound the more lights would come on. This monitor does not have that feature and I regret that. It does however have an alert you can activate that will sound when the monitor is muted and detects noise.
BOTTOM LINE:
I would recommend this monitor. I mainly use it to hear when my 6 month old wakes at night and when she and my 2 year old son wake in the morning. It does the job for me and it's fun to see my baby on the video. review By J. Wilcox
handheld color baby video monitor
Thank you Summer for such an outstanding product that helps parents everywhere prevent SIDS with such a high-quality monitoring system as this.
(Comments added 4/23/11) RECORD YOUR CHILD PLAYING IN THEIR CRIB!!!
How ironic that I ended my initial review above with the words "It doesn't get better than this!!!". I can now tell you it does get better. After watching our son on our bedroom TV one morning as he was playing, my wife made the comment "It's too bad we couldn't have this recorded". I immediately went and took our DVD recorder and plugged the audio/video jacks from the monitor into the DVD recorder, and then back out to the TV, and wah-lah... we now record these precious moments for posterity. It is absolutely priceless to now record these before-unseen moments as he plays in the morning sun after waking. We have now recorded him learning to activate the carousel by himself as he struggled until he finally achieved his goal. Thanks Summer for thinking ahead to add the audio/video jacks to this great product. review By D. Demro
baby video monitor
The Minutiae of 2 Monitors: Motorola MBP36 & Summer Infant Touch, Motorola Digital Video Baby Monitor with 3.5 Inch Color LCD Screen Summer Infant Baby Touch Digital Color Video Monitor This review discusses the minutiae, good and bad, of both monitors. (Same review under both products). Summary: Motorola: 4 stars, SI: 4.5 stars. Both monitors are great and fit the bill for a pan/tilt monitor. It's the little details and personal preference that will determine the best monitor for you. FYI, we come from a history of owning the Summer Infant BestView-pre2011. We would have just added a 2nd camera to our unit if it were still available. Where applicable, we noted where SI has improved some things from the BestView to the Touch.
Both monitors have a 3.5" screen. The pictures in both daytime and night vision are very good. The sound and talk back on both units is good. The pan/tilt is quiet overall on both cameras. The biggest difference is how to access the features you feel are most important to you. Below are some notable differences between the two units.
Overall layout (see labeled pictures):
Video On/Off: external button on both
Volume: in menu on Motorola, dedicated top toggle on SI
Pan/Tilt: external (Left) buttons on Motorola, in a menu with touch arrows on SI
Zoom: in a menu on both
Scan: external button on Motorola, in a menu on SI
Buttons: SI wins this hands down. Unless you are awake every time you use the monitor, you cannot easily find and press the correct button, one-handed, in a dark room/semi-sleep state. For us, this design difference is what sealed the deal for SI over Motorola. We can easily find the Video On/Off and volume with tactile sense. We would have resorted to making a raised surface on the 3rd button if we chose to keep the Motorola.
SI touch screen: Many people commented that you can brush up against the screen anywhere and turn the menu on/select items. This doesn't seem to be totally the case. You not only have to have the video ON, but you also have to press on the very right or bottom strip of the picture/screen to bring up the menu. A random touch anywhere on the screen will not bring the menu up. Also of note, accessing the main functions (Video On/Off and Volume) does not require the touch menu since these buttons are located on the OUTSIDE of the unit. We are fine with going into a menu for less-common functions such as pan/zoom/scan because we will not be doing this nearly as often as turning the video on/off and adjusting volume. (And the SI volume toggle does NOT activate the touch screen so the monitor can stay dark while you adjust volume.)
Interference: we had problems with our old SI (BestView) and wireless interference. The Motorola had much less interference than the SI Touch, the SI Touch seemed to have the same interference as the SI BestView. We opted to upgrade/change routers to solve this problem instead of compromising on any monitors. A router is a cheaper electronic piece to swap out than a monitor system (esp with multiple cameras).
Camera range: we placed each camera on the same peg over the bed. The SI showed ¾ of the bed, the Motorola showed a little less than ½. For us that meant HAVING TO pan the Motorola each time to see where baby rolled. We have the camera at the max height on the wall. The camera could easily be placed at a different angle relative to the bed to avoid panning. This is just to compare how the video outputs differ relative to each other. (The specs are undoubtedly written in the manuals somewhere describing the camera lens type.)
Night vision LEDs: both the Motorola and SI Touch have 'invisible' LED lights to provide night vision. On the monitors, this looks like a spotlight with darker edges that look like they're `in the shade.' This is subtle and not really noticeable except at the lowest screen brightness setting. For reference, the old SI BestView had a circle of red LED lights around the lens that resulted in a more evenly-lit monitor picture.
Speaker: located in the back of the unit on the Motorola. The SI speaker is redesigned but still on the front of the monitor. Both units have an 8-level sound bar and each level between the 2 brands seems about equal. Several have been concerned that the volume does NOT go to zero on the Motorola. However, the speaker is on the back of the unit and makes the lowest setting almost equivalent to a mute setting. In testing it, we found that the rear speaker placement helped block the background rustling/movement that we didn't want to hear, but did not hinder us hearing the louder baby noises that we did want to hear. (Also for comparison's sake, the Motorola and SI Touch level 4 is equivalent to SI BestView level 2 so there is improved ability to adjust the lower/quieter sound levels; the quiet sounds are quieter and loud sounds (above level 4) are still loud. ...a great change for SI fans.
Cameras: The Motorola has nice rubber feet at the base that keep the camera from sliding where placed. The SI has a light plastic feel and the base is so light it feels like the camera will topple over. (But it doesn't.) We put ours on the wall (not on a shelf) since that's the best way for us to use the pan/tilt, so the padded bottom is a non-issue (although the SI vibration against the wall was loud until we placed a felt pad sticker on it).
Monitors: The Motorola monitor also has the nice rubber grips on the bottom. It stays in place on a tabletop making it easier for you to grab. And you WILL need to grab it...with BOTH hands...in order to press the correct button(s) to activate any function. The SI comes with a little saucer-like magnetic recharging base. It's so light and plastic-y that it hangs on to the monitor when trying to break the magnetic connection. Because you need adequate pressure for the touch screen, you'll need to get your hands on the monitor to work the touch screen functions. Put the fancy saucer base in the trash and just use the charger port on the left side of the monitor unit itself. Overall, the Motorola is a niiiice monitor to hold. It's thick and chunky, like a portable game unit (think psp), and you can thumb the left and right buttons very, very easily. The SI is thinner and more sleek (fake chrome cover) and less comfortable to hold. And because you need to hold it length-wise (buttons on the top of the unit get in the way...), it's a little harder to balance than a touch phone that you may be used to holding.
The SI comes with a cordless click-on base for the camera. It takes 4 AA batteries, advertising a 10hr battery life. The batteries do NOT come with the unit and we think that you CANNOT use the power cord to charge the base, eg rechargeable batteries need to be taken out of the unit to be recharged. This is different than stated on the Amazon description. We have not tested this, but it's directly from the manufacturer info.
Motorola has a temp gauge. Never had it before and it's a nice feature to have. The temp of the Motorola is accurate since the camera doesn't run hot (goes up a few degrees temporarily when you move the camera) unlike reviews of other brands.
Motorola has an audible beep when the battery is low. Most people like this. We do not. A flashing light is adequate. We'd be pissed if this woke us up in the night, so any monitor stays plugged in during the overnight hours for this reason. (Plus the manufacturer recommends running the battery down during the day and charging at night to keep the battery life optimal.)
SI turns the video off in 3min if not plugged in. Motorola takes longer by about 1-1.5min.
Again, both units are great for a pan/tilt multi-camera setup. What you're used to in a monitor and what makes life easier for you in daily use will tip your scales one way or the other. But you cannot go wrong with either of these choices. We hope these little itty bitty details of these two units help someone.
*UPDATE* 11/10/11 We really wanted to like the Motorola because it had a more compact and nicer camera and the monitor design was superior to SI and had a great feel to it, but the accessibility of some features won out on the SI vs the Motorola. We've had the SI monitor for a month now and everything is still behaving. The only thing to add to the above information for the SI is that the touch screen is a little better than expected. As stated above, it is activated only if you push the menu button on the right side of the unit (very inconvenient location for one-handed use) or tap along the bottom/right of the touchscreen (like old-school digital picture frames). The nice thing is that once activated, the screen is very responsive to one-handed touch when sitting upright (eg on a nightstand). It's very easy to reach over and adjust brightness or use the arrow buttons with one finger and not knock it over. The only negative is in selecting items. Once you select the menu item (eg Brightness or Camera), you need to use the arrow buttons in the popup menu to get to and highlight what you want. For example, under Brightness you cannot just tap a higher level and have it go from 2 to 7. Instead, you have to tap the arrow up incrementally. The menu items of Brightness, Scan, and Switch Camera do this. (FYI in comparison, the Motorola has the same menu system but instead of tapping on the initial menu icon you needed to arrow thru all the menu icons to get to what you want. As mentioned in the original review, the VOLUME was one of these embedded menu items so it took 3-4 button clicks to adjust volume once you pulled up the menu.) Too bad these two monitoring systems can't have a child and make the PERFECT user-friendly system. review By M Baker
Both monitors have a 3.5" screen. The pictures in both daytime and night vision are very good. The sound and talk back on both units is good. The pan/tilt is quiet overall on both cameras. The biggest difference is how to access the features you feel are most important to you. Below are some notable differences between the two units.
Overall layout (see labeled pictures):
Video On/Off: external button on both
Volume: in menu on Motorola, dedicated top toggle on SI
Pan/Tilt: external (Left) buttons on Motorola, in a menu with touch arrows on SI
Zoom: in a menu on both
Scan: external button on Motorola, in a menu on SI
Buttons: SI wins this hands down. Unless you are awake every time you use the monitor, you cannot easily find and press the correct button, one-handed, in a dark room/semi-sleep state. For us, this design difference is what sealed the deal for SI over Motorola. We can easily find the Video On/Off and volume with tactile sense. We would have resorted to making a raised surface on the 3rd button if we chose to keep the Motorola.
SI touch screen: Many people commented that you can brush up against the screen anywhere and turn the menu on/select items. This doesn't seem to be totally the case. You not only have to have the video ON, but you also have to press on the very right or bottom strip of the picture/screen to bring up the menu. A random touch anywhere on the screen will not bring the menu up. Also of note, accessing the main functions (Video On/Off and Volume) does not require the touch menu since these buttons are located on the OUTSIDE of the unit. We are fine with going into a menu for less-common functions such as pan/zoom/scan because we will not be doing this nearly as often as turning the video on/off and adjusting volume. (And the SI volume toggle does NOT activate the touch screen so the monitor can stay dark while you adjust volume.)
Interference: we had problems with our old SI (BestView) and wireless interference. The Motorola had much less interference than the SI Touch, the SI Touch seemed to have the same interference as the SI BestView. We opted to upgrade/change routers to solve this problem instead of compromising on any monitors. A router is a cheaper electronic piece to swap out than a monitor system (esp with multiple cameras).
Camera range: we placed each camera on the same peg over the bed. The SI showed ¾ of the bed, the Motorola showed a little less than ½. For us that meant HAVING TO pan the Motorola each time to see where baby rolled. We have the camera at the max height on the wall. The camera could easily be placed at a different angle relative to the bed to avoid panning. This is just to compare how the video outputs differ relative to each other. (The specs are undoubtedly written in the manuals somewhere describing the camera lens type.)
Night vision LEDs: both the Motorola and SI Touch have 'invisible' LED lights to provide night vision. On the monitors, this looks like a spotlight with darker edges that look like they're `in the shade.' This is subtle and not really noticeable except at the lowest screen brightness setting. For reference, the old SI BestView had a circle of red LED lights around the lens that resulted in a more evenly-lit monitor picture.
Speaker: located in the back of the unit on the Motorola. The SI speaker is redesigned but still on the front of the monitor. Both units have an 8-level sound bar and each level between the 2 brands seems about equal. Several have been concerned that the volume does NOT go to zero on the Motorola. However, the speaker is on the back of the unit and makes the lowest setting almost equivalent to a mute setting. In testing it, we found that the rear speaker placement helped block the background rustling/movement that we didn't want to hear, but did not hinder us hearing the louder baby noises that we did want to hear. (Also for comparison's sake, the Motorola and SI Touch level 4 is equivalent to SI BestView level 2 so there is improved ability to adjust the lower/quieter sound levels; the quiet sounds are quieter and loud sounds (above level 4) are still loud. ...a great change for SI fans.
Cameras: The Motorola has nice rubber feet at the base that keep the camera from sliding where placed. The SI has a light plastic feel and the base is so light it feels like the camera will topple over. (But it doesn't.) We put ours on the wall (not on a shelf) since that's the best way for us to use the pan/tilt, so the padded bottom is a non-issue (although the SI vibration against the wall was loud until we placed a felt pad sticker on it).
Monitors: The Motorola monitor also has the nice rubber grips on the bottom. It stays in place on a tabletop making it easier for you to grab. And you WILL need to grab it...with BOTH hands...in order to press the correct button(s) to activate any function. The SI comes with a little saucer-like magnetic recharging base. It's so light and plastic-y that it hangs on to the monitor when trying to break the magnetic connection. Because you need adequate pressure for the touch screen, you'll need to get your hands on the monitor to work the touch screen functions. Put the fancy saucer base in the trash and just use the charger port on the left side of the monitor unit itself. Overall, the Motorola is a niiiice monitor to hold. It's thick and chunky, like a portable game unit (think psp), and you can thumb the left and right buttons very, very easily. The SI is thinner and more sleek (fake chrome cover) and less comfortable to hold. And because you need to hold it length-wise (buttons on the top of the unit get in the way...), it's a little harder to balance than a touch phone that you may be used to holding.
The SI comes with a cordless click-on base for the camera. It takes 4 AA batteries, advertising a 10hr battery life. The batteries do NOT come with the unit and we think that you CANNOT use the power cord to charge the base, eg rechargeable batteries need to be taken out of the unit to be recharged. This is different than stated on the Amazon description. We have not tested this, but it's directly from the manufacturer info.
Motorola has a temp gauge. Never had it before and it's a nice feature to have. The temp of the Motorola is accurate since the camera doesn't run hot (goes up a few degrees temporarily when you move the camera) unlike reviews of other brands.
Motorola has an audible beep when the battery is low. Most people like this. We do not. A flashing light is adequate. We'd be pissed if this woke us up in the night, so any monitor stays plugged in during the overnight hours for this reason. (Plus the manufacturer recommends running the battery down during the day and charging at night to keep the battery life optimal.)
SI turns the video off in 3min if not plugged in. Motorola takes longer by about 1-1.5min.
Again, both units are great for a pan/tilt multi-camera setup. What you're used to in a monitor and what makes life easier for you in daily use will tip your scales one way or the other. But you cannot go wrong with either of these choices. We hope these little itty bitty details of these two units help someone.
*UPDATE* 11/10/11 We really wanted to like the Motorola because it had a more compact and nicer camera and the monitor design was superior to SI and had a great feel to it, but the accessibility of some features won out on the SI vs the Motorola. We've had the SI monitor for a month now and everything is still behaving. The only thing to add to the above information for the SI is that the touch screen is a little better than expected. As stated above, it is activated only if you push the menu button on the right side of the unit (very inconvenient location for one-handed use) or tap along the bottom/right of the touchscreen (like old-school digital picture frames). The nice thing is that once activated, the screen is very responsive to one-handed touch when sitting upright (eg on a nightstand). It's very easy to reach over and adjust brightness or use the arrow buttons with one finger and not knock it over. The only negative is in selecting items. Once you select the menu item (eg Brightness or Camera), you need to use the arrow buttons in the popup menu to get to and highlight what you want. For example, under Brightness you cannot just tap a higher level and have it go from 2 to 7. Instead, you have to tap the arrow up incrementally. The menu items of Brightness, Scan, and Switch Camera do this. (FYI in comparison, the Motorola has the same menu system but instead of tapping on the initial menu icon you needed to arrow thru all the menu icons to get to what you want. As mentioned in the original review, the VOLUME was one of these embedded menu items so it took 3-4 button clicks to adjust volume once you pulled up the menu.) Too bad these two monitoring systems can't have a child and make the PERFECT user-friendly system. review By M Baker
