![]() It was the only camera I tested with location-based activation. The Dropcam HD's 720p images were crisp and clear - among the best in the group. In my case, it worked right off the bat - which was a relief after the hoops I had to jump through getting some of the other cameras configured and working properly. You simply connect the camera to an open USB port on a Mac or Windows computer and follow the instructions. They are a good choice for users who want more granular control over camera operation.Įverything you need to know in order to install the Dropcam HD Wi-Fi camera ($149) fits onto the single, two-sided card that comes in the box. Since I tested, D-Link has added several complementary models: The 5020L, a pan/tilt camera, similar to the 5222L, with enhanced range for night vision and Wi-Fi extender capability and the 933L and 931L, which are similar to the 932L and include those same features plus sound detection and alerting, a microSD slot and H.264 compression.ĭ-Link offers a wide variety of cameras with the most extensive set of configuration settings and controls of any camera I tested. This unit would work best when mounted on a ceiling, where it would point downwards and provide a general, not too detailed sweep of a room. ![]() When placed on a tabletop the viewing angle tends to focus at an upward angle, as though looking up through a cone. That being said, I didn't find the 6010L's curved, sweeping images to be particularly useful for seeing in any detail what was going on at a particular spot in a room. No other vendor in the group offered cameras with similar features. I also tried out two other more feature-filled models: the DCS-5222L ($263), a 720p (1280-x-720-pixel) camera that offers true pan/tilt capability with a 360-degree range, and the DC-6010L (about $325), which uses a fisheye lens to display a 360-degree view of an entire room and can break the image into 90-degree quadrants or 180-degree half-room views and "de-warp" the image to present different views of the area. I also could see some slight horizontal banding - faint, wavy lines in the image that were most pronounced on darker areas. At the higher resolution, image quality was good overall, although, as with other Wi-Fi cameras reviewed here, image noise created some pixilation on the image. That's workable on a smartphone screen, but you'll want to bump that up to 640 x 480 (via Advanced Settings) for viewing on tablets or personal computers. In addition, the 932L uses its lowest resolution setting of 320 x 200 pixels by default. Fortunately, the sensitivity can be changed from the advanced settings area. With the night vision setting in the default automatic mode, the unit would flip in and out of night vision mode on a cloudy day, rendering everything in black and white and then in color. The microphone produced a static hiss in the portal's Live View page that I could not eliminate by adjusting the audio volume settings. I hit a couple of snags with the 932L model. ![]() The Mydlink portal include a live feed view and offers more custom settings for configuring the camera than any the other products reviewed here. The maximum frame rate I experienced, with the cameras directly wired to the router and using Mydlink Lite over Wi-Fi, was about 19 fps. Using mobile phones over a 4G cellular network, my frame rate never exceeded 3-4 fps, which was about what the company said was expected. In addition, the mobile apps let you pick up the frame rate for the live stream. A Mydlink+ app for tablets (99 cents) adds the ability to view up to four camera feeds at a time. The free Mydlink Lite mobile apps for Android and iOS include buttons that let you take a snapshot, mute the camera microphone, zoom up to 4x and access camera information. ![]()
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