Product Reviews

Just about any webcam can be set up to monitor a location and send emails when movement is detected. However, you need a PC within USB range to do it. Hawking's PTZ Network Camera can do it all from a distance over an Ethernet network.

It's externally powered, and comes with a remote control that lets you rotate and tilt it using its motors. There are several ways you can interact with the camera. The easiest way is to use the web interface; you can view footage and sound, pan and tilt the camera and use its 10x optical zoom.

Hawking provides its own monitoring software. You

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can add as many cameras as you like, although this involves manually typing in its IP address, which is a shame as the separate network setup tool scans the network automatically and finds all Hawking cameras. It would have been handy to have this tool in the monitoring package.

Cameras have a range of configuration options. These include motion detection windows, which email alerts to you, automatic panning, and auto patrol, where the camera moves through a range of points. All this data is stored on the camera, so you won't need a really powerful monitoring PC, as the cameras do all the grunt work.

Footage can be recorded and played back in the playback software by selecting the date and time of the footage. There's the usual range of options to email when an event is triggered, so you're alerted immediately. Finally, there's free membership to the service at www.hostedvideo.com, so you can do the same thing online; you have to pay a monthly charge, though.

The PTZ Network Camera is too expensive for home users, but if you're looking for a reliable, quality IP security camera, this is good value.