CONCLUSION

   TRENDnet has released a very versatile and high-quality surveillance kit with the TV-NVR104K. The network video recorder with its HDMI and VGA video outputs can also be used with pretty much any TV set and thanks to the internal 1TB Surveillance HDD by Seagate it can record up to 13 days at 960p (depends largely on the bitrate used). By using two TV-IP320PI POE IP Cameras it’s quite obvious that TRENDnet wanted to keep the price of the TV-NVR104K kit somewhat low so although the NVR itself offers pretty much everything you’d ever want to the video quality of the cameras is simply not on par with 1080p models and above. Of course it’s still way better than what you’d get from a cheap NVR kit but we do feel TRENDnet should further expand the line with highest end models (also with built-in microphones) in order to potentially cover a larger percentage of the market. Some of you may also wonder about just how quiet the TV-NVR104 is and the answer is it’s not very. To be more specific we recorded noise levels of up to 47dBA from 10cm away so make sure you place it somewhere other than your bedroom or living room. Finally in terms of power consumption with both cameras up and running the kit never exceeded 19W so nothing to worry about in that particular area.

   When it comes to price as I type these lines the TV-NVR104K retails for USD349.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 395Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) and in a market filled with low-cost NVR kits we do feel that TRENDnet needs to widen their product line. With the TV-NVR104K you are obviously getting a higher quality kit with better warranty (3 years for the cameras and 2 for the NVR), more features and a pre-installed 1TB drive inside but it’s quite possible that people on very tight budgets may not care much about these things. All said and done we liked the TV-NVR104K kit and we feel that it’s the best complete kit to reach our lab to date (both when it comes to review samples and bought products) and for that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Good Build Quality
- 2 HD/XVGA 720p/960p POE IP66 Certified Cameras
- Up To 4 POE Cameras Supported
- HDMI & VGA Video Output
- Stereo Audio Input & Output
- NVR Features
- 1TB Seagate Surveillance HDD
- Easy Installation
- Bundle

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- No Audio (Cameras)
- Noisy 40mm Fan