Summer Infant Best View Choice Digital Color Video Monitor

I got this monitor so that I can keep an eye on my 92 year old mother in the night (we live in a 2-family house and we are upstairs and she lives alone downstairs). I've had it for several months now and I am totally impressed at how well it works. The video monitor quality is terrific and it catches every little sound. And best of all, if my mom needs me she doesn't have to press any buttons or anything - she just calls me and I can talk back to her and she can hear me clearly. This little device literally has lowered my stress level because I know if something should happen in the night I will DEFINITELY hear her. Thank you!!!

I am glad that I upgraded our simple monitors to one with video. It really helps to see her while she is sleeping so that I don't have to check on her and wake her up for one reason or another (creaky door, moving the wrong way etc). It brings me a lot of comfort when she sleeps in a different room than us. So, I am definitely pro video monitor now. I think, so far, it's been a great investment. It's not much more expensive than a "normal" monitor, with no video, and it's a great feature to have.There are some features about this that cause a love/dislike relationship with this model.The camera isn't sensitive enough to light so, during the day, it switches to night time-black and white mode too easily. It doesn't interfere too much with the quality of the video feed but it's annoying. I prefer the color mode because it's easier to distinguish where she begins and where her blanket ends. However, it's not a deal breaker.The video automatically turns off after about 3 minutes...whether or not baby is actively moving. I do not like this feature. I got a video monitor so that I could notice if something was wrong and the video shutting off every few minutes defeats that purpose. I can't find anything in the manual that explains how to disable this feature so it's looking like it's just something to deal with. This is a huge con.It was easy to set up and use. I did, however, find it bothersome that you have to pre charge before the first use for 12-16 hours. It won't turn on at all before that.The packaging was awful. I happened to get a clearly used and returned monitor and I'm not happy about it. There are scratches all over it.As far as use goes, it's very simple and has some good attributes that some models don't have.This one offers two way communication, which means that you can soothe baby without having to go in the room and stimulating her. This can completely save a nap! The video screen looks larger than in the picture, so that's really nice; I thought that'd be an issue. It is a little grainy but well worth the menial cost.This camera can zoom in (once) and can turn up, down, left or right and I really like that feature. It has a colored bar that identifies how loud she gets by turning from yellow/green to red. The volume is very loud, even on the lowest setting. The life of the battery isn't at all impressive- it runs for about 5 hours- but I think that's common with all monitors.It does not have a "music mode" where it plays a tune or melody or white noise. This is something that other monitors have and I find useful.Over all, so far (we've only had it for a few days), it's a good buy, especially for the price ($99). I wouldn't pay more than that or I'd just upgrade to one of the fancier $150 monitors but this one is at the top of it's class for this price range.

Don't bother---save your money for something better. We had to send the first one we got back, as the volume control buttons actually moved the camera and there was no volume control at all. The second one we got seemed to work well at the beginning. But after about 2 months of using it (and not dropping it), it started to do the same thing, where the volume buttons would move the camera, or it would turn off the screen. Somehow, the wires are crossed somewhere in the parent monitor, but I'm too tired to take it apart to figure it out. It's also just gone dead on us a number of times, even though we are just in another room. We have to sneak into the baby's room, unlatch the camera, and re-plug it in. So not worth the moneyI also don't like that the volume is pretty loud, even when it's on the minimal setting, and the brightness of the screen is ridiculously bright, especially when you're checking at night (even at the lowest setting). It's a fairly flimsy monitor too.The battery on the parent monitor gives out after about 5 hours even with the screen off and you need to keep it plugged in at night if you want any sleep without being woken up to a dead monitor. There was a recall on the battery and even though I called a few weeks after hearing about the recall, it took about 6 months to get the battery...and that's after I called the second time to remind them that I still hadn't received the battery after 5 months.

This monitor is ok when it's working, but there are a few annoying issues that I feel shouldn't be present with a $100 monitor.1. The monitor spends most of the time showing 'out of range' when our 2nd handheld (for our other child's monitor) is close.2. The sound cuts out intermittently, so at times I can only tell my baby is crying from the lights on the handheld. Even when it's working, the sound sometimes is choppy.3. I have had to re-pair the camera and handheld several times since the initial setup. Highly irritating when your child is already in his bed asleep and you have to go in to mess with the camera.4. The sound is very loud even at the lowest volume setting.

Other reviewers have pointed out why this is awesome (in summary: pan/tilt soon, clear picture, night vision quality) so I'll try and add my own unique experiences with it, namely to do with range and signal quality/strength.I don't know if I live in a house with a lot of static/wifi/noise/signal disruption whatever you want to call it, but for some reason most of the baby monitors I have tried don't allow me to maneuver all around the house without losing the signal. I also live in a very modest 2 bedroom house. I'm not talking about a mansion or palatial estate here...besides then I'd have nannies, not monitors. Sigh. Anyway, I digress.I also wish it had a battery saver mode like some models of the lorex, which enables the monitor to switch on from sleep only when the baby moves or makes a certain decibel amount of noise.Anyway, the signal issues kind of outweigh the awesome features and result in a very "average" product in my estimate. Guess I'll keep trying.