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Panasonic BL-C131A Wireless PetCam Network Camera
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| Panasonic BL-C131A Wireless PetCam Network Camera |
| Part Number: BL-C131A |
| This product is discontinued |
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| Reviews: 3 |
| Average Review: 5.5 / 10 |
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Reviewed by
Design: 9.0 / 10
Nice silver design. You can hear it move when someone accesses the pan/tilt controls, but it's pretty quiet and I actually quite like the audible cue that someone has tuned in!
Image Quality: 7.0 / 10
Good, but not great. Digital zoom rather than optical.
Easy of Use: 9.0 / 10
Once it's set up, it's pretty easy. There are lots and lots of admin settings, so I can see it being confusing for a new user.
Connectivity: 7.0 / 10
Occasionally loses connectivity on my wireless network (like once a week), so I've set it to reboot itself every day to minimise any downtime. I'm still not sure whether that's the camera, or my router at fault, but a camera reboot solves the problem each time. WPA2 support is a plus.
Other Features: 9.9 / 10
There are lots of features and menus to play with. There's also an API (search the Panasonic website and you'll find the docs buried somewhere), so I managed to created my own little Flash control panel for it, so I could integrate it seamlessly into my website. This works great in Firefox and Chrome, but not so well in IE, which STILL doesn't support Motion JPEG out of the box. Not the camera's fault though that IE is so backwards. The API is a HUGE plus in my opinion. H.264 support might've helped.
Strengths
Ease of use.
API allows you to customise the interface and output presentation. Win!
Features.
Stream accessible with my Android phone (using TinyDVR) - there's probably an iphone app too, but don't have one to find out!
Weaknesses
Image quality is good, but not great.
No optical zoom.
Odd loss of connectivity.
No H.264 support.
Need to install an ActiveX control for IE for full features (acccck-puh). No digital zoom in Firefox/Chrome.
Summary
All in all, this is an excellent IP camera and is great value for money. I've owned it for just over a year, and it has really given me the taste to upgrade to something with a far higher definition picture, optical zoom and even meatier features.
Recommended.
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