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Welcome to the world of tomorrow - smart devices


Onyx2

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Has anybody got a video doorbell they can recommend? I was going to get a basic CCTV camera setup outside my house but I don't think we can drill through the exterior wall, even though the spare room that all the gear will be housed in overlooks the front of the property. So a video doorbell it is. There's loads of the buggers on the market now and none seem to have a real edge over the other. 

What I'm really interested in is continuous recording outside my property (don't mind if I have to pay a subscription fee for the privilege), I'm not too bothered about the actual doorbell mechanics or two-way communication.

The issue is that a lot of these devices only record when they recognize movement which is no good seeing as I share the same doorstep with my next door neighbour and the street gets busy at times. So continuous recording is essential really so I don't get alerts every second of the day. I'm after continuous recording so I can just download the stream from the cloud and clear the storage. 

Yeah, it's more for home security than convenience but it certainly beats wiring cables through the porch and ceilings all the way to the spare room, or 'the command centre' as I call it. A local CCTV company charged me £600 for the privilege of installing a CCTV setup like that so I'd rather take my chances on cheaper option.

Any help or suggestions would be massively appreciated.

 

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My mums got a basic Ring doorbell.

Cost about £80 and easy to set up. I think she pays something like a 5er a month. Have a spare battery too, one always on charge ready for when it needs replacing.

The app is easy enough to use, and the alerts intuitive. Only issue is my mums next door neighbour goes for a cigarette and stands outside the door all hours of the day, so notifications get cumbersome.

However her peace of mind has increased tenfold since I helped her install it, and would recommend it.

Edit:

Just read the full post, sorry!

Edited by Mat
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@Accident Prone The Ring doorbells are still a great shout. You can set it so you only get notifications when someone actually rings it, yet it will still record any motion within a set radius of your choice. Then you can just review any actual motion at the end of the day like I do.

Paid for itself already too after some berk tried my door over Christmas, deterred him once the IR lights flashed up haha. Also great for messing with the door to door arseholes. 😂

 

 

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Yeah, I've had a look at those Ring devices and they're probably the best out of the bunch in terms of an all-round package. I'm not too impressed with the lack of continuous recording though, as that's the main feature i'm after, but it's promising to see that it deterred a potential intruder, FP.

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5 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Doesn't Nest have to be hardwired though? Which means still drilling and running cable. Unless AP already has a wired doorbell that is just being replaced.

Aye true, didn't think of that. Generally think hardwiring is the best option anyway. I first installed my Ring (ooer) just before the arctic snap we had last year, cold temperatures absolutely cane the battery, so I went with hardwiring in the end. 

How's the Roomba serving you Chest? Been debating getting one for a while. 

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10 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Doesn't Nest have to be hardwired though? Which means still drilling and running cable. Unless AP already has a wired doorbell that is just being replaced.

We've got a doorbell but it's battery powered, so we'll be chucking that away. Everything points to hard-wiring in order to get the best setup so I may have to find a way around it. It's a shitty situation as the the spare room is in a perfect position to just a drill a hole and thread the cable straight through, with the camera sitting a few feet down overlooking the front garden and porch.

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3 hours ago, Steve Justice said:

I've got myself a free Google Home Mini courtesy of my Spotify account. Are these devices any good? Do they integrate well with smart TV's and the like? I'm pretty new to this era of technology.

Works very well with Spotify. In terms of smart TV, it only really works in conjunction with a chromecast. 

Things to try: "hey Google... 

...add bleach to the shopping list." 

...good morning."

...let's play a quiz."

...what's the weather in North London tomorrow?"

...shuffle my <insert the name of your playlist here>."

...when is Fighting With My Family playing?"

...set a sleep timer (when you have something playing)."

...give me a recipe for lemon meringue pie."

...play the latest episode of Off Menu podcast."

It's utterly unnecessary, but you find yourself using it more and more until it's just part of your routine. Things you would Google that have a simple answer ("how old is John Cena?") get barked at the speaker instead. I'm now a bit obsessed with Woox smart sockets to have me barking all sorts. 

I've set up a 'routine' (chain of commands) that might be up your street... 

Screenshot_20190325-180516_Google.thumb.jpg.0e8b33b30ef3a8997615f466419329ea.jpg

When I say "I need toilet roll" the lights flash on and off and a message is broadcast throughout the house. 

Edited by Onyx2
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After a lot of fucking around, I've synced it with my LG tv. Rather than Google opening the smart apps though, you have to ask it to ask the LG voice assistant, which then carries out your instruction. The problem with the LG voice assistant though is if I ask it to, for example, 'play Red Dwarf on Netflix' it just opens the screen to play the next episode, so you still have to pick up the remote and press play. 

I need to spend some more time with it and see what works well and what doesn't. 

I did have a nice chat with Dustin from Stranger Things though. 

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