Home > Consumer Reviews > MOBI MobiCam System

I was really looking forward to having a monitor so I could see my son at night. When I started using it the monitor had lines running through the picture and I couldn't hear anything. The manufacturer said that it doesn't work when you have a wireless network. I was really disappointed so I sent it back. I bought the Handheld Color Video Monitor by Summer Infant. It works great with my wireless network and my 2.4 Ghz phones. It doesn't work very good with other 900Mhz phones or controls according to the manual.

I just received my new monitor, so I can't say yet how I'm going to like it long term but found something out when setting it up that made me come post IMMEDIATELY.

I plugged the camera into my daughters nursery and turned it on channel 3, came out to the living room and plugged in the monitor unit.. and went to switch it to channel three... channel one all static as it should be, however channel two had a perfectly clear image of a nursery, but NOT MY DAUGHTERS!!!! Our nextdoor neighbor has a son, and I was looking at what I'm sure is his nursery... talk about a creepy feeling knowing I was looking into the neighbors sons bedroom (and I'm guessing would be listening to if the happened to be home and in the room) since that means that if they change their channel they will be looking/listening in on OUR daughters nursery. I'm not sure what I'll do next, if I'll keep the monitor and hope they don't change channels or what.

That said the picture is amazing, haven't tested it for sound yet... but since I can pick up our neighbors nursery I'm guessing my range will be just fine for our own inside or outside the house.

So... great monitor, maybe to great... you decide!

PROS:

* It's great to be able to see your baby as well as hear what's going on. :)

* Easy to reposition cameras and take the monitor with you

* More than one camera linked to one handheld monitor. It's wonderful to be able to toggle between my two year old and 6 mo old napping in different rooms :).

* Night vision provides a clear picture in low/no light

* Great reception (at my house anyway :P)

* Able to connect the monitor to the TV


Two minor things that could be improved:

* I think it would be more helpful if the switches on the camera were on the back or top instead of the bottom so you don't have to pick up the camera everytime to turn it off or change the setting - or even better if you could control the camera (on/off/night vision) right from the monitor :)

* You have to keep it plugged in if you want to use it all night. (not sure about the auto setting - don't really use it)


If you're looking for a baby monitor, this is a great one - I bought it with an extra camera. :)

To provide some background, I live in a townhome in Northern Virginia where people have wireless networks on either side of us. We use our own wireless network extensively (typical Linksys 2.4 GHz) and we own a cordless phone (Uniden 5.8 GHz). The Mobicam Wireless System works fantastic in our house! I am incredibly impressed with the quality of the video. The screen, while small, works well and if I need a larger view then I can just use the AV jacks with the television. I'm glad I didn't allow some of the other reviews on this board prevent me from purchasing this system! Also...few things are cooler in this world than infant-surveilling-night-vision!! I mean, c'mon people! It's night vision! For babies! That's cooler than monkeys juggling bananas!
Being that I'm 9 months pregnant I had more than ample opportunity to play around with the night vision function (during my vampiric hours of insomnia) on the camera and it works great despite the bright nightlight we have in the nursery. Like most cameras, an interior camera works best facing away from the light source (window during daylight) but you can adjust the brightness on the monitor so that's not too bad. This is definitely worth the big bucks:) I am very pleased:)

I almost didn't buy this camera based on all the negative reviews up here on Amazon, but I decided to give it shot and as it turned out I am extremely happy with this camera and would highly recommend it to any new parents.

No it will not give you an image that is as good as your camcorder. Yes there may be some static and interference in the picture. Yes it may interfere with your wireless network (just turn off the camera whenever you go online, or if you are feeling motivated you can pretty easily tweak your wireless network so they don't conflict).

But what you *do* get is a self-contained wireless video camera that can shoot in total darkness ... plus a portable battery powered video monitor for only $120. And it actually works and can be set up in a few minutes. That is amazing to me.

Also there is an AV Out on the Mobi's video monitor so you can run the (included) cable directly from the Mobi monitor to your main TV set. My wife and I usually like to watch one tv show before we go to sleep, this is the one time of day we can relax and just spend time together, and it is extremely useful to be able to just hit a button on the remote and go from "Project Runway" to a real time image of our baby sleeping in the next room.

You can also set the Mobi monitor to only turn on when there is movement - we set the little Mobi monitor next to our TV so if we see it turn on we can swith the main tv over to see a what is happening on our big screen.

We have audio monitors but being able to actually SEE your baby is much, much more helpful. Oftentimes our daughter will fuss silently before actually waking up, so when we see her start to move around we know we need to get ready to deal with her.

Also you don't need to be "gadget dad" to make this work. We just plugged ours in, set the frequency (A, B or C), and it was good to go.

So, if you can afford the $120 I would highly recommend this device. It has made us much more effective parents.