Amcrest 5MP UltraHD 8 Channel DVR Security Camera System Recorder, 5MP Security DVR for Analog Security Cameras, Remote Smartphone Access, Pre-Installed 1TB Hard Drive (AMDV5M8-1TB)

I feel compelled to write a brief review since so many of the current ones seem VERY suspect (who mentions customer service people by name - with so much frequency - in a genuine review?!). Anyways, it works - and I'm very happy with it. I replaced a ~5 year old Dahua custom 16-channel DVR that came with the home we bought. It was a custom install job (with re-skinned firmware) so I hit a dead end trying to update the existing DVR. Given this relatively low price point (and we only needed 8 channels), it made more sense to buy a new one. I paired this with a 2TB Western Digital HDD WD Purple 2TB Surveillance Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD20PURZ. We have 8 channels; 2 of which are indoors. All are 906H resolution. Long story short, this DVR was easy to setup / connect to existing cameras, and - MOST importantly IMO - the native Amcrest app works surprisingly well. Super easy to monitor the home while away. It has mixed reviews in the app store (I have an iPhone X) but after about a month we've had zero issues. Everything just "works". But... always a but... the fan is loud as heck. I tried to replace with an aftermarket fan, but that one was even louder. Ultimately my solve was to remove the fan, and instead install one of those USB fans in the cabinet (providing cross circulation) Arctic ABACO-BZG00-010000 ARCTIC Breeze Mobile - Mini USB Desktop Fan with Flexible Neck and Adjustable Fan Speed I Portable Desk Fan for Home, Office I Silent USB Fan I Fan Speed 1700 RPM - White... that setup was/is whisper quiet. Hopefully this review helps others!

My Swann DVR stopping working. Beeping non stop. Gave up on fix. SWANN wanted a fortune for a replacement DVR. Bought this instead with 4TB Purple WD Drive. I put in the drive. Machine recognized it. Did not have to format it. Hooked up Swann Cameras, connectors are difficult to get the BNC connectors on the machine. Downloaded the app. It worked. Had an issue where all the cameras kept saying offline. Don’t know how I fixed it except I rebooted the Device and my phone and it started working again. So far I am very pleased with the ease of setup. I would recommend this to anyone with a failed DVR Needing a replacement. I use bullet cameras from Swann P2P.

Needed to figure out the right way to take it appart to put in hard drive. Came with the cables and fasteners needed. Setting up the network was a little tricky, i used the lan config; had to put in the right sub net address, and pick a static ip that wasnt taken. It also has: android, apple, and pc apps which is nice. (Tv browser was a little buggy, and not usable). Overall, good product.-needs cameras for setup. Video quality is good. I picked avhd cameras(1080p). It works with older cheaper ones' but i don't recomend it.

I struggled to access DVR from home computer so called Amcrest support for help. Technician (Jason) was able to quickly understand the problem and I had access to the DVR and Cameras in less than 7 minutes. Very pleased with his knowledge and ability to locate and provide access to the DVR by home computer using the Amcrest Surveillance Pro software.

Was impressed with product at the price point paid. The cameras were very well built and all of them worked flawlessly right out the box. I had a problem with the DVR. When I looked at the DVR it was by itself with no cameras included. As I read the technical stuff it said could take up to 6TB hard drive. I kept that in mind and decided to add 4 cameras along with the DVR. AFTER I ordered the DVR and 4 cameras a couple days later I was reading The specs again and noticed that when I added the cameras along with the DVR it suddenly could only accommodate a 4TB Hard Drive. I had ordered a 6TB hard drive same time as the kit. Well this was a problem as I also took a slightly used DVR and Cameras kit at a 30% discount. (Fixed income). I had to cancel the order and had to order the stand alone DVR separate to accommodate the 6TB Drive. And then order cameras separately. Both at a higher cost to me. Tried to talk to Amazon customer service about the problem. Was told may have been a older model. Whatever I tried didn’t work. It always reverted to 4TB if any cameras were added to the stand alone DVR. I ended up paying full price for the DVR, Cameras, and the 6TB hard drive. For me the 30% was a real letdown with Amazon not willing to help I had to just bite the bullet and adjust my wallet accordingly for the month. The DVR was very nice and functioned well. The menu’s were logical and straight forward. It came with what was needed to connect the hard drive inside the DVR. I had to talk to [email protected] about a couple of things. Had a hard time understanding the technicians that answered but got most of everything said but had to listen very carefully as words weren’t always in the right order. I asked about the Zoom function during realtime and playback. During realtime viewing the zoom function was non existent. It was blurry at all distances and unusable. The playback zoom was better but not fantastic by any means. Zoom usually is standard as far as I know. In the literature it said hotels and businesses use this model so live zoom to see faces of customers SHOULD be standard. But it was not. They also said since I was using a 8 way power splitter and not 2 four way splitters that may have a affect on operations. Also they said it may be my 1080P television. So basically anything that wasn’t Ancrest was the problem. Optical Was mentioned by them, not me. Following emails seemed to gravitate towards that and not the real problem. I know this is a minor thing but the cameras were Fish-Eye ever so slightly and made seeing things a little bottle like. Because of the Live Zoom function not being usable I returned DVR and cameras. Amazon’s return policy is fantastic and I have no complaints whatsoever in that area.

They work well.