Q-See Net DVR's work with the iPhone.

That couldnt be further from the truth.

Speco DVR has built in DDNS that is very simple to set up. Their MAC viewing software is flawless. It would be nice if the DDNS name auto-populated when you opened the JAVA viewer but its not that tough to remember the DDNS name ie "joesmith.ddns.specoddns.net". The way I see it they are the only ones even providing a decent MAC solution.

And their proprietary iphone solution works nicely too. Only one camera at a time but with that small of a screen who wants more that that?

Totally agree with you

not sure how the prices compare but you can checkout www.nuvico.com for their Apex Lite series also. They have some demos online to checkout and support mac via java client also.

although we don't support speco on our mobile phone apps we have analyzed it and they do have one of the more secure mobile authentication mechanisms we have run across.

i have seen the icrealtime iphone apps being used by other companies (GUI is too similar for coincidence).

q-see is straight OEM from what i have seen. their iphone app (along with most free ones) is possibly server based.

umm... wow it has DDNS.. most routers have that built in as well.. not really a big feature

the pure simple fact that the client is required to enter in an ip address or even a ddns style domain is unacceptable. There is no way to save the info at all.

I have installed 50+ speco dvrs and they are excellent quality DVRs but with 90% of my clients having macs due to my recommendations i got complaint calls almost every week saying they did not want to have to enter in info and just wanted to click a button and have the cameras come up which you can do with their windows program...

ya their "secure authorization" should be optional it makes it impossible to integrate their video feeds into control4. I am unsure if anyone with crestron or amx has integrated the feeds directly from the box. I am currently working on a Control4 app for their dvrs so people dont have to buy a 3rd party video encoder just to see their speco dvr on their touch screens..

btw to be clear i have a Speco dvr in my own home as well.

Thanks for the Nuvico tip. Could be a good option.

You sound like a grumpy child throwing a fit. Sad really.

Werent you just complaining about having to type in a ip address and port? So, DDNS would solve that. No?

You have to type in the web address on the PC side too? I guess you could bookmark it. I really have no idea what you are complaining about. It takes about 4 seconds to type in the address. Sometimes you just cant please everyone.

You recommend the MAC. You recommend the Speco. Sounds like your problem and you have found Speco does it best but your still complaining. Your'e a child.

im not a grumpy child throwing a fit.. you disagreed with me.. so lets do some number crunching here

ok client number 1 has to type the following when the app opens

192.168.1.150:100

and your client has to type the following when the app opens

joesmith.ddns.specoddns.net

NEITHER ONE is easy to remember and its beyond ridiculous that our client has to memorized some stupid long url to get to their cameras. they want to click a button and have them show up... I referenced that a router has ddns because the fact that the dvr has it isnt anything special. I dont recommend speco anymore. i had in the past also the complaint were from the home owners when they were away from home.. In home the cameras were distributed on their tvs and other locations so it wasnt a big deal.

i am putting a speco dvr into a c4 environment and was going to put in an axis video server for c4 integration. what is the status of your solution, please? i would be interested in learning more about it. btw, another motive for putting in the axis was to have programmatic access to video so that, for example, i could grab and email clips when certain events happen (i.e. security alarm goes off, doorbell button is pressed, etc.) thanks.

I just finished an app that got submitted to the store and have the rest all in dev now.. The app will require you to load it.. you CAN book mark it so it will load on an event on the touch screens and on screens..

You can do certain events built into the speco units.. They have contact inputs and relays etc.. You can use a card access relay to trigger events on the dvr and do tons of things in programming

i keep the lights at my front door dimmed pretty low but if you ring the door bell at night the lights get brighter and it pops up the cameras on every touch screen and then plays an audio chime on all the zones etc.. super easy to program. the way i am getting the video to show up is i am using a panasonic encoder and then also an IR on the actual dvr so you can get away with controlling it like a source.. If the garage opens it can pop up the garage camera or the driveway camera etc etc etc.. all done in programming

My customers as well find it silly to have to type in urls and/or IP addresses that they dont comprehend what they are. "Why cant I just hit an icon on my iphone and it work", "what are these number and why do I have to do this".

I feel the pain. Yes, its super simple, but unfortunately, so are some customers.

That aside, Speco is our go to source.

DDNS is not a static IP address.  ISP like to refresh their connection to modem/router often; hence modem/router is also refresh and new IP address is assigned.  That's the reason clients have to type in URL then DDNS will automatically redirect to current IP address on the modem/router.

If you use services like DYNDNS - very much like DVR DDNS but you have to pay for the subcribtion.  This allows you to book mark the page.

I've been strictly used GE and AverMedia DVR and they only supported their webviewer and control interface with IE7 or IE8.  Only able to view single camera at a time on other webbrowsers (i.e. Safari or Google).

Is Speco or Nuvico able to be controled via Safari?

I understand that.

However, it doesnt change the fact that customers find accessing their Speco DVR's a pain in the butt.