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H**!
20 Megapixel Trail camera AND WIFI Connectivity
I bought this camera specifically because it is made by Toguard AND has WIFI connectivity AND a 20 Megapixel camera.I have already bought two dash cams from the same manufacturer and have found them to both be excellent quality and super reliable.Ordered from amazon, well packed and here the next day (As usual) so I am off to a good start.Black cardboard box with has not only the camera inside but also a lead to connect it to my computer, a green strap so you can secure it to the branch of a tree or post etc, a fully adjustable metal bracket that you can fix to any solid object, a wristwatch style remote control device, a quick start card and a well written Instruction Manual. I have included photographs in this review so you can see all the contents.My first impression was that I was surprised how neat / substantial and compact the camera is.The bottom 1/3rd is a door that can be opened and underneath the bottom of the camera is a pop out battery tray (that you have to open the door to access the button to open.Under the door there is a full colour screen a slide switch and buttons to adjust the settings and the slot to put the SD card in.The seal on the door looks good and the securing mechanism is substantial enough to keep out any weather.I got an old SD card from my daughter and already had batteries in the house 8 x AA (rechargeable not recommended) not included.So I am up and running within 5 minutes of it arriving! The menu system on the camera itself is logical and easy to navigate.I set my camera to take 3x 20 Megapixel photographs followed by a 10 second film in 1920 x 1080P when it is triggered by one of the 5 built in infra red sensors, you can set it to take 1,2 or 3 photo’s in 20MP, 16MP, 12MP, 8MP, 5MP, 3MP or 2MP and the video can be set to 1728x1296P, 1920x1080P, 1280x720P, 720x480P or 640x480P the higher the setting the more file space needed, obviously!My wife saw a rat in the garden last week and I was fairly confident I had worked out where he had got in and have sealed it so it cant get in again, also we thought we might have hedgehogs in the garden as well.We are not at all enthusiastic about our small dog coming across a rat when she is going to the garden to toilet late at night so this is why we wanted a camera that could tell us for certain if I have stopped it getting in, and possibly why some nights she stays out so long.We have had the camera running for several days and nights now and have tried it in different parts of the garden. I have also fixed the metal bracket on the peak of a garden shed to see what animals (or people) frequent the field behind our home.Accessing the photo’s is super easy using the WIFI function, I downloaded the app for free on my (old 5SE) iPhone when I first set up the camera so now I just have to get within 10mtrs and press the button on the remote control, then connect my phone to the camera and I can see on my phone what has been going on since I last looked at it, without even touching the camera!I have now set the camera close to my conservatory so I can view / review and delete the contents of the camera without even leaving my favorite chair!The camera operates in -20c up to +60c so can be left there all winter& summer if I want!I can confirm that we no longer have the rat! We also don't have hedgehogs (sadly), and we now know which parts of the lawn might benefit from more water for where our dog is concerned!I am next going to set it up on our bird bath so we can see how many different birds frequent it.If and when I get bored with it where it is I can easily move it wherever I want but I think I may well set it up to keep an unblinking eye on my garden shed. We have suffered a number of shed break ins and lawnmower / tool & Heating oil thefts in our village recently and if I place this well I will know if anyone has had a go at my shed and have useable evidence for the police.In the setting menu you can set the date and time and have some or all of this information recorded at the foot of every photo.Another really neat feature is that the camera can be set for time lapse photography, which you can set all the parameters on, you can tell it to take 1 photo at whatever period you want and tell it the operating time to take these photo’s. In other words if you are renovating a house or a garden you can have a photo taken every hour during daylight hours only and then in 1 week or 6 months then run all the photo’s as a speeded up film! Which would work equally well for showing flowers blooming or any event that can take hours, days, weeks or even months to be completed.In short I am really happy with my purchase which I envisage will be in use in one form or another for many years to come.It has answered the questions that have been bugging us recently and will provide a useful service going forward as well.If this review has helped you, please click on the button to say it has, that way I will know I didn’t waste a whole evening typing this up! If you are interested in buying a dash cam please look for my other reviews! Thank you....
A**R
Easier access to pictures and great results, fantastic value
Writing a review to help others with their purchase decision. I’m Icelandic living in the UK for a long time but English isn’t first language so please forgive errors.My nephew told my three year old daughter that monsters were in the garden making the noises she hears on a nighttime. She thinks they have escaped from her book. Our reason for the camera is to let her see, on her android tablet, that of course it is just the wind and maybe a forgetful cat lost exploring.The camera needs you to buy eight good quality AA batteries. And a good memory card. The Wifi feature is a direct connection to the camera from your device only. The camera is not added to home WiFi network and is not serving pages to the internet. You are connecting direct to camera - as far as that goes it is easier than getting memory card out of camera but you should be clear on what the WiFi feature is and is not before buying. The WiFi on the camera is turned on using a wrist watch like remote control, after disconnect of your device or if you don’t connect the camera WiFi turns off again automatically. The off interval is configurable 1, 2 or 3 minutes. The process of connecting is to use a wrist watch like remote control that is supplied with the watch. With the camera in On position and in range you press On button on the remote control, a red light flashes on remote control to confirm. If cover is open on camera with built in screen visible you will see camera logo appears then a white screen with a WiFi logo appears and finally a blue screen appears with WiFi network name (called a SSID, this is Toguard Camera), and a default password. The phone or tablet can then be joined to this WiFi network. Once that is completed the in built screen updates (shows a connection and the hardware ID, called a MAC Address). The camera App can then be used to connect to the camera from the smartphone or tablet and access the saved files on the card. The process of turning camera WiFi and choosing camera WiFi network on smartphone or tablet and open App and connect with it must be done each time - perhaps my expectation was that it would just be to open the App. But it is still easier than going to get the card each time and risking disturbing the camera. We will test two things soon - whether there is a live view from camera while connected in App and whether camera is still monitoring the surrounds while connected in App.The camera has a good selection of settings in the easy to navigate menu on the built in screen. Setting time and date and camera name are helpful and the manual includes tips for extending battery life. We have set hours of operation and turned in bursts of pictures rather than video. Reducing sensitivity has extended battery life too. We did need to use superfine setting for night pictures. Our camera is fixed with the strap rather than the bracket (both supplied).We are pleased with results. Fear of the noises has turned into excitement to see what if any creatures have been through the garden. Pleased with the construction quality too. For the cheaper price than other cameras listed here we rate this five stars. If you need camera on your garden to monitor and easy access to pictures at good value then our experience is this is a happy purchase of five stars.
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