Astak DVR Security Surveillance System with 250 GB Hard Drive and 4 Weatherproof Cameras with Night

I purchased this from Costco for a little less than $500 to replace a Q-See DVR unit (Q-See QSD2304L 4 Channel H.264 Pentaplex Network DVR with (CIF) Realtime Recording per Channel) that produced blurry, pixelated images.

I was a little apprehensive purchasing this unit due to its cheap purchase price and little-known brand name however after a couple hours tinkering around with the DVR, I was impressed with its easy-to-use interface and good image quality throughput. Network setup is easy and the remote interface is very simple although much of the core menu options available on the DVR are not accessible through remote operation (one downside). Remote playback is slow (even on our broadband line) and not the ideal way to playback video, especially if you need to review more than a day's worth of recordings. The included USB mouse feels cheap although I'm glad it's at least an optical mouse and not the cheap mouseball-type that Dell gives you with their PCs unless you pay to upgrade. On occasion, the mouse cursor will jump around the screen like it has a mind of its own but I find that it's easier to just use the keypad instead of the mouse anyway.

Videos are searchable by event or time/date stamp. The DVR includes a built-in speaker for buzzer/alarm events such as video loss or motion detection although both alarms can be disabled within the DVR menu options if you'd rather not deal with the high-pitch alarm. Motion detection works well and I haven't come across any issues with it in the three weeks I've had this DVR.

The included cameras are CMOS and are suitable for mid-level security applications. For night-vision, I would definitely consider upgrading these cameras to more expensive CCD cameras. The bundle came with cables and the necessary power adapters so for most applications, you won't need to go out and purchase additional parts.

The buttons on the front panel could be positioned a little better (it would have been helpful to have the Enter key placed next to the Menu/Back key rather than having to jump back and forth across the keypad during initial setup). Our DVR came with a 250GB hard drive preinstalled so it's definitely an added bonus.

I would purchase this item again given the price although I would have liked to see more menu options during remote operation and better mouse control.

I would recommend that you purchase a different product. The first day I recieved and installed, the recorder stopped working so we called the number in the manual as it tells you to do. We had to pay to return it costing us $19.51 thru the P.O. The company told me they reinverse us the money but we havent seen that yet. It took them 14 days to ship it back to us and after having it two weeks it has stopped working again. Do yourself a favor and look into something else.

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The cameras are fine but I'm having trouble with the DVR locking up. Unfortunately, there's no where to download drivers, installation software or manuals. The link says "download center coming soon". Since the cameras are useless to me without the DVR I have to give this 1 star. It's unfortunate, but I can't imagine why any company especially a technology company couldn't have its drivers, software, and documentation available online. I'm guessing the only option is to buy another DVR. It won't be this brand I need something I can get support for.

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It's been a long time since I've bought a technology product with support as bad as ASTAK has. There are no drivers on line and no way to search a useful list of FAQs. Don't buy one of these.

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