Panasonic BB-HCM371A Outdoor Wireless Network Camera

Cheap Panasonic BB-HCM371A Outdoor Wireless Network Camera Review

I purchased this camera to keep an eye on my house while away. So far it has delivered for over a year. Also has helped to finger those who don't pick up after their dogs!!!

Setup was straight forward, until it came to the part of connecting over the WAN (for viewing from work). Don't know why anyone would think that WIRELESS means not having to run wires for power. Oh yeah, that guy who gave it 2 stars :)

This camera is not for the meek if you to go through more than 1 router. You need to understand quite a bit about networking to get this to happen.

All that said, customer support was excellent and they put me on the right track. I am going to buy another for the back and I tried to see if I could find something less expensive, but you give up a lot. So here's my list in order of importance:
Pros:
- Free DNS Account (this would cost you otherwise)
- Totally browser based so can be viewed from iMac, PC or Linux box
- Alarm I/O, which I use to trigger the camera to preset view area
- On-board storage via SandDisc
- email alerting
- motion detection
Cons:
- Clumsy playback!!! when on frame 244/1000 and you hit play, it starts from 1.
Should be able to take a date and time and find the frame for you
- No optical zoom. At 640x480, having 10x Digital Zoom just gives grainy video.
I'll take 2x optical zoom and give up 10x digital
- Cannot zoom on a preset

Panasonic BB-HCM371A Outdoor Wireless Network Camera Feature

• Two-Way Voice Communication
• CCD Sensor for Enhanced Image Expression
• SD Memory Card Recording
• Simple Ethernet Connection - No PC Required
• One Year Warranty

Panasonic BB-HCM371A Outdoor Wireless Network Camera Overview

Outdoor Wireless Network Camera with 2-Way Audio



*** Product Information and Prices Stored: May 04, 2010 08:37:19