Summer Infant Baby Zoom Digital Video Monitor

We have had ours for 2 weeks now, and so far are extremely pleased. We are currently using four cameras (the maximum number supported) and a single monitor, and it only took a couple of minutes to get everything set up and working together. We have three young children so have a camera in each of the rooms where they sleep, and a fourth in the kitchen that looks over the playpen. Our house has thick walls and the cameras are spread across all three floors, but reception is excellent throughout, and seems to be unaffected by our wifi, microwave, cordless phones etc.

Picture quality is perfectly decent - certainly better than our old video monitors - and the zoom function is a helpful addition. If pushed to be critical, maybe the colours aren't 100% accurate during daylight, but neither are they at all bad or weird so don't be concerned on that front - and in any case the cameras are mainly used at night. Night vision is very good, with a clear picture and sufficient range to see anywhere even in quite large rooms. Whilst (as with any night vision) it is basically black and white, we've noticed that our GroBag Egg thermometers show up clearly in their proper colour, so as a bonus we have extra reassurance that the temperature in the room is in the right range.

Some reviewers have commented on the number of lights on the camera, but we haven't found these to be a problem. They consist of a single standard green LED, and an inverted 'horse shoe' of nine incredibly faint red lights. We have a crib on my side of the bed and so I have one camera on the far side effectively pointing towards my face from a range of about 2 meters, and whilst it is of course visible at night, it certainly isn't intrusive (and of course disappears when you close your eyes!). None of our children seem the slightest bothered. I guess if your child is incredibly sensitive then you could cover up the green light, which should be pretty simple, but I suspect this isn't going to be necessary for the great majority.

Sound is also very clear. We haven't had any issues with background buzzing noise, which was a constant irritation with our old monitors (more on them below). We'd read a couple of comments about there not being a mute button, but can't really understand what the problem has been for those reviewers as there is the volume scale includes a 'zero' option. Even when the volume is down and/or the image off, the monitor has a bar of lights which show when the camera detects a noise (more lights = louder sound, with red lights showing for big noises!).

Clearly one of the biggest selling points for this system is the ability to remotely move the camera around - I didn't find any other baby monitor offering this. We've been really pleased at how well this has been implemented, with the motors being extremely quite and the range of movement extremely wide. It has been great for tracking my one year old in close up as he wanders up and down his cot, plotting his escape, and for keeping an eye on my three year old as she potters around her bedroom looking for a teddy or causing mischief.

The monitor is a sensible size, being small and light enough to be very portable, whilst still having a big enough screen to have a clear view of your child. There is a toggle button at the top of the monitor for switching the image on and off. If you are using the monitor on the battery rather than plugged into the mains, the image will automatically switch off after a couple of minutes as an energy saving measure. A couple of reviewers have been annoyed by this, but it seems pretty sensible to us as you still have the sound and the light bar to alert you if anything interesting is going on, and then all you have to do is hit the toggle button to get the picture back. We tend to have the monitor plugged into the mains all night, and despite regular use during the evening, haven't yet had the battery charge drop below around 50%.

The menu system is simple and intuitive. My one suggestion for an improvement for the next generation model is to add a manual button for quicker and easier switching between multiple cameras, but it only takes a couple of clicks to do this via the menu, and as we tend to leave it set to our newborn's camera most of the time anyway, so far it's not been too annoying

We bought the Summer Zoom model as a replacement for the BosieBoo video monitors we'd been using for the previous 3 years. The reasons for the upgrade were (i) the steady degeneration of quality in the images and sound on the BosieBoos, to the point where only one of our three cameras and one of our two monitors was functional, and (ii) the interference we got on the BosieBoos, for example losing all reception whenever the microwave was on. Whilst the BosieBoos were the most attractive of all the monitors we've researched, they clearly had issues with build quality (especially the fragile plugs/adapters) which I'm sure contributed to them going (I think) out of business.

It is too early to tell how well built the Summer monitors are, but they look and feel very sturdy and we've read dozens of reviews - including many from the US - and there don't seem to be any common problems showing up, aside from the very occasional dud that seems to happen to any range of electrical kit. In fact, our first camera had an intermittent fault, but Summer immediately sent us a replacement and have let us keep the original as a spare, so no stars lost for this review.

There is also an issue to look out for if you are adding extra cameras, but we got back directly to Summer customer services and they've been refreshingly excellent in resolving this quickly too. We ordered two additional cameras (I believe the only way to get these is directly from Summer, but they are reasonably priced at under £50 each, though don't forget to order an adapter/plug with each one as they aren't included). Neither of these new ones seemed to work properly, and it turns out there are two batches of cameras and they don't like being mixed up on the same network. Summer got us to read the codes off the bottoms of the cameras and were then able to send us out (next day delivery) replacements from the same batch as the original. This has sorted the problem. Again, the speedy, helpful and courteous customer service from Summer saved a star being lost!

In terms of value, we've ended up spending about the same amount on this monitor as we would have done on one of the more sophisticated audio-only monitors and having previously benefited from having video (saving endless unnecessary trips up and down stairs) there really was no chance of us trading that in return for the benefits of two-way chat, the ability to play lullabies or a thermometer. Other quality video monitors we were considering were coming in at £100+ more expensive for an equivalent set up, particularly as extra cameras would have been double the price, and lacked the panning and zooming functionality of the Summer.

So all in all, an excellent video monitor with unique features and decent value, backed up by great customer service (something iCandy could learn from, but that's a whole other story so don't get me started.....)

I have just bought this item after first trying three of the other top brands of video/audio monitors. This is by far superior. all three were expensive, you could buy extra cameras for two of them, but the overall quality was poor. with this one, it has equal picture quality to the best of the other three, but you dont need any extra cameras, as this one will allow you to see almost the whole room. I can gain video and sound in all areas of my house and even to the bottom of my garden. some graininess can occur the further away you go, but no more so than with the other leading brands. deffinately would highly recommend this to anyone who wants peace of mind with their newborn or young child.

I've been using this baby monitor for a few months so I feel I can give a fair and honest review of the product.

If you're like me, you will most likely have read the negative reviews (which I encourage if you haven't) of this product because it's always good to have some balance between the positive and negative aspects of any product.

Prior to purchasing it, I phoned Summer the manufacturer to get some information on the difference between this particular model and the more expensive Slim & Secure model. Their response was honest, informing me that the Slim & Secure's increase in price was purely cosmetic. It's honest advice like this that gives me a lot of respect for a manufacturer as I know they're not just trying to increase the amount I spend with them.

Both the camera and receiver are sturdy and robust. The receiver itself has a stand that can be pulled out so it can sit angled to your field of view on any flat surface. The camera comes with brackets so it can be mounted to a wall or fixture permanently which is handy.

The picture quality on the receiver is perfect for the job and you can clearly see your baby despite other negative reviews stating it is grainy, I assure you it isn't. I haven't had any issue with interference or loss of volume or video and I have several devices all operating on the same frequency such as a Netgear wireless router!

The volume levels offer a sufficient range from barely audible to extremely loud, backed up with the LED lights which indicate how loud a sound is (green - breathing or a small disturbance to red - loud noises such as the baby crying) so you have everything covered. When you add into this equation video your really have a product that gives you piece of mind.

Prior to purchasing this device both my wife and I were unsure of whether we needed to pay extra for the video functionality. Several friends and family members said that such functionality was overkill and would create more instances of panic, however after just 1 days use we witnessed first hand just how reassuring it is to see your loved one safe and sound.

If you're worried about any of the negative issues raised by unfavourable reviews then I urge you to read my feedback in response to them.

This is an excellent product and I can't recommend it enough to any concerned parent. If I have to say something negative about the product then I will say that the style isn't to everyones taste but this is surely one product were functionality should beat form.