Vue Wireless Home Video Monitoring Lightning Review

"There are cheaper solutions like hooking up a webcam yourself to a computer and somehow routing that online so you can access it anywhere."

Got a link to those "cheaper solutions"? I already have a webcam I want to do this with, and a spare pc to do it on. But have not been able to find a decent step-by-step guide to do it on XP for free. C'mon Giz you can do it, wheres a lifehacker / hack-a-day type link or something.

JJJ

Operates on 2.4Ghz range which = YMMV with an 802.11g network, wireless phone, etc.

spokejunky

@TheyCallMeStacey_GitEmSteveDave: Or plugged yourself in the as.. ..uh, nevermind.

Walljasper

Umm, that's wireless, not "whoreless" without the" h"

Walljasper

Any recommendations for outdoor (sheltered) woreless cams w/low light feature?

Walljasper

@[www.ebaumsworld.com]

Like it. Not sure about the price though.

london-rhino

This is actually a better product than I think some folks are giving I credit for. Sure the battery life isn't great, but it's not intended to be an always-on security camera - it's designed to allow people to check in intermittently on their home for whatever reason. And short battery life is a side effect of the fact that these are completely wireless and require no wiring into the power system. That's a big advantage in my book; that means the cams can go anywhere and can be moved easily. And they're small too.

As for the lack of audio, it's important to remember that in every state in the US it is illegal to record audio in most circumstances.

Sure the video quality could be better, and more cams would make it a better deal, but it's not a bad price for somehing that looks to be pretty easy to set up and pretty flexible in it's application.

Yeah.. from the video I suppose it has the appropriate security cam feel to it. Still needs some grayscaling and date/timestamp though.

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

i thought the Logitech WiLife was poor until this came along. $300 will get you that system with unlimited power, better video quality and motion activation. having said that, it's only one camera for that price and you can't have multiple people viewing the video stream online all at the same time.

still, they both suck for having NO AUDIO. no audio!!??? good grief...

A little pricey, but this would be a no-hassle way for us to keep an eye on our dog while we're out. Does VueZone.com use Flash to display the video on the site? If so, iPhone users would be out of luck for remote check-in.

@OMG! Butter!: That info was added after he posted the comment.

@MikeBrownDelendaEst: What about those that, for whatever reason, need 100% all-the-time recording surveillance?

@92BuickLeSabre: What started this rhyme thing was an inadvertant rhyme on a post about chest hair.

Long-story short: mines bald, but the hair sprouted elsewhere...

@bosskev: Nicely done, my friend! I'm glad someone else is running with the theme.

Though, if we're not very careful, me might accidentally start a new meme.

@DeusExMach: No prob, understood. To make the joke and look all cool, I'll often jest and play the fool.

Also, according to the site, the camera requires the light of a 40 watt bulb to provide acceptable video. No zoom, no sound, no motion activation available in the 1st gen...

The battery life if one year is based on 10 min per day usage... right at 60 hrs, but that is with intermittent usage. I'll bet you'd see more like 35-40 hours of continuous use.
Overall it is darned close to useless as a security camera setup.

Good concept… By v.3 or 4 should be very cool.

SSRPaulO

@bosskev: Kev, it's ok, I wasn't trying to give you a hard time. The wording of my post was for the sake of the rhyme.

@bosskev: I am more interested in the shape and size of the camera unit?... They seem to be easily sized/shaped to fit in the body cavity of choice (Gay or Straight)...

sfokevin

That's not a @CameraShoe_GitEmSteveDave: That's not a large butt plug... Just one gay guys opinion...

sfokevin

@bosskev: Well, considering the name of the file is:"24136336-butt-plug-large-e20072.jpg", you kind of shot yourself in the foot there. Just sayin!

@Jason Chen: Thanks Jason. It's a shame you can't figure out how much they are consuming. All my cams upload every two minutes, so I'm sure I would eat batteries. I would also agree 4 for $300 is a WAY better deal.

@BsideStarchild: The cameras only power on when being viewed, so the batteries can last a year.

@bosskev: ..lol

I wonder how much bandwidth does it take in a busy wireless network.

Bad video quality and no Audio could be just fine when Torrenting and Online games while streaming video.

uRbAnlP

A year battery life is BS. They last about 3 days of continous use... Look how they are rating it-

How long does the camera battery last before it needs to be changed?

We estimate that a new battery should provide up to 1 year of power to the camera with normal usage. Normal usage is defined as 10 minutes of viewing or recording a day. Depending on your specific usage you may see different results.

When the battery is near end of life, a battery icon will show on your camera icon within my.VueZone.com.

10*365=3650/60 (minutes in hour)=60.833/24 (hours in day)= 2.5 days

bflorin

@DeusExMach: Wait. Are you telling me the picture I posted is a butt plug? Good lord. Well, I guess I'll just have to take your word on it, but I thought I was posting a pic of a dog chew toy. I yield to the more experienced eye, and thanks for the correction!

@BsideStarchild:

RTFA.

OMG! Butter!

@DeusExMach: I mean, come on, this thing looks a lot like a butt plug.

I pretty much never think of butt plugs and I thought butt plug.

(Man, that's the most I've typed the words butt and plugs in one sitting since that time that I thought about getting hair plugs for my butt.)

@CameraShoe_GitEmSteveDave: Good points, I just added those to the review. Short answer is, replaceable batteries and there is scheduling.

@bosskev: At the risk of sounding like a gay-bashing thug, Do you ALWAYS subconciously think of butt-plugs?

@Hello Mister Walrus: I asked the questions I wanted to.

needs motion sensor, IR night vision, and audio.

Nice forehead tho.

That camera is terrible look how it deforms that persons face, it looks just like jaso... ow ow, my bad sorry.
Just joking

I'm pretty sure, the you can build yourself a far better setup for half the cash, but to anyone that's lazy,like me, it's just as good.

Amir Oulad

@bosskev: I was thinking they looked like baby EVEs from Wall-E

Purple Monkey Dishwasher

@GlenTen: Just call it "retro-camwhore" and you are set.

noone1569

I hope there's an escape clause about illegal spying in the EULA... No one needs to get sued for facilitating peeping at Aunt Beula.

That design...so familiar. Where have I seen that design before?

Oh, yeah.

So, is this new one waterproof? And how is picture quality during use?

@Purple Monkey Dishwasher: Fixed, thanks dudes

I can't possibly camwhore with that video quality.

@SpekN9ne: I'm an asshat for not replying to nakedmac like i wanted

SpekN9ne

Nothing on battery life? Can you set it up to upload at intervals? What's the resolution for still shots? Sorry to be so picky, but I would like some wireless cams, but don't want to pay for batteries. I like to set them, and forget them. Otherwise, great review Jason.

Don't be an asshat

SpekN9ne

@nakedmac: It's not polite to point out spelling errors. You can always just email the author.

Purple Monkey Dishwasher

Is it good enough for "gitemstevedave.com" live video version?

Hello Mister Walrus

That's not too bad. I would love to be able to set those up with a DVR of sorts that records when a motion trigger is activated. And I hope they have decent low light operation. Also, to be able to power the cameras with something other than batteries would be nice. I suppose I should go check out their wobsite.

How long do the batteries in the cameras last? That seems like a huge design flaw for something intended to be on all day.

liek?