Those of
you who know me know that my boys are no longer babies, so you might be
wondering why I'm reviewing a baby monitor.
I do know that a lot of my readers DO have babies, so when I was offered
the D-Link Wi-Fi Baby Camera to trial and review, I thought it might be
something of interest, and I had some ideas for other uses for it too. Don’t run away if you don’t have a baby –
read to the end and you’ll see how this camera is a lot more than a baby
monitor!
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| D-Link Wi-Fi Baby Camera DCS-825L |
When you
first unpack it, the D-Link Wi-Fi Baby Camera looks like a large webcam. Just plug it in to the power, download the
app to your phone or tablet (it’s available for iOS and Android) and you’re
guided through the Setup Wizard. The
camera has its own Wi-Fi code, which you enter into the app to link it to your
phone or tablet, then you link the camera to your home Wi-Fi network. The whole set up took less than 10 minutes. The last step is to create an account with
D-Link which means you can monitor the camera from anywhere in the world just
by visiting the D-Link website and logging in.
What’s so
special about this baby camera?
- Rather
than just hearing your baby you can see your baby.
- Distance isn't a problem - you can be in the living room, in the garden, or at your neighbours home.
- High
definition vision quality means that even in a dark room you can still see up
to 5 metres.
- 4 x
digital zoom from your phone or tablet.
- There’s
two way audio, which means that as well as listening to your baby, you can also
talk to your baby. There’s even a
lullaby player built in with five different tunes.
- Set it to
alert you when motion or noise is detected, or when there’s a temperature
change in the room.
- Insert a
microSD card and record video or images.
- Both the
blue and pink coloured rings come with the camera, so you can colour coordinate
with your baby’s décor.
This camera would be perfect for a parent who has to travel for work, or worse, who
works/lives apart from their family for any length of time. I know for me, being away from my family is
hardest at night, and luckily that didn’t happen when my boys were babies, but
to have been able to see them tucked into their beds and sleeping would have at
least assured me that everything was OK.
Just log in to your camera via the D-link website and you view the
camera images live, even from the other side of the world!
Apart from
being a brilliant baby monitor/camera, there are plenty of non-baby uses I came
up with
- Pet owners
– do you have a pet who frets when you’re not there? You can talk to it via the camera, as well as
checking that it’s not doing something it shouldn’t!
- A sick
child at home and you have to work, or go to the shops? You can make sure they’re ok while you’re out.
- If your
house is for sale you can be a ‘fly on the wall’ during an open for inspection
- An older
parent living alone – you could check occasionally to make sure they’re ok
- Recently my father spent his first night out of hospital with
us. I wish I’d had the D-Link then,
because if he needed something in the middle of the night, all he would have
had to do was speak into the monitor.
- My parents still live in their own home and my father is the
carer for my mother who has dementia.
They live in a two storey house and twice so far my mother has fallen
over while my father has been downstairs.
With the D-Link camera set up he could have seen what was going on
upstairs and heard my mother when she called for help.
Luckily it’s a few years since I've had to worry about this,
but lately there have been a few posts on other forums, so I know it’s an issue a
few face. I once had a friend whose
child delighted in tormenting one of my sons whenever they visited, but it was
never when their mother was around, so she never saw what happened. If I’d had the D-Link baby camera then I
would have had my iPad in our view wherever we were so we could both see
exactly what he little ‘angel’ got up to out of her sight!
Then
there’s a whole lot of other uses once the kids got hold of it during the holidays
- Hide and
seek/44 Homes changes completely when the camera is set up to monitor a
strategic location, with the iPad left on a table where those ‘in the know’
could casually take a look.
- My boys love Prank Patrol on ABC3,
so Aaron’s first thought was how to use the camera to prank his little brother! The two way audio was perfect for making his
little brother and his friend think the house was haunted! He just hid the camera in Danny’s bedroom and
spoke into my phone (and watched the results) from the other end of the house.
- I really don't suggest this one unless you want World War III - set up the camera behind your opponent while playing a card game and you can glance at your phone occasionally to see their hand!
The D-Link Wi-Fi Baby Camera 825 costs between $180 and $250, depending on where you buy, and you can read more about it here
What would you use the D-Link Wi-Fi Baby Camera for?
Disclosure: Whilst I was given the D-Link Wi-Fi Baby Camera to review, all opinions are my own
