CamB

Of those you listed. Dropcam works well, easy to set up, low price point. Did not have good experience with Foscam. Too hard to set up for remote viewing. Ugly UI. Went in the garbage.

I am very close to buying a turnkey solution and have a similar situation to the original poster. Based on all the research that I did, Axis seemed like the best option...meaning quality camera, good support, and lots of reviews. The issue has been finding residential installers in the SF Bay Area that can put Axis cameras that are competitive since most installers that Axis distributors recommended focus on commercial. Axis recommended the same exact camera that the original poster got. I am able to get the cameras at a price that I am comfortable with. The installer that I am working with has agreed to install the Axis cameras, but urged me to consider the IC Realtime/Milestone solution that is proposing because I will get more bang for my buck and same warranty. He also told me that the 2MP IC Realtime Dome camera has better picture quality day or night and won't require me to have to buy an illuminator. Milestone will work on a MAC, so I don't have to run parallels for the Axis solution.

Vector18 This is the one I meant: ICIPD1300IR. The last photo you posted.

Doesn't this have day night? I assume that is what the things that look like LED's are for? Model ICIP-D1300 Camera Image Sensor 1/3” 1.3Megapixel Aptina CMOS Effective Pixels 1280(H)x960(V) Scanning System Progressive Electronic Shutter Speed Auto/Manual 1/4~1/10000 Min. Illumination Color: 0. 1LUX/F1.4, B/W: 0.005LUX/F1.4,0Lux (IR on) S/N Ratio >50dB Camera Features Max. IR LEDs Length 60FT Day/Night Auto(ICR) / Color / B/W Backlight Compensation BLC White Balance Auto Gain Control Auto/Manual Noise Reduction 2D Privacy Masking Up to 4 areas Lens Focal Length 2.8mm (3.6mm, 6mm, 8mm optional) Max Aperture F1.8(F2.0/F1.8/F1. Angle of View H: 70°(114°/46°/35°) Mount Type Board-in Type Video Compression H.264 / MJPEG Resolution 1.3M(1280x960) / 720P(1280x720) / D1(704x480) / CIF(352x240) Frame Rate Main Stream: 1.3M(1~15fps)/720P(1 ~ 25/30fps) Sub Stream: D1/CIF(1 ~ 25/30fps) Bit Rate H.264: 32K ~ 8192Kbps, MJPEG: 32K ~ 12288Kbps Network Ethernet RJ-45 (10/100Base-T) Protocol IPv4/IPv6, HTTP, HTTPS, SSL, TCP/IP, UDP, UPnP, ICMP, IGMP, SNMP, RTSP, RTP, SMTP, NTP, DHCP, DNS, PPPOE, DDNS, FTP, IP Filter, QoS, Bonjour ONVIF ONVIF Ver. 2.0 Max. User Access 10 users Smart Phone iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone General Power Supply DC12V, PoE (802.3af) Power Consumption <4W Working Environment -14°F~140°F / -25°C~+60°C, 10%~90%

Axis seems to be among the best from my research and am looking to get them in my home if I can find a good installer.

What are some tips on selecting the right installers and making sure you are paying a fair price?

SF Bay Area