ZOpid – Digital Interference-free Audio & Video Baby Monitor w/ 2.4 Inch Color Display, Night Vision & Voice Alert (Model: HS-MS340P) - Babyphone Discounters

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J. C. Drake (Lafayette, IN, USA) –

  

We’ve owned this ZOpid system (with one additional camera) for about five months now, and we couldn’t be much happier.

I first became acquainted with video baby monitors when our daughter was very young. We purchased a monitor so we could see her, and it *did* work, but not as well as we would have liked. There was always interference from other devices, be they other baby monitors in the neighborhood, our own wireless network, or even local radio stations. (Seriously; we could hear the radio sometimes.) Still, because of the price, we bought a second one when our son came along, which left us with two monitors on my bedside table while compounding the aforementioned problems.

Fast forward a few years: we finally decided that if we’re going to do this, we need to do it right. Our children are now four and three, but we have a rather large house, so a monitor is really quite helpful. We wanted something with a decent picture, zero interference, and capable of handling at least three cameras (for when the new baby comes). On all of these points, the ZOpid excels.

Regarding the complaints I’ve read on here, I can completely empathize: one of the first cameras we received was broken, right out of the box. I contacted the company; they were extremely helpful in trying to troubleshoot the problem, and when it became obvious that it just wasn’t going to be resolved, they immediately dispatched a replacement camera (including a postage paid return label, for the old one). In my book, that’s completely acceptable: *anything* can arrive broken; what’s important is how the company resolves the issue.

Realistically, I’ve only had two problems with these cameras: the first is that, during the brief pause when the monitor switches between cameras, the screen defaults to a solid blue background. In a darkened room, this has the same effect as a flash of lightning. When I emailed the company about this, they actually took the time to call me and discuss my concern, so they could come up with a good way to resolve it. The answer: they are changing the background (perhaps to black?) in their next firmware update. Until then, they suggested I use the power-saving mode, which darkens the screen until noise is detected. This has proved to be an *extremely* acceptable solution, and I expect we will continue to use it, even after said firmware update is released.

The second problem is something I probably noticed because of our experience with having two separate monitors: since the single monitor switches between cameras at user-defined intervals (in our case, every 15 seconds), there are 15 (more like 19, including the pause) seconds during which a given child isn’t being heard. Once a third camera is introduced, that number goes up to about 34 out of every 45 seconds that any given child isn’t being monitored. Again, I called ZOpid to discuss my concern; they suggested the best solution would be a new option (added via firmware) that would use the camera’s audio sensor to activate the monitor. In other words, if Camera 3 is active and the baby near Camera 1 starts crying, the monitor automatically switches to Camera 1. Again: a *very* acceptable solution.

The bottom line is that the cameras are quite good–perhaps not what you’d get from a system costing thousands of dollars, but certainly great quality for the price range. It’s the customer service, however, that makes ZOpid really stellar. Not many companies take user feedback as seriously as they seem to, and *that* is what earns them that fifth star.

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R. Rodriguez “Duodenum” (Miami, FL) –

  

I would recommend this camera to anybody that is looking for a decent baby monitoring device.

First, a history of why I purchased this camera. I purchased this camera after owning the Summer Infant Video Monitoring Camera for 2 years. The issue I had with the Summer Infant was that my downstairs neighbor had the same camera. The Summer Infant has 2 channels. My baby was on channel A and theirs was on channel B. There would sometimes be interference on the device and many times, while trying to sleep, I would hear the camera cackle, pop, and make noises. Also, we just had another baby and I wanted to purchase another camera so that I could monitor both babies… This was now an issue as I only could use one channel, since my neighbor was using the other. If I even tried to use the channel they were on, I would not be able to see anything due to tons of interference. So these were my big issues with the Summer Infant:

1.) I could only use 1 Channel since my neighbor was using the same camera
2.) Anybody that has a Summer Infant Camera can see your baby
3.) Lots of Interference
4.) Even when there was no interference, the camera would still make noises which bothered me in my sleep.

I purchased the ZOpid after doing much research… I must say I am very happy with the camera. I am only giving it four stars though because I have had to reset the base monitor a few times since I purchased the camera a couple months ago. I’ve also had to reset the camera watching my 1st born on 2 occasions… Why? I have no clue, but after I reset the camera I had no connection issues. Here are the PROs and CONs of using the ZOpid:

PROS:
1.) No noises at night when I’m trying to sleep. The camera only transmits noise over a certain decibel, therefore you won’t hear anything unless your child makes a sound that the camera picks up, then and only then will you hear it on the receiver.
2.) No interference – fully digital. This is a plus as I know that nobody else can see my baby either
3.) I can set up to 8 cameras with this monitor… Not that I will ever need to, but it’s possible.
4.) I can charge the base on my laptop as it can connect via USB
5.) UPDATES to the firmware. After speaking to the vendor, they informed me that an update should be available January 2010. I’ll get to test updating the firmware then.
6.) Easy to navigate menu… Now, this is a PRO for me. I notice that my wife is not comfortable with navigating the menu and she does not find it very easy. I work in IT, so that may give me an advantage.

Now the CONS:

1.) The picture is no where near as clear as the Summer Infant baby monitor. In-fact, it’s a little pixelated.
2.) I’ve had to reset the base about 3 times as it’s lost connection.
3.) I’ve had to reset the camera twice since it for some reason stopped transmitting… This was a concern for me the first night since I had it all setup… fell asleep, woke up, and there was nothing on the receiver… that means that for I don’t know how many hours I was not monitoring my child (no video – no sound). That’s a concern for me. But I have not had any issues with the camera in the past month.
4.) The power cords are a tad bit to short for me for the Cameras… The Summer Infant had much longer cords.

Overall, I am pleased with the ZOpid camera. I have the second camera that I need to setup in my room to monitor our newborn. I should have it setup soon… Been procrastinating a tad since my wife is always with the child… There hasn’t truly been a need for it yet. But overall, a great system at a great price.

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I bought the ZOpid Digital Video Baby Monitor a few weeks before my baby was born. He is now 6 months old and this product has been the BEST purchase I’ve made. I spent hours on Amazon researching which video monitor to buy before choosing this one. Save yourself some time, and just buy this one! Here are the things I love about it most:

- It’s a digital monitor so there’s no interference with other baby monitors in the neighborhood. It was worth the extra money to me to know that my sleeping baby would not show up on other people’s video monitors.

- Some video monitors out there reported interference with wireless internet connections. In my household, we have 3 Tivos, 3 video game systems, 2 computers and 2 iphones that all use wireless internet. We have had absolutely no issues with the internet speed or internet connection. This is a non-issue for us with this monitor.

- I love the peace of mind I have knowing my baby is sleeping soundly and safely, without having to go in and check on him constantly. My baby is an excellent sleeper. He started sleeping through the night at 8 weeks. I contribute some of that good fortune to the fact that I don’t need to go in and check on him thus waking him up needlessly. Plus, I was able to have him in his own room from the get go and still know how he was doing.

- This monitor stays in “sleep mode” until your baby makes noise OR moves around. That is great so that I can sleep with the monitor not on until my baby wakes up and the monitor turns on. ZOpid also allows you to set both the audio and video sensitivity levels (high, medium, low) so you can control how often the monitor lights up and makes sound. If you set both settings to low, the monitor will wait for your baby to make loud noises or big movements before turning on. On high, it will pick up quieter sounds or smaller movements. This is great so that when your baby is a newborn and making soft grunting sounds in his/her sleep, you can set the audio sensitivity to low or medium and not get woken up so much. Or if your baby moves a lot in his/her sleep you can set the video sensitivity separately. You can also use the high settings if you want to be notified of quieter sounds your baby makes.

- The monitor’s battery runs for about 3.5-4 hours. So I keep the charger by my bed and charge it at night, and then charge it in between naps. The monitor runs off batteries during the day when I’m awake and he’s napping. I leave the camera plugged it all the time, so I don’t know how long the camera can run off its batteries, but it does have that capability. Update: Right around 6 months of use, the battery power decreased dramatically. Now at 11 months of use, it only holds a charge for about an hour. So I basically keep it plugged in all the time.

- I get a strong signal from the monitor everywhere in my two story house. I don’t lose a signal until I go outside.

- There are volume control buttons on the side of the monitor for easy volume adjustments.

The only negatives I have are very minor non-issues. When adjusting the angle of the camera, you need to use a coin to tighten the screw thing in the back. It’s a little tricky to hold the camera angle steady and use a coin to tighten it. I wish there was a knob to tighten it by hand without a coin. But that is an extremely minor issue. There is a 1 second or so sound delay, so if you are within ear shot of your baby when he’s crying, there’s an echo effect. Again, this is extremely minor and not a big deal to me at all. But I do sometimes mute the monitor when I’m in ear shot of my baby to stop the echo.
And finally, I did have to contact customer service because a button on the camera was sticking. I got the email address off their website, and they responded the very same day with helpful and thorough instructions on how to pop the button out, clean it with a qtip, and put it back in. It was simple to do and has been working great ever since. Their customer service was prompt, helpful and very nice. They would have fixed or replaced the camera for me for free if I couldn’t fix it, but it was an easy fix. Thanks ZOpid!!

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