Compro IP 70 Network Camera Review
by Ganesh T S on July 28, 2011 11:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Gadgets
- IP cameras
- camera
- camcorder
Surveillance cameras are increasingly moving away from the analog to the digital domain. Advances in image and video processing silicon, emergence of efficient video compression standards and abundance of cheap storage have all contributed to bringing surveillance cameras to the consumer mainstream. As connected homes become more ubiquitous, surveillance cameras are tending to become network enabled. These IP cameras are used to record surveillance videos while also finding application for casual home monitoring, baby monitors etc. Their networked nature enables users to keep track of the video over the Internet (at work and on-the-go).
We have already reviewed a couple of IP cameras at AnandTech. The Dropcam Echo came across as very consumer friendly, while the Compro IP540 with the Pan-Tilt-Zoom feature was more professional and catered towards businesses.
We have Compro's entry level offering, the IP 70, in our labs today. While the hardware itself has been around for quite some time, firmware updates were provided recently to bring support for Seedonk. Seedonk is a generic webcam / IP camera service supposed to make the devices more consumer friendly. We will start off with the package contents, cover the setup impressions and talk in detail about the Seedonk service and the ComproView software. A separate section will be devoted to the video and image quality.
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ComproStore.com - Monday, August 1, 2011 - link
Please visit our website we offer all the great Compro Products, IP60, IP70, IP540 PTZ, IP540P PTZ, IP570, IP570, we have the best deals around with the Compro Line.jman7 - Friday, August 19, 2011 - link
I have two of the IP540P camera which are step up from this. They removed in latest firmware in all models the ability to records to SMB, NAS or any type of server. All consumer models you derivatives of the same firmware. You can record pictures but not video to a server in the latest firmware. They added the ability to monitor your video over the Internet but took away the necessary features. I reverted back to the latest firmware which did support to recording to SMB shares but that usually locks up the camera at around the 15 hour mark or so. It does have great video for remote video but if you think it will reliably record your home your are mistaken. They have claimed since April that they will restore firmware features but so far nothing.I have found many other owners of Compro video products saying the same things about their cameras. I feel duped by Anandtech these products are buggy and useless and any honest review would have picked up on this within the first day. The iP540 mentions a firmware that Campro never released to customers. Evidently they responsively release firmware to reviewers but not customers.
A.K. - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
The root cause of this issue is that Compro has added a new P2P service feature called Seedonk Server onto the 2.0 release and had to make tradeoff due to the insufficient memory space; the tradeoff is the SAMBA NFS recording function.A.K. - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
Compro does apology for users who are replying on the SAMBA NFS recording function and will release a special version of the 2.0 firmware with the SAMBA NFS 2.0 (however without the Seedonk Server function) will be available by the mid Sept.However, if anyone want to recording their video from Compro IP Camera, now they launch their own NAS/NVR product to the market, all firmware support the recording to their own NAS/NVR is no problem.
X man - Saturday, August 27, 2011 - link
On current FW, I can use Synology server for Video Recording. And their excellent mobile solution on iPhone/iPad/Android Phome make the camera (IP70 and IP540) good IP Cameras for Home Users.paul.dpoint@gmail.com - Tuesday, August 6, 2013 - link
--- Great article. I know a company that sell's also a cheap and quality ip camera. www.dpointtectnologies.com