Hawking Technology Net-Vision Wireless-G Network Camera
  [Computer Shopper]
COMPANY: Hawking Technology
PRICE: £84inc VAT
RATING:
ISSUE: 233 DATE:
May 07
Hawking's setup wizard is the best in the group. It has a step-by-step process that helps you connect to the camera and make the necessary setting changes. It attempts to configure settings automatically for viewing the camera over the internet, too, but this didn't work with our UPnP router.
The camera lens
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has a manual focus ring which can be tilted up or down by around 10 degrees. The web interface looks good, and as it uses Java it works with most browsers. The options are limited, though. There's no way to upload images to an FTP server and there's no way to record a video when motion is detected.
Only one Dynamic DNS service is supported, and it costs $25 (around £12) per year to use. There's an online viewing service, but this also costs money. The Windows viewing utility is basic, although it allows you to schedule recording times and view multiple cameras at once. Image quality isn't bad, with decent colours and plenty of detail, but with no infrared illumination there's no hope of recording a useful picture in total darkness. There's no audio streaming.
The Net-Vision is impressively cheap, but it lacks many useful features. We recommend saving up for something better.