VIVOTEK is a Taiwanese company which has a leading

Introduction The target of our first review is the fixed IP7133! VIVOTEK designed the camera with the ordinary consumer in mind which can be implied by the ease of installation and use that accompany it. Home owners will be happy to consider this camera in their video surveillance strategy! It also perfectly fits the stylish interior of a room! The Dual simultaneous Streams allow for image viewing in two image formats - MPEG-4 and MJPEG, one for a PC and a 3G phone. On a PC you can watch the stream not only on browser but also on RTSP players like Quick Time Player and Real Player. When you come home from work you can push the Privacy Button in order to manually suspend video monitoring. That gives you the needed privacy and comfort! This is how the box looks from its front What is in the box The box contains: Unboxing This is how the opened box with its contents look like:The above mentioned items are in the box Assembly And this is how the camera looks like when assembled: Here IP7133 is assembled and ready to be deployed (the camera is attached to its stand). The lens is located in the center of the camera's front, the built-in microphone is the upper left part (looks like a tiny slot), the Privacy Button is below, on the left, and the Status LED is down in the center. Sideways view of the assembled camera (the camera is attached to its stand). View from the back VIVOTEK IP7133, a closeup from the back (from left to right): Indented Reset button, Power cord socket, Ethernet RJ-45 socket and the Terminal IO block Installation Installation is made easy by the Installation Wizard 2, software which takes you through every step needed to complete the task. You can find it under the Software Utility directory in the Software CD. Upon start it analyzes the network and automatically detects the camera, asks for its MAC address and its insertion, you start to receive live footage from the camera! How easy is that! You can view live footage from the camera through the included free Standard 32-CH ST7501 Central Management Software which you have to install too. Connectivity The indented Reset button helps you restore the initial camera's settings in case you forget your password or the camera freezes, or when there is a problem with ip address assignment! Besides the standard Power cord and Ethernet RJ-45 socket, the Terminal IO block helps you connect the camera to an alarm or a sensor and that way a warning is generated or the alarm is triggered when an intruder comes within the camera's range! In the User Manual you will find the connection method of the Terminal IO. Performance A 1/4' CMOS sensor allows for streaming images in VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels). Although they are in much lower than an HD resolution, their quality is very reasonably acceptable for a low-budget ip camera and it will be used in home settings. Unfortunately there is no IR for night vision and you have to look into other VIVOTEK models like IP7330, IP7153 D/N, IP7161 or IP7154 D/N which possess that feature. Practical features One of them is Triple-window video motion detection. It allows you to set up three separate zones for monitoring. This is especially helpful when you have to monitor your kids or when you want to be alerted for an intruder in your home. Apart from that the software allows for up to 10 people to monitor simultaneously the images from the camera which means that you can share the footage with people that are close to you, for example your relatives. Conclusion Providing the essentials in video security surveillance at a very acceptable price, the camera stands out as a suitable option for any home ip video surveillance system. Although basic, the camera's features cover all the necessary facets of any home monitoring. With this network camera, you can quickly and easily view the current status of your children, the elderly, or even your pets with live, clear videos while you are away from home. Please feel free to visit VIVOTEK IP7133's product page in our store and learn more!