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Honest thoughts on ACTi cameras?

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Well since starting this thread, I must say I am impressed with our ACTi cameras, considering how cheap they are! Had no problems with them crashing, image quality suits us fine (and is very good on their MP line) and overall for the price we paid, are very satisfied.

 

Only downside is that there is less choice of software to support them, especially when using mpeg4 compression. Although, with Axis's new M10 line, it seems the competition for budget IP cameras is getting hotter!

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So far, we've had good luck with Acti cams and Milestone. The drawbacks with the cube was no POE, but now they have the ACM-4201 with POE, and the lens it comes with is pretty bad (fixed w/ a varifocal Computar). I got much better images with a different lens. the ACM-1431 Bullets and the ACM-7401/ 7411 dome have been good.. no 3-axis gimbal on the dome, though. Gotta use the wall mount bracket for that. They do have some new models that I will be trying soon. Overall, they seem to be a decent low/ middle line product for our use.

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Guys to the reason it went back to factory default setting is you have to click on save reboot after you apply to make the changes.

 

They should change that since it's confusing

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We have ACTi ACM-1231's and ACM-3401's out in the field and they have been very reliable and awesome to install with PoE. I would stay away from the free ACTi NVR software and go with a reputable mfr such as Luxriot, Milestone or OnSSI (acti free software is a pain to setup and review recordings). 1280x1024 quality is quite a change from analog D1.

 

As for ACTi video demos there is a ftp site out there but I cannot post links yet (noob).

 

We also deploy alot of Axis love them but not all customers will spring for the higher cost. It's hard to pass up ACTi ACM-1231 all in one outdoor bullet Megapixel, IR, PoE and audio inputs for under $550 bucks.

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We have ACTi ACM-1231's and ACM-3401's out in the field and they have been very reliable and awesome to install with PoE. I would stay away from the free ACTi NVR software and go with a reputable mfr such as Luxriot, Milestone or OnSSI (acti free software is a pain to setup and review recordings). 1280x1024 quality is quite a change from analog D1.

 

As for ACTi video demos there is a ftp site out there but I cannot post links yet (noob).

 

We also deploy alot of Axis love them but not all customers will spring for the higher cost. It's hard to pass up ACTi ACM-1231 all in one outdoor bullet Megapixel, IR, PoE and audio inputs for under $550 bucks.

 

You're right about that... I found the price point so tempting that I bought that exact camera last week (Acti ACM-1231), and just got it up and installed today. It replaced a Speco Intensifier bullet (the last one in my installation). Here's two night-time images to give you an idea of the difference. The Intensifier image is from last night, recorded through my Dedicated Micros DS2, and the Acti image is from tonight, taken as a screen-shot straight off the camera. These were taken with identical lighting conditions.

 

122939_1.jpg

 

122939_2.jpg

 

I'd say that's some difference. The Acti works better with moving objects too... the Speco Intensifier slowed down the shutter speed so much that it made virtually everything an unrecognizable blur.

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For those interested, the ftp site showing sample video clips from ACTi cameras is here.

 

We have recently acquired a dome camera too (7411) and for what you get with it at the price, it's really is incredible. No trouble with any of our acti cameras, except some compatibility difficulty with recording software.

 

I think we'll definately be buying acti cameras in future now.

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we do many manufacturers for mjpg or jpg shapshots on the iphone but i seem to remember having trouble with acti for some reason. i am going to take another look though and see if i can at least get the jpg snapshot. even in this case our app can keep pulling the snapshots to simulate a slower version of mjpg. beats having to hit the refresh button constantly, smile.

 

I have been waiting to hear what ACTi's h.264 offering will be, do you have any more info on them?

 

Also one feature that I cannot seem to confirm is whether ACTi ip cams have a static jpg url to access a current still image, Axis does this. I know it will do mjpeg over raw tcp but I really want a ip cam that does a static jpg over http as a fallback for access from just about any browser(mac,iphone etc).

 

 

Head to Head, nearly every single one of my customers who tried ACTi as an Axis alternate switched products - and it usually wasn't just about price. Though I have never recommended one of those cube cameras.

 

The 8FPS has been a limitation but the new H.264 line is being released that is capable of 18FPS @ 1280x1024.

 

The Warranty was terrible but they just updated it to a 2YR warranty w/ up to 5 additional years at truly reasonable price.

http://www.acti.com/support/warranty/index.asp

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