I have tried other brands (won’t name them here) that were simply useless (unable to stop hundreds of false alarms, detection failures, etc.). With this DVR I was able to eliminate nearly all possible false alarms and still get 100% detection, real-time email/text notifications and event recording. The DVR records 30 seconds prior to and 30 seconds after an event and can send real-time email/text with multiple pics from the most pertinent images from that time range; which pretty much perfectly catches what you need to see to determine exactly what happened (i.e. who came to your door, etc.). You can remote live view any one or several cameras simultaneously from the mobile and PC app. Reviewing event history is straight-forward by simply jumping to tick marks on the timeline or searching for specific events on specific cameras. You can even view events with up to 2 cameras synchronized side-by-side (which is really handy for seeing people/vehicles entering one camera’s view and then moving through to another).The UI appears better than most (nice graphics and easy to navigate). However, setting up the system takes an inordinate amount of time due to lack of useful common defaults (i.e. you spend a lot of clicks setting options for each day of the week for each camera—so lots of repeat this for 7 days x 8 cameras = 56 windows to click through to set the most common “do this always” setting). Several things (like configuring event triggering/recording and configuring event scheduling) are confusingly in separate places and easily missed. For example, you set up a bunch of event/alarm triggers but forget to also go to a separate menu section and set up the recording schedule and then nothing happens—leaving you confused and frustrated. The manual is better than most but there is still some poorly worded and badly documented features (like pretty much all of the Recording Schedule section of the interface). Making this worse, some of the features in this section simply don’t work (I worked with their support (which was very responsive) on these issues so hopefully they will fix this).Perhaps the most useful feature of this DVR is its ability to detect what they call “VCA Events”. This allows you to set up things like “line crossing” where you can draw a line and then specify that an alarm should trigger when something crosses the line in one direction, the other direction, or either direction. You can also trigger on “people gathering”, “loitering”, “object removal”, “parking”, “unattended baggage”, “facial recognition”, etc. I find that the “Line Crossing” feature is the ultimate way of eliminating false positives associated with the more common block-area motion detection. When you block out an area for motion detection (most DVRs support this), you can never really eliminate false positives from shadows, bugs flying near the camera, sprinklers, clouds, car lights, etc. Detecting “line crossing” means that something has to actually move across a line (like your front door step) as opposed to just set off a square somewhere in front of the camera. This eliminates 90% of the false positives. I set my system up to record on both motion and VCA events but only send emails/texts and audible alarms on VCA events (so I over record for historical info but only alarm when something really happens). Alas, you can only set up one VCA event (fixing this would make this a truly stand-out DVR). So I end up using the VCA event for the most important camera (e.g. the front door) and then limit the motion area and turn down the sensitivity for the other cameras to limit the false alarms there.When setting up block-area motion detection, like all other DVRs, you will have to play with the motion sensitivity to get it right. For me, setting the sensitivity to 1 works for detecting motion that is within 5-10 feet of the camera. Try 2 to detect motion within 15-20 feet and 3 or more for further out. The higher you have to set the sensitivity the more false alarms you should expect. Also, when setting the motion area, limit it to as few squares as you can. Try setting them all on then watch what actually triggers with different sensitivities set (you will likely be surprised). Then remove any areas you really don’t need. This will greatly reduce your false alarms.Bottom line, the hardware works. There are some bugs with the software and there are some UI issues (hopefully they will fix these in an update). Still this is the best security DVR I have tried. It has more features than most and it works. For what it costs, you can’t beat it.** UPDATE (2019) **While this is still the best low-cost security CCTV DVR system, analog security systems are all but obsolete now. Unless you have analog CCTV (i.e. coax) cabling/systems already in place, you are much better off investing in a digital NVR system. Your best bet is to go with wired POE cameras and a quality NVR like Reolink or Amcrest. The low-cost NVR systems tend NOT to have all the triggering features (line crossing, loitering, etc.) and will still cost you more than a CCTV DVR system. But, the ease of use, higher resolution, app independence and future proofing is worth the extra cost.

All I needed was a DVR that detected motion and allowed me view it later. So many of the previous ones had a hard time detecting motion consistently. This unit does it extremely well.I could not get the email to work, but I downloaded their app that sends me detected motion right away, which is even better than email.Originally, I was a little worried that the unit would not work with my old Swann cameras. Initially, they didn’t, but I played with a few settings and got them to work.What you get for the price is a steal. I didn’t try out all the features but just the fact they are an option is amazing.I am very pleased with this purchase. Infact, I have become an Annke fanboy. I will suggest all security video solutions Annke’s way.

After spending twice on Z*O*S*I, that did not last 4-months, this unit is doing an excellent job.

I bought this as a gift for a family member to replace their DVR unit on their security cameras. The original unit burned out and I was looking at buying an entire new system. Instead, I decided to try just buying this DVR. It works great with all compatible cameras is easy to set up and use and was basically able to be swapped in and out for the other unit With no problems. It has the same functionality that the other unit had. With a few extra goodies mixed in.

Excellent service .. I talked to Hugo and he was awesome in fixing the problem