Logitech Alert 700i Indoor Add-On HD-Quality Security Camera (961-000330)

I try to keep up writing reviews for products I buy, especially the items that I myself do a lot of research on, before buying. So I'll break this down as best I can. I live in a 2-story, 2800 square foot home. And for the longest time, I've wanted a surveillance system to make me feel safe both when I am at home and away. The Logitech camera system and software does it right, with only a few minor issues, and I stress minor.

I have an Apple router but run Windows 7 on my PC; I'm also using the free application on my iPhone. I had zero problems with the software install, even when it came to Window's firewall. I'm currently running 2 indoor cameras and 1 outdoor camera...but, I actually plan on using nothing but outdoor cameras for my entire system (to include for inside surveillance). And that's about the only real issue I have with the system. The indoor camera works awesome and does what it should. It delivers good quality color video and even over the iPhone application or over the web (from Logitech's website), all of my friends all have said, "Wow, that looks awesome!" BUT, and it's a big BUT, once the sun goes down, the indoor cameras are very limited. Shy of the bad guy turning on all of the lights in my house, then committing his crime, the indoor camera is of little use during nighttime hours. And at first, I was okay with that because I'm home at night and it's actually the daytime when nobody is home. But then I bought the outdoor Logitech camera and WOW, what a difference because it holds the very same quality as the indoor camera, but also does a phenomenal job at night. So with that, I'm going to return the indoor cameras and use the outdoor cameras for outside as well as inside. But I still want to give my review on the indoor camera as I've been using it for about a month now.

Pros:

Color Quality. Again, great color quality. Even using the digital zoom, I was impressed at how good it looks. My wife being the glass half empty type of person commented that you can't see the face of the person all that well. But my reply was but you can sure as heck see his race, clothing description, weight, height, hair color and most importantly you can see if he is or isn't wearing gloves...hence, you could see clearly where he may have left evidence (fingerprints, DNA, etc).

Included 2GB media card. This is a great feature!! This means that if bad guy breaks in and thinks he's outsmarting you by stealing your computer (with the footage of him), you can still revert back to the camera itself to retrieve the footage saved to the media card. Another great thing about the camera media card is that your home computer does not need to be always on to be recording. For example, my computer goes into sleep mode after about an hour of inactivity. So if my computer is in hibernate mode for a full day, the cameras are still recording footage and will sync to my computer when it awakes. For it to work seamless, I just leave the Logitech software running in the task bar (background).

Software. Logitech did it right with the software. It was a very easy install, features are clear and I love that you can customize each camera you have on your network. For example, out of the 3 cameras I have, I only want 1 of them to send off text message alerts. Again, it's nice that the alerts are not just a system feature, but rather an individual camera setting. You can also adjust the duration of alerts to save yourself from getting thousand texts. For me, a 5 minute window is perfect, just as long as I get the initial text, I wouldn't be concerned about getting 20 more in under a 5 minute or however long of a window you choose. I also like the way the software saves all of the recorded video. With 3 cameras going, I've been getting a lot of recorded footage. The software not only allows you to use choose a given date and time to research, but if you were to search out for that file in Windows explorer, the software does a great job by saving the footage under the name of camera (for example "Living Room"), then the month (10 for October), then the day within that month. Being a police officer, I really like that if I had to turn over crucial footage (if my home was burglarized, etc), all of the footage would have clear a folder structure and time stamp that would make sense to any other investigating officer.

Alerts. This feature sealed the deal for me buying this system to begin with. You select a zone in which if motion occurs, an alert will be sent. For example, although my camera has a pretty wide shot of my living room to include front door, my only concern is if movement is picked up at the front door. Once motion is detected, a text message is sent to my phone. The alert text message is awesome; it says what camera picked up what motion and at what date and time...simple and efficient. BUT, I will mention alerts in the Cons section, so please read on.

Camera size. Again, I have both the indoor and outside camera and was very impressed by how small they were. I also lucked out that I have power sources on top of my potter shelves, so I was able to plug in the cameras without any wires being run down walls, etc. And because the cameras are small, I've actually told friends that I have the cameras and it still took them a while to actually figure out where.

The "wow" factor. I'll admit it, I'm that guy who loves his tech toys, who loves showing off new technology and how I make it work for my family's safety. The first day when I showed all of my police friends the system, everyone was amazed. I should get a kick back from Logitech on all of the potential customers I made for them. Being able to open the iPhone app and show my friends that I have 24/7 surveillance of my home, felt very cool. The iPhone app also works very well over 3g cell service (not just wi-fi).

Cons:

Price. Well I mentioned the "wow" factor when I showed off the system to my friends. Well, I got the same expression when I told them how much. For me to get 6 cameras, all of them being the outdoor cameras, is a bit pricey. But, I will say that the software being free is nice. It's also nice to know that each camera comes with that 2GB media card (another plus that make the high costs seem understandable). And although I'm not that interested in audio, again, if you're going to pay the big bucks for a camera, at least it gives you color and audio as an option.

Night time quality. Again, if all you care about is crystal clear footage in the daytime, then the indoor camera is for you. But for me, I began to get frustrated that for so much money, I was only getting daytime footage. For a bit more money per camera, I feel that it was well worth it, to be able to see what's going on in my home 24/7.

Logitech server. This is a tough one to explain, but I'll do my best. When you install the cameras and software, the alert system is dependent on Logitech's servers / service. In the month that I've been using the camera, I only had 1 time that their servers went down. In that time, the cameras in my home were recording as they should BUT the alert notification system will not work if Logitech's service is down or disrupted. Although it was only down for a few hours, I was still very unpleased given the fact that the alert system is what it's all about. I don't want to come home to find my house has been burglarized and didn't get a text because the servers were down. Instead, I want to get a text message telling me someone is there, that way I can call the police and increase my chances of getting the suspect while he is still in the residence. The alert service has only been disrupted once, but makes me nervous for what's to come down the road as these cameras begin to sell.

Alerts. Again, read my Pros section about the alert function. Where I had a problem is how long it can take to get the alert text message. I've done some very extensive testing and it ranges between 40 seconds to 4 minutes from when my phone gets the alert text message. Now 4 minutes may not seem like a long time, but a skilled criminal can do A LOT in just a few minutes. I'm not too happy about the variations on alert times, especially since there appears to be no rhyme or reason as to why sometimes I get the notification in under a minute, but other times over 3 minutes. Clearly, it has to do with Logitech servers.

Plug outlet requirements. Although I get why you have to plug in your unit to the actual wall, it doesn't mean I have to like it. It's been a little bit of a challenge with some of my cameras to find a good discreet location coupled with having an available outlet there. I'm guessing that at some point, Logitech will begin selling overpriced extension cords or power bars that allow the cameras to work even without being directly plugged into the wall. I believe a read few reviews from people that have done this though; I would live to get their reply or feedback in this review thread.

Thanks for reading!

******Updated Review****** 12/19/11

So after more than a year of owning these surveillance cameras, I wanted to update my review.

Originally I purchased the indoor cameras, however, quickly realized that the outdoor cameras are your best bet even if the cameras are all for the inside of your home. I still strongly stand behind that assertion. After a year, I've upped my system to 4 outdoor cameras that are placed in and outside of my home.

I have to say that after a full year, I'm still very happy with the system and I use it every day. One aspect of the system that did get a welcomed update is the iPhone / iPad application. The best part of the updated app is the ability to see all of your cameras' viewpoint without having to selectively choose each camera. Although I would regularly use TeamViewer to remote into my home computer in order to toggle on / off the `Alert' settings, I ended up caving and buying the 80-buck a year subscription that allows the iPhone app to quickly turn the alerts on or off. What's nice about the alert system is that you can selectively leave an alert on per camera. For example, I leave my alert on for our garage camera 24/7, versus only turning the alerts on for the other inside cameras.

Although 80 bucks a year is a lot, I find it to be money well spent if not for the convenience alone of having the ability to playback footage from either a computer with Internet connection or my iDevice.

In the last year, I've recommended this system to ALL of my law enforcement friends and they too have been pleased with the product. Although I think some of them haven't found the software setup as easy as I did. So if you're reading this Logitech, feel free to throw a brotha a free camera, haha (just kidding well maybe not all the way kidding).

I recently wrote my review for 750e camera Logitech Alert 750e Outdoor Master Security System with Night Vision, which I also have. I highly recommend checking that one out to see my useful comments. I am writing this one merely as a way to give Logitech another 5-star review, which I thoroughly believe they and this product deserves. I also wanted very much to share my high-quality video of a theft in action. Although the perp was never caught, it's no fault of the video, and I think the world outside of Facebook should see how awesome this system is. I wish I was allowed to upload TWO videos, because then you could see this man walking away with my stuff. But this video is good. It shows him spotting the items in my door, checking out his surroundings to make sure no one is coming, and then brazenly opening the door and taking my wedding presents like they were his own.

Buy Logitech Alert 700i Indoor Add-On HD-Quality Security Camera (961-000330) Now

While the hardware upgrades appear to be fine, the software is a major step back. You can not schedule "on" times for the cameras like the previous version. In other words, the cameras are always on, always recording. This will generate hundreds of files in an active setting. We used the previous version for night time monitoring set to record 8pm to 6am, worked great. For whatever reason they have dropped this from the software. Product support suggested unplugging cameras during the day, seriously. I would avoid this product until that functionality is brought back.

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set-up was easy for one camera, added a second camera and the system worked for about 90 days. started having problems with outdoor camera and called customer service, they had me climbing up and resetting camera's three or four time over two weeks. camera was continously failing to record. they finally agreed to send me an advanced replacement and after waiting two weeks i called back and they said they never recieved my camera and that is why i never got the advanced replacement (not sure why they called it an advanced replacement). Sent camera and waited another two weeks for repalcement. installed new camera and followed set-up installation, now none of the camera work and are not detected by their system software.

I would recommend you checking out thier web site for the logitech commander alert support forum site and you will see why this is such a poor product. pages and pages of the same problem i am encountering, customers spending hours and hours trying to get this system to work.

I would look into a more reliable product than the logitech system. They say it does not need any wires but this is not true, you have to run the wire to a power outlet, plug another box into a power outlet and then connect that box to your router, the system uses your homes power outlets to send a signal thru the electrical wiring within your home. In the forums logitech admits this is not the most reliable method to use but good enough for consumers. How stupid is that, a security camera system that does not use a reliable method to transmitt signals.

bottom line, if you want a system that uses an unrelaible method to transmit signals to your pc, takes an enormous amount of your time trying to fix and you enjoy spending time on the phone with logitech customer support reps then this is the system for you!!!!!!

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INITIAL REVIEW: After doing a lot of research (so I thought), I purchased the outdoor system. Once I unpackaged it, I had it up and showing video images on my PC within 15 minutes, and had web and phone access (the free stuff) working in only 5 more minutes. Other than not being able to set time frames on the alarms, I love everything about this product! The initial system worked so well that I bought another outdoor camera and an indoor one. Adding them was another piece of cake. It may be a bit pricey, but the merchandise is high-quality. My whole experience with it has been positive.

UPDATE1: Six weeks later, the honeymoon is over. Unexpectedly, this camera and my outdoor camera started to not be available much on my Droid phone. Then they became never available. Then the Logitech Alert web viewer quit seeing my cameras. Resetting the camera gives me one more viewing, but then they are unavailable again the next time.

UPDATE2: Soon after I wrote UPDATE1, the response time and success rate of the internet and phone-viewing suddenly became dramatically improved... better than it had been when new! What explains this? Dunno -could be Logitech's server, my Verizon connection, flakey hardware? So I bumped the product rating up to 3 stars. They'll get 4 if this holds out for a few weeks. But right now, I get my live feed super quickly and consistently.

UPDATE3: The last month has been a good one: zero at-home failures (summer storm power outages and all), a near 100% success rate getting a live feed over the internet, and about 80% success with live phone-viewing. And when there is a remote-viewing connection problem, it is gone less than an hour later.

SUMMARY: Maybe Logitech wrung out some bugs or got more/better servers, or maybe Verizon, as my ISP, did something to improve things, but overall I'm happy with this system -unlike the way I was a month ago. If it didn't have that earlier weirdness, I'd give it 5 stars.

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