TIGERSECU Super HD 1080P 16 Channel DVR Security Recorder Without Hard Drive, Hybrid 6-in-1 CCTV DVR Recorder Compatible with 2MP and 5MP TVI, AHD, CVI, Analog, RS485 PTZ and IP Cameras

This is an update to my previous review (1 star), wherein I complained about the CMS program constantly crashing. See the screenshot. This would happen anywhere between a minute and a day of running the program. It would also happen when closing the program, almost every time. It happened across several Windows 7 PC's I was using it on. I went around and around with Tigersecu and they couldn't solve it. They had me do things like update the firmware twice, and lower the camera data rates. Nothing helped a bit.Well, I stumbled on the solution. See the second screen shot image attached. If you right click on the Tigersecu_cms shortcut and go to "properties", you can check that box for Windows XP SP3 compatibility. This minor change completely resolved the issue. No more crashing.OK, so now that this issue is resolved, let me rewrite the review. The thing I like most about this unit is the user interface. Whether you're accessing it via a monitor and mouse attached directly to the unit, or you're accessing it over the network using the Tigersecu_cms program, it's intuitive and easy to use.You have to use other DVR's that aren't done nearly so well to really appreciate what a good job Tigersecu did on the user interface. In particular, DVR's that are accessed remotely via a web browser tend to be really bad. Most require some ancient version of Windows Explorer, because all modern browsers block the functionality required, for security reasons. And then when you do get into the unit, well, the browser interface tends to make it more cumbersome to find and access all the settings. In fact, many of them don't even provide full setup capabilities via remote access. So doing something like adding an IP camera must be done on the unit itself. And just viewing and monitoring the cameras themselves tends to be buggy when using a browser interface.Even the ones that provide a real CMS program, the program tends to be hard to use and leaves out some capabilities. They're generic type programs that work over a cross section of different products and require you to jump through hoops to connect and view.The Tigersecu's remote access, on the other hand, is done via a dedicated program designed specifically for their products, which really cleans it up and makes it simpler and more intuitive to use. It's called Tigersecu_cms. It gives you just as much access as if you were using the unit itself with an attached monitor and mouse, and through an essentially identical looking interface. So that's really really nice, particularly if your DVR isn't in an easily accessible location. Anything you can do at the box, you can also do remotely.What's more, it can access over your LAN, without going over the internet, and even has a built in scan function at the logon prompt ("Discover") to help find your DVR on your LAN. Or you can enter your DVR's secret code and it can access it via Tigersecu's server, if you're trying to access it from outside your LAN. No monthly fees or any of that other nonsense. And the CMS program remembers all your logon credentials, so that next time you go to access it, you don't have to enter anything. Nice.It's just really, really well done, compared to it's competitors. Very user friendly. They put a lot of thought into it.Likewise, the mobile app is designed specifically for Tigersecu, it's not a generic like xmeye or one of the others, and it has a clean interface. I do wish though that it would support two way audio with IP cameras. It has a microphone enable, but it doesn't work, and tech support confirmed for me that it's non-functional. Tigersecu should work on this.Also in my previous version of this review, I griped about the slowness of accessing event records. When I go to the playback screen and tell it I want to play back events, it can take minutes after playing one event before it starts playing the next. I found this really frustrating. Well, the Tigersecu staff saw my complaint and emailed me and let me know of an alternate way to view events. If you go to the maintenance menu and then click "Log", you'll see that you can build a log of events, over whatever time period you want and for whichever cameras you're interested in. Building that log only takes seconds. Once the log is built, it displays it, and each entry has a play button. You click that play button and almost instantly you're viewing your event. Exit that playback and you're back at the log and free to select and play another event, without rebuilding the log. Nice! Once again, they did a good job on the user interface. You really have to use other DVR's to appreciate how much thought and effort they put into the whole user interface.Really my only gripe at this point is the lack of support for 2-way audio with the phone app. Fortunately I have a good workaround, in that the app that came with my cameras supports it and it works fine. Still, it'd be nicer to have it built right into the Tigersecu app.I haven't been able to find perfection in any of the DVR's I've tried, but now that I've got the app crashing fixed and am able to play events without a long delay, the Tigersecu comes the closest to perfection of any DVR I've used. It's not the cheapest, not by a long shot, but worth the extra money in my opinion to have something robust, reliable, and easy to use.

Question: What did I like about this product?Answer: EverythingQuestion: What did I dislike about this product?Answer: NothingI'll begin by saying that this review was written with my personal requirements and needs in mind. Your personal needs may be different than mine. If it turns out they are similar to mine, it's good that you stumbled upon this review.Over a period of 4 months from November 2018 to February 2019 after a purchase of 3 DVRs and returning two of them, I discovered something that everybody who wants, needs or purchases a DVR should know..With forward progress and manufactures trying to capitalize on our needs based on what we're buying and what we're using the most. DVRs are a big item on that list of things we want and there are a lot of manufactures jumping on the bandwagon to try and sell us all a DVR.The 3 images I've attached are examples of 3 of these sellers/manufacturers, but they're not just examples, they're part of my personal experience.THE FIRST IMAGE:ZOSI DVR. Zosi has a great group of people running their shop and their customer service is one that all sellers should aspire to. This DVR did not support my needs and there was no way for me to reconcile or make due so I had to return it.This was after however, their fantastic support team spent close to 30 minutes with me on a live SKYPE video call so they could see what the problems were first hand that I was having. The reason we used Skype was because the support guy was in China.To me, a DVR is for the purpose of monitoring an area, a home or a property and being able to view that monitoring from the control tower. The control tower for me is my house which includes 5 rooms. So wherever I am in my house, I should be able to view my surveillance cameras via an external monitor. If I'm in the bedroom watching TV I should still be able to view my cameras without having to run out to the main monitor in the living room to see them if I hear a loud noise outside or a disturbance of some kind.For me, this unit didn't work, but that's because I'm old fashioned and I like to keep using things as long as they keep working. I've been using my old smaller TV sets as monitors in each room of my house because I take pretty good care of things and these old TVs just keep on working. Unfortunately this DVR doesn't work with my older TV sets because it is built with newer protocol and considers the newer type of TV set but not the older style TV sets.SUMMARY:So the Zosi HAS an output for external monitors, but that output only works with newer TVs and not the older TVs. So if you have all newer flat screen TVs that you're using for external monitors, there's no problem.THE SECOND IMAGE:AMCREST 1080-Lite 16CH DVR . I can't really say much about this because I'm still fairly confused myself about it. What I can say is that the component setup on this device is just baffling to me. It makes no sense to me because there is no output for external monitors.When I asked the seller where the output was for the external monitors they said:"The video in and out will pull from the BNC ports through the analog cameras. Amcrest doesn't recommend running 3rd party cameras on Amcrest DVR and NVR's due to software incompatibilities which may hinder features. Amcrest Team"I'm not sure what this means, but the bottom line was that I had no output to connect any external monitors except for the primary monitor through the HDMI output. So there were no additional monitors for viewing in any of the other rooms in my house.SUMMARY:So the Amcrest doesn't even have an output for external monitors. So if you're OK only having the primary monitor and not having a monitor in any other room, there's no problem.THE THIRD IMAGE:TIGERSECU Super HD DVR. I'm going to give everyone a break and cut my review short here. Simply because there's not really much to say about this device.Well, there is one thing I feel obligated to include it in my review because it would simply not be fair to Tigersecu or anyone of you reading this review if I didn't.The only thing I can say about my Tigersecu DVR is that I got it for a reasonable price, slightly more than what I paid for my previous two DVRs.I was OK paying more for this DVR when I found out that it literally did everything ALL DVRs should do. It works with every type of camera, it has a very easy to use online remote viewing application for my smart phone and my PC.SUMMARY:What this DVR has that every DVR SHOULD HAVE is an output port that allows you to connect as many external monitors whether they're old style TVs or new style TVs or just monitors in general.Other than that, I really have nothing more to say about this device except to throw out a big THANK YOU to Tigersecu for making a DVR that MAKES SENSE!Other that that, there's nothing else to say except that if you buy a different brand of DVR other than this one, I wish you luck.

Pros: I'd say support has been my best experience for a product. Ian and May were prompt, helpful and pleasant. This is a very good product. Remote configuration is top of the line.Neutral: Playback is a bit cumbersome compared to other systems I have used. It appears to scan end to end to locate the channel/time you want. I download the videos and fast forward thru them using VLC. Setup is plug and play if you want to record 24/7. Depending on your requirements, there are a lot of customization settings that can get more complex.Cons: If you use P2P (if you scan the QR code, you are) it connects to iotcplatform.com, owned by a Chinese company. I suggest you research articles on them to see if you're comfortable using P2P. I turned off P2P and used port forwarding instead for remote access, the reason for 4 stars.