We’ve been writing product reviews for a year now, and the feedback we’ve been getting from manufacturers, integrators, and end users has been extremely positive. As you may have seen, the reviews focus on product features, usability, construction, and ease of installation, as these intangibles are often difficult for an end user or integrator to impart from a data sheet. Our goal is to answer the question “Do I want to use this product?” and explain why. We didn’t plan on publishing bad reviews, so if the answer to the question was “No,” we just didn’t run the review. We’re not going to give favorable reviews to unfavorable products, but the worst we anticipated running was a neutral review, or one showing some flaws in a generally good product. Reviews are published in Security Sales & Integration magazine and featured on their website. They appear in the product reviews section of our site as well.

So what do we do in cases where the product simply doesn’t make the cut? For the most part, we don’t write it up after testing it. That was the case recently with a camera that performed well but cost three times as much as the competition – there’s no sense in reviewing something that no one would consider purchasing due to cost. There have been other examples as well, but you get the idea.

That’s why the review of the Speco Intensifier IP OiMD1 Megapixel Camera is different for us. This is an inexpensive camera that makes claims for low light performance that simply aren’t true, especially when compared to similarly priced products from competitors. Riley Pierce, Senior Consultant/Project Manager at RG&A summed it up by saying “The Speco OiMD1 Intensifier IP camera is a compact and nicely constructed camera that performs well in daylight and better than average lighting conditions. For low light conditions the camera just doesn’t live up to the marketing literature that the manufacturer provides.” He backs that up with pictures, comparing it to the Hikvision DS-2CD2112, and you can see the results for yourself in the review. The irony is that, as of this writing, the Hikvision camera (which, in our opinion, is as good as or better than the Speco) is less than a third the cost as of this writing.

After much thought, we decided to publish this review on our site as a web exclusive, creating a special category for this type of review. In doing this we’re making an exception to the old adage “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” We think that a product that simply doesn’t meet the marketing claims should be singled out. Do you agree? If so, let me know at rdgrossman@tech-answers.com.

Bob Grossman

Click to read the full review here – Speco Intensifier Camera Faces Intense Scrutiny

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Download in PDF format – Speco Intensifier Camera Faces Intense Scrutiny