INTRODUCTION

   The phrase we live in dangerous times has never been more true than today (at least never before in my entire lifetime) and so just like many other people our top priority is obviously the safety of not only ourselves and the people most precious to us but also of our hard earned possessions. Complete alarm systems and surveillance cameras have always been our two favorite solutions to that end and although these should almost always complement other safety measures (like window bars and security doors) they are much harder to choose due to the wide availability of products with different features and specifications. TRENDnet has released various IP camera models in the past but it wasn't until just recently that they ventured even further by releasing a complete surveillance kit by marrying a network video recorder (NVR) with two HD cameras. Its name is the TV-NVR104K 4-Channel HD PoE NVR Kit and this will be the focus of today’s review.

   TRENDnet is a global provider of award-winning networking and surveillance solutions to small and medium-sized business and home users. Building networking solutions since 1990, TRENDnet enables users to share broadband access, multimedia content and networked peripherals for true anywhere connectivity. TRENDnet's diverse product portfolio includes Wireless, Internet Cameras (IP Cameras), Switches, Power over Ethernet (PoE), Fiber, Gigabit, Home Automation, Network Video Recorders (NVR), Keyboard/Video/Mouse (KVM), Print Servers, Powerline, NAS Media Servers, Multimedia Accessories, and more. To learn more about TRENDnet, please visit www.trendnet.com.

   The TV-NVR104k 4-Channel HD PoE NVR Kit is actually made out of 5 individual parts, the TV-NVR104 network video recorder, two TV-IP320PI IP cameras, 1TB Seagate Surveillance HDD (ST1000VX001) and a small optical mouse. The TV-NVR104 network video recorder is ONViF compliant and features 4 PoE (power over Ethernet) 100Mbps Ethernet ports (delivering a combined total of up to 35W), 100Mbps Ethernet port (for local network connection), HDMI and VGA video outputs (up to 1920x1080p resolution), analog audio input/output ports (2.0 stereo) and 2 USB 2.0 ports. The TV-IP320PI PoE IP cameras on the other hand feature IP66 certified housings (dust and water proof), 1/3" progressive scan CMOS sensors, IR illumination for up to 30 meters, diagonal angle of 89 degrees and can record at a maximum resolution of up to 1280x960p at 25fps (720p @ 30fps). Finally the 1TB Surveillance HDD (ST1000VX001) by Seagate (the TV-NVR104 supports models up to 6TB in capacity) spins at 5400RPM, has a total of 64MB of onboard cache memory and can store up to 13 days of recordings from the two bundled cameras (up to 6.5 with 4). So let's see what this bundle is capable of.