Top Video Baby Monitor Review - Summer Infant Best View Handheld Color Video Monitor - 2.5" Screen
By Julie Freeman
The Summer Infant Best View Video Baby Monitor has all the essential requirements that parents need, making it one of the best video baby monitors available. It's 100% digital technology provides crystal clear audio and video with a secure, private transmission up to 350 feet. The Summer Infant Best View Handheld monitor has a large color screen at 2.5 inches which is larger than most portable video baby monitors. A very useful and unique feature of this video baby monitor is the ability to pan, scan and zoom on the camera. One of the leading retailers of this monitor has an average customer review score of 4.5 out of 5 from 75 reviews.
Video Picture Quality:
During the day the color video quality is excellent and the black and white night vision is also very good, even in a totally black room. There are red lights on the front of the camera which most people find are not too bright, but a few people have experienced these lights to flash every 5 seconds which in turn makes the vision on the monitor flash also. The majority of people do not experience the flashing red lights on the camera and it is presumed that those who did have either a faulty camera, or the room was not dark enough for the camera to distinguish between functioning in night or day vision. There are green lights above the camera lens and soft red lights all around the camera lens that should not be blinking on and off. There is a green power indicator light on the camera that is generally considered to be too bright, some parents resolve this issue by covering it with electrical tape (or similar).
Audio and Reception:
The audio quality is very good, you can hear your baby breathing if you want to. There is a wide range of audio settings, from loud to quiet, to off. The LED lights that indicate sound from your baby do not require the volume to be on, to light up, and don't change based on the volume setting on the parent monitor. The one common complaint from parents using the Summer Infant Best View Handheld Video Baby Monitor is that it doesn't have a volume control knob/dial, but you have to go into the menu to adjust the volume, it's very easily done but most people find it an annoying feature of this monitor.
The range is very good, the manufacturer quotes 350 feet but to expect an optimal distance for in home use of 15 - 60 feet. Many people have used this monitor over multiple floors in their homes without any interruption in transmission of audio and video, there is also no static with this video baby monitor.
Interference:
The 'Best View Handheld Baby Video Monitor' system operates at 2.4GHz (802.11g) a common frequency for many household wireless networks. The majority of people that use this baby video monitor system do not experience any interference or decreased performance of other electronic devices such as wireless router, laptop computers, iphone, wireless printers, TiVo, NAS, PS3, XBox 360, Wii and cordless phones. There is however, the other minority that do experience interference with wireless routers (802.11g) and other electronic devices. On occasion a laptop running in a bedroom next to the room with the camera, the laptop was unable to access wireless networking. Trying 802.11n (MIMO) might solve interference issues for some people.
Other Features:
Batteries: The monitor uses 3 AA rechargeable NiMh batteries which are included, and last up to 10 hours, however if you are running it on batteries instead of AC power the screen turns off automatically to conserve battery life and you have to turn the video back on by pressing a button on the top of the monitor, a bit annoying if you just want to glance at the screen to check on your baby. The baby monitor does not turn the video image off if it is connected to the power.
Pan and Zoom: A great feature of the 'Best View' video baby monitor is the pan/tilt and zoom functions. The camera has a motorised mount, it can be turned through a wide range of motion, it's controlled by a small joystick on the handheld monitor. It's very quiet when it moves so it wont wake up your baby. It pans about 320 degrees so you will be able to scan most of your child's room, this is ideal to keep an eye on the toddler who likes to get out of bed and play in their room. The camera can tilt upwards 90 degrees and downwards about 40 degrees from horizontal. There are 2 zoom levels (not continuous as with the pan) which work quite well, it's nice to be able to see if your baby's eyes are open or closed.
Extra Camera: A unique feature of the 'Summer Infant Best View Video Baby Monitor' is that it can take up to an additional 3 camera's, making 4 in total, a great benefit when you have more than one young child you want to see and hear.
Parents opinions about the Summer Infant Best View Video Baby Monitor usually run along the line of 'love this monitor', 'absolutely great monitor', 'fantastic baby video monitor', 'best video monitor I have seen', 'great buy, worth the price for peace of mind', the consensus is that the Summer Infant Best View Video Baby Monitor with 2.5' screen is one of the very best and most popular baby video monitors available today.
Julie Freeman is a Medical Laboratory Scientist in Microbiology with 24 years experience and mother of 2 delightful daughters aged 5 and 2 years. She manages The Baby Video Monitor Shop website which is dedicated to reviewing and comparing high quality baby video monitors, the Summer Infant Best View Color Video Baby Monitor with 2.5" screen is one of the best available, you can find further information and purchase details at http://www.thebabyvideomonitorshop.com/2009/10/summer-infant-best-view-handheld-color_3537.html Julie also manages http://babyhealthsecrets.com a website dedicated to providing helpful information in the form of high quality digital Ebooks on pregnancy, newborn baby care and advice for new mothers and parents, baby safety tips and advice on how to get your colicky (or crying) baby to sleep through the night.
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