Review: Logitech home security system
Logitech's webcam-based home security system.
While many people these days have a burglar alarm in their homes, few have a home security system with cameras. Now you can, thanks to easy-to-set-up systems.
I tried a system from Logitech ($649.95) that's designed for the indoors.
It came with everything needed to install a decent home security system.
It saves footage captured by the motion-sensitive camera to your home computer, as well as letting you remote view what the camera sees using a Windows-based mobile phone.
After installing Logitech's Wilife software, it was time to hook up the camera and the two receivers - one that connects to your computer using a USB cable, the other that plugs into a power socket and is then connected to the camera using a cable.
The camera sends the video footage to the receiver, and thus your computer, wirelessly.
You can also get a waterproof outdoor camera ($649.95), and the camera's command-centre software lets you monitor up to six cameras - handy if you have a big home and want several zones monitored.
The camera comes with a stand, suction cup or wall mount to fix the camera to where you want. For the purposes of this review, I went for just the suction cup and stand options.
Set up is easy enough and soon I had the camera recording footage that saved onto my computer's hard drive as a .wmv file (a Windows media format).
The command-centre software lets you tweak all manner of settings - from image quality to how you want to be notified if movement is detected.
And when you're viewing footage, you can flick from viewing live images to playback at the click of a button.
Being motion-sensitive means the camera will only record when there is movement - it doesn't record continuously, eating up precious hard-drive space - and in playback mode you can see the date and time of the recording.
You can set the system to alert you via your mobile phone, either through a text message, text with one frame of video, or an entire video clip.
You can also remotely view what your camera sees from the system's website.
I found the system a cost-effective way to add a camera-based security system to the house - and it had unexpectedly amusing results when it captured one of my children miming movements to a music video on TV, not realising that the camera was on. Priceless.
Probably the only negative aspect about the system - and it's more of a problem for the outdoor camera - is that the cameras need to be plugged into an electrical socket.
That's fine for the indoor camera, but how many people have sockets outside and in the right place? In other words, you'll probably have to pay an electrician to hardwire outdoor cameras.
