Lorex LW2002W Portable LCD Wireless Surveillance System (White)
by Lorex Corporation
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List Price: Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Lorex LW2002W Portable LCD Wireless Surveillance System (White)
Customer Review: Summary of Reviews - Hope to save you a bit of research time.
Summary: 4 Stars
Ok, first the disclosure; I don't own this product yet. I'm just like you... researching and trying to decide which baby monitor is the best. I've come to a conclusion, and I'm posting this simply with the hope that you might not have to spend 5 hours of your life doing what I just did. In other words, hours ago I wish I could have read someone's "Summary of User Reviews". So, if it helps, great. If it doesn't, sorry... just trying to help.
After reading dozens and dozens of reviews at various websites (including Amazon) I've decided that this Lorex baby monitor (model Lw2002 in either white or black; thus model Lw2002W or Lw2002B) is the best monitor out there for several reasons. However, as we'll see, it's not perfect. First, the good news.
PROS:
1. Very clear daylight picture.
2. Clear sound.
3. Infrared "Night" vision or dark mode that is quite clear.
4. Motion and/or sound detection triggering an audible alarm/beep/video image at the monitor.
5. Security of signal frequency hopping digital transmission. (So the neighbor's baby monitor can't see or hear your baby.)
6. Because of the signal's digital frequency hopping (1000 times per second) the device is very unlikely to interfere
with, or suffer from interference from, your wireless router, cordless phones, microwave oven, etc.
7. Support for up to 4 cameras; all can be viewed on the same handheld monitor.
8. Auto-switching mode, for switching between multiple cameras (if you have more than one) every few seconds.
9. Remotely controllable (from the handheld monitor) night-light.
10. Ability to output video to a TV or video recorder. (e.g. set it up as a picture-in-picture while
you're watching your favorite TV program.)
11. Ease of setup. (Simply plug it into your house power outlet - or charge and use the batteries - and you're done.)
12. Reasonably low price.
Now the bad news. Although the majority of users find the product usable, and many find it ideal, the following areas are the 4 most consistently repeated of the complaints voiced by users in the countless reviews I've read. If you can live with these few product deficiencies, then this very well may be the best baby monitor for you too.
CONS:
1. Automute: By far, the number one complaint that people have is that they cannot set the sound to stay on all the time. The monitor will silence itself (mute sound and turn off the screen) if there isn't any "significant" audio or motion coming from the baby's room after a certain period of time (e.g. 10 seconds) but will of course turn on again if there is a "significant" sound or motion such as a baby talking, crying or moving. Again, this feature can't be disabled. However, to the manufacturer's credit this sensitivity is adjustable, and apparently, the device will still flash red lights (from one to several - depending on the intensity of the sound) as sounds are detected, even when the monitor is muted.
The device designer's idea, as stated by them, is to allow the parents to sleep without the white noise "hiss" that would exist with constant reproduction of a "quiet" room's sound. But many people find the sensitivity adjustment to be insufficient and wish that they could set the monitor to relay sound or picture ALL the time. (At the very least sound.) In fact, many feel that the suddenness of the device turning on and relaying sounds is more alarming than the constant "hiss" and/or noise of the child would be. As a result, these people find this muting "feature" to be disturbing and would clearly prefer to hear every sound and rely on their own brain to detect abnormalities in the child's environment or breathing, etc.
For some, they work around this by using another traditional sound only baby monitor to listen to the child, then, if they hear something unusual, they grab the Lorex monitor and turn it on to see what the child is up to. Not so elegant, but it works.
It's worth noting that this issue, which many consider to be a key design flaw, would be an extremely easy fix for Lorex to implement; simply add a "sound always on" and "video always on" setting to the setup screen. Hey Lorex, how about a firmware update!?
2. Beeping Upon Button Use: The handheld monitor beeps "loudly" every time you press any button when using it. This annoys a number of people because it wakes their sleeping spouse next to them during the night when they are using the baby monitor to check on the child. This could be easily fixed by Lorex by implementing a mute, or volume setting in the monitor's setup screen. Hey Lorex, how about a firmware update!?
3. Bad Button Placement: The relative ease with which certain buttons (e.g. specifically the power on/off button) can be inadvertently pressed. Some people complain that the buttons are just placed poorly, and shouldn't be put where they're easily and accidently pressed when picking up the device.
4. Battery Life: Although both the camera, and the handheld monitor come with plug-in AC power adapters, many people feel that the device (particularly the handheld monitor) is short on battery life. They feel that the 2.5 to 3 hours of run time (approximately) is insufficient. Personally, I feel it's on par with such a power hungry video wireless device. Of course this isn't as easy of a fix as the first two issues (which would only require a firmware update), but of course this too could be remedied by the addition of a larger more powerful lithium ion rechargeable battery.
(It should be noted that the use of batteries in the camera, particularly during the dark when the camera's infrared lights will automatically turn on, is also very short. But for some reason, people intuitively seem to understand that the camera needs to be plugged in, and so they don't complain about this. Not so for the handheld monitor; instead, people think the battery in the handheld monitor should last as long as the other handheld device they use daily... specifically, their cell phone's battery... and who knows, maybe they're right.)
Conclusion: Ok, now I'm placing my order. I'll try to post a useful update if I find anything noteworthy to add.
Customer Review: Great Product
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased the Lorex LW2002W to augment the sony baby monitor I have (Baby call NTM910). I pretty much use the product like this. If I hear my baby making noise I turn on the Lorex monitor and see what she is up to. I want to see if she is really crying or just crying because she does not want to sleep (i.e. rubbing her eyes, rolling around). This is great because before I would always go in her room and check things out and disturb her, now I can hold off a little longer to see if she is able to get herself to sleep without my intervention. Most times she can. I have the confidence to let her cry a bit longer because of this product, and her sleeping is now greatly improved.
I like the fact you can connect it to your TV. Don't expect HD video though as it has poor resolution but looks okay from across the room at TV viewing distance. My unit did not come with the cradle so I called Lorex to let them know I was missing it from the box and they sent me one no questions asked (I just had to fax over the receipt). It took about 2 weeks to arrive. You can connect the monitor directly to the TV with the provided AV cable or via the charging cradle.
I also use this camera as a low tech webcam by connecting it to my TV, pointing my macbooks built in webcamera at the actual TV screen and streaming the video (of the TV screen) over the internet using EVOCAM (even easier to use USTREAM.TV).
This unit has a night camera that also works great and gives a pretty good image in zero light situations.
The camera can run on batteries but if the camera is in night mode, the batteries will quickly go dead. Also the monitor itself has poor battery life. The best way to use the product is to set the screen to go to sleep after one minute. If you baby cries, the video will reactivate and you can see what is going on. I typically leave my monitor docked during the day and connected to the TV so I do not have to worry about the battery dying. At night I turn it off and take it to bed with me, and if I hear anything on the sony monitor I turn on the Lorex for a quick look at what is going on. If its nothing, I turn it back off and go to sleep. If you leave the monitor on all night, unplugged it will be dead by morning.
Customer Review: Elder Care monitoring - GREAT range !!
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm one of those "baby boomers" caring for an elderly parent now...my baby monitoring days are over. Finding a good system that will work when the parent is in a different house isn't easy. Mom lives in the house right next door to us....about 35 feet away. Still, most baby monitors won't work if the "range" is obstructed. I talked to ADT security which has wonderful systems...if you want to spend several thousand dollars. I tried another baby monitor which didn't work....so started looking into larger systems from Lorex. I had it narrowed down to two, each with 4 wireless cameras and DVR/Internet box, etc. Then this portable monitor caught my eye. After reading the reviews I was certain it wouldn't work. But I decided that returning things to Amazon.com is so easy I had nothing to lose. I'm so glad I decided to try it !!! I'm thrilled with it !!! The camera portion is now sitting in Mom's living room..about 45 feet from the front of our home. The monitor is next to me....in my bedroom which is on the second floor of our home. Mom's house is a double....the "other side" is empty and is the side that is between Mom and our home !! So we're most definately NOT unobstructed !!! I have a dual network router in our home as well as two cordless phone systems. As I walk through the house holding the monitor, I WILL lose the signal on occasion...or get "low signal" message. But I'm amazed that it doesn't happen in many areas of my home. I'm going to take the camera I have and try it in two other places in Mom's house. If it works in those areas as well, I'll be ordering two more cameras. So don't always trust negative reviews !!! If you like the product and are at all curious...TRY IT !!! Amazon makes returns painless....printable shipping labels, postal service pickup.....very easy. As for this baby monitor...I'll be sleeping so much better tonight knowing I can check on my Mother at 2:00 in the morning if I feel the need. The only thing keeping me from giving it 5 stars is the sound, which is "tinny" but has great volume. The picture is great, considering the distance between camera and monitor. It upgrades to 4 cameras and has a built in alarm.Customer Review: More features than similar products marketed specifically as baby monitors
Summary: 4 Stars
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
I got this monitor to use in my 1 year old son's room. We had looked at other video monitors, and the one's marketed as baby monitors just didn't have the same quality of features as this system did.
Pros:
-Very easy setup--I took out of box, plugged in AC adapters, placed camera on bookshelf and had an immediate image on the monitor. There is no syncing or programming required. Longest part of setup is waiting for the hand-unit to fully charge (about 4 hours)
-Can connect to your TV using supplied A/V cable. Again this is very simple; just plug in the A/V cable and plug into available input on your TV or receiver. If you have picture in picture you can have the monitors image in the PIP. If you don't have this feature on your TV, you can just view the image full screen and switch back to cable as needed.
-Since it is digital, it won't pick up your neighbor's cameras should they have same system. Also have had no interference with our wifi or cordless phone.
-Small camera easy to blend into decor
-Ability to add additional cameras to view with same handheld unit.
Cons:
-Additional cameras cost almost as much as full system
-Battery does not last through the night if have the handheld until off the charging cradle, even when not viewing monitor often. We put it in the bed with us, viewed him maybe 3 times for about 1 minute each time, and in the morning couldn't get the monitor to turn on because the battery was dead. We now just keep it on the cradle next to our bed overnight.
-As other's have stated, the audio mutes itself if there are no jarring noises after about 15 seconds. Would be better if the audio was always on with the option to mute.
Overall I am very happy with our purchase and have recommended it to our friends who are expecting.
Customer Review: One of the best you can buy, but not perfect....
Summary: 4 Stars
After spending hundreds of dollars on various different baby video montitors and systems, I eventually landed on the Lorex. Right out of the box, it was very easy to set up and was much more solid in terms of build quality compared to the other plastic toy-like monitors out there that are horrible. I had it working in about 3 minutes after quickly glancing at the instructions (I also purchased a 2nd monitor system to go with).
It works great, however is not perfect. I was impressed in that it's quiet and you really do not get any interference and I have not noticed any issues with losing internet connection, which I had on previous models. I've come to the realization that no company out there knows how to build a quality baby monitor without having it's issues.... this still remains my #1 ranking, however.....
- Battery life is horrible and you will need to keep it int he cradle often. Just taking it downstairs to have dinner with my wife, I wondered if the battery would run out and don't believe they give you an option to put in AA's either - this should be improved in a future model for sure.
- Navigation of the handheld unit is a bit weird and not the most user friendly, though it's not that complicated. It's annoying that every time you press a button to activate a camera or do anything the unit beeps with every press you make.... this is especially stupid considering I could not lie in bed next to my wife and check on the babies without waking her up with all the beeps of the unit - this is pretty stupid and my biggest issue with the product I think. Why on earth would they not give you the option to make it completely silent if you want to???
Night vision works great, decent sound quality (not the best), and does what it's supposed to do without frequency sounds, and buzzing, etc. I do recommend the unit, however realize none of these little things are perfect including this one.