The synopsis of this review is that Annke Security Systems are awesome.
There is only one small issue concerning password retrieval should the user lose or forget the Annke System password.
Having become familiar with the Annke System, there is more good than bad to speak of.
As a Postive point, the Annke software DOES have some really neat perks and features to it.
One feature I really like is the simplicity in which it is able to be configured on the main view screen.
Cameras can be juggled around easier than any DVR software I've thus far used (so if moving bnc connectors around on the DVR are too difficult due to the lack of space between the connectors, simply click the screen you want and then click the list of available cameras on the left to make that screen become the camera you choose.
This method of tailoring your viewing experience works whether viewing the main screen or the conglomerate screens.
Just recently, I learned of a feature I have never seen in any of my more than a dozen DVR's that are here, one of which is to curtail false alarms by the utilization of AB Lines as opposed to Area motion detection.
Annke DVR's are being produced and no manuals exist?
On face-value, this might not appear to be a big deal...until you install and want to tailor the unit to personal needs.
Having an available manual to explain the hundreds of controls in the Annke software (which is close-source software) would of course be a necessity for expediency.
Upon receiving my first Annke DVR and contacting their company of the missing manual, the response was:
Firstly, It should be noted that the link stated above within Llona's response to my inquiry will indeed bring you to a web page with directions for a DVR. However, it is a different DVR unit (and some of the functions and controls shown do no apply to either of the afore-titled Annke D961BB or DT81DP models).
In addition, there are certainly caveats to solving the "forgot password" problem and I will attempt to depict the scenario where a fogotten password could leave the owner with no other recourse than to place the DVR into the trash recepticle.
On the eBay seller's website, the stock photo contained within the ebay listing shows a DVD and a manual (Deception? No manual or DVD is included). For the copyright police, this photo has been posted for educational purposes as allowable by law (see copyright clause located at the bottom of this screen).
If you "forget" your password (or if the password you wrote down suddenly does not work), you are left with absolutely no choice but to contact the manufacturer for help.
But what happens when they go out of business?
If your password does not work, you will be required to have a camera (there is no other way) and at least three photos are required to send back to support @ annke . com.
There is no manual for the model D961BB or the DT81DP Annke DVR's (you heard right). Lot's of Luck guessing how the hundreds of controls work. Proof:
Although only three photos were required, I sent six in the hopes that it would expedite the remedy of down-time that was being experienced.
These are the six photos I sent:
Annke's 2nd bait (the first one I bought!). In the communication seen below, Annke's eBay seller again answers my request to reset the password to the 8 camera Annke DVR with yet another push to buy yet another Annke DVR!
This encounter with Annke Security Systems has really thrown my security into a sub-standard state around here.
Yesterday hours were flitted away uninstalling the 8 camera system. and cameras from the building, repackaging, then carrying the shipment down to the UPS store.
Presently there is still one remaining Annk DVR here, the 16 camera dvr (the one that I was duped into purchasing as a remedy to the 8 camera DVR (which is another story for another time), and I'm wondering how this junk is going to work for me in the future (or whether I should just remove it and replace it with one of the more than half-dozen dvr's that sit on my shelves that are somewhat outdated).
Since the 8 camera Annke has been returned and all that remains is the 16 camera Annke DVR, critical cameras and recording is now down until I install another DVR to replace the Annke 8 Channel that was returned to seller.
Although these Annke units are being sold in the United States (and other English-speaking areas), the units Default to "Pal" as opposed to NTSC (which will invariably send you through an entire process of re-installation and reboot).
The units Default to an entirely different Time Zone in Beijing, China.
The individual camera connectors (BNC connectors) are so ungodly close that human fingers cannot possibly twist in 16 cameras without much effort and special tools.
I used needle-nosed pliars and still the owner of these devices will find it incredibly difficult to manipulate all 16 cameras to the 16-camera DVR made by Annke. I think what has happened here is that a developer has made something that is really cool on paper, is really cost-effective to the maker, but has left practicality and functionality out of the loop more-so than probably what might be deemed as a benefit to the end-user.
After tipping the dvr on end and proping a small box under the DVR to hold the one end up in the air, resulted in stressing one of the other camera connections and I soon found myself chasing another rabbit once the unit was switched on.
The most outrageously ridiculous software is incorporated into the Annke DVR's.
To make matters worse, each of the 4k (ultra-new) Annke DVR's possess different software so the controls are completely different from one unit to the next.
After succumbing to submit the required 3 photos that is required by the company to obtain a default password reset, the company then writes back instructing me to purchase a Windows PC (we have only Linux here) and to figure a way to get the DVR online so that their company can remotely connect to reset the unit (!!!).
Letter sent to Ebay for assistance
I have purchased a 16 cam DVR and an 8 cam DVR and additional cameras and sets of wires (5 purchases) from a seller that is selling these DVR's without manuals, and without a means to reset the unit if the password suddenly fails to work.
The only way to retrieve a reset code is through the company that requires at least three photos of various parts of the dvr (I sent 6). You must send this information to annke @ support . com which means that if the company should go out of business (that's never happened before, right?), you are now holding hundreds of dollars of unusable equipment.
No manual exists for either of the two models (When I purchased these I assumed a manual, there are hundreds of controls without any means to figure out the functions).
Presently I am completely locked out of one of the DVR's and have heard nothing back from the manufacturer.
I also contacted the seller on ebay but what recourse do I have now that the unit has been in my possession for 1 month?
p.s. Don't assume I've been able to use this unit for that one month....not even remotely close as my ebay communications between the seller began the very first day the unit arrived (yes, it was a password issue on the very first day). So I began a return request back to the seller but the password suddenly worked before the unit was able to be sent in.
Here we go again with the password not working.
What now? Am I duped?
I will return to write an exhaustive sequence of events which commenced on the very same day the unit was received here. That same day is when this password problem first poked its ugly head and communications between the seller and I, and the manufacturer and I, first began.
Here it is a month later with no recourse for an item purchased on ebay being sold not as described (nowhere does it state there will be no manual included, nor does it state that a manual does not exist for these models being sold on ebay, nor is it expressed anywhere within the product description that I would be manipulated to "borrow a windows computer from a friend" to accomplish the task of resetting these units.
This is not a normal or ethical means of doing business. If anything the manufacturer or the seller ought to be providing us with a usb flash drive that has the means to reinstall the system. when something goes wrong by flashing the firmware (without being magic to make the internet reach the dvr and THEN to find someone with a windows machine that is willing to allow me to install third party software).
These are the instructions given by the Annke site, instructions that do not pertain to either of the Dvr's they sold me.