Arecont FAIL

[Soundy 1]

Wow... four brand-new AV3155DNs... two of them broken all to $#!t, STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX.

 

Pics coming later... just wanted to rant briefly since it's 5:16am and this throws a crimp in this whole install @#*%#^*$&!

[thewireguys 3]

you love raggin on Arecont

 

Shipping damage? or just a destroyed camera in the box?

[Soundy 1]

I can't imagine it's shipping damage - this is to the plastic parts inside the dome. Some of them are just plain assembled wrong.

 

Had the boss check the others in stock at the office... he found two more that were broken internally.

 

After six hours on a graveyard-shift install, opening a brand-new camera up to find it's assembled wrong and broken FROM THE FACTORY is not left-turn you want the day to take.

 

BTW, of the four we had on-site, besides the two broken ones, a third had a lose locking screw on the backfocus adjustment which left the lens slopping all over the place. Nice.

 

For as well as they perform, these cameras suffer from poor design, cheap construction, and a complete lack of QA.

[Soundy 1]

As promised...

 

 

[shropna 0]

"Russian equipment, American equipment - all made in Taiwan!"

[rory 0]

maybe someone used them then returned them?

[buellwinkle 0]

Hey, give them a break, you think it's easy assembly cameras in 110F heat wave in Glendale

 

Areconts are not made in Taiwan, they are made in the U.S. or at least that's what it said on the box, it was it the box that was made here. Of course the parts may come from anywhere and the lens I have says made in China

[Soundy 1]

maybe someone used them then returned them?

They would have had to disassemble them and then re-assemble them in the wrong sequence for this kind of damage.

 

Areconts are not made in Taiwan, they are made in the U.S. or at least that's what it said on the box, it was it the box that was made here. Of course the parts may come from anywhere and the lens I have says made in China

Same thing though, if the plastic bits were put together elsewhere and then the whole thing assembled in Arizona, then someone "elsewhere" really botched the assembly, and someone in Arizona REALLY REALLY $#!t the bed in letting it slip through. Keep in mind this is not a one-off - I have two cameras out of four on-site last night that were broken, and the boss found two more when he checked our stock in the office.

[skane 0]

Where did you get these units from? Direct from Arecont, distributor, retailer?

[Soundy 1]

Distributor...

[Sawbones 0]

Wow... that's really poor

[rise 0]

Arecont are made in US but parts from China and cameras are assembled by chinese people (http://www.secnews.ru/photo/index.php?SECTION_ID=316) then (i hope at least) cameras are tested by us people at factory

 

What is the difference between them and other cameras like IQ that assembled in Taiwan and tested in US?

[Soundy 1]

What's the difference?

 

Well for starters, I've NEVER had to return an IQ for being broken out-of-the-box... and I've installed easily five to six times as many IQs (mostly 501/511s, and A11 domes) as I have Areconts.

 

The A11's gimbal setup is WAY simpler, WAY more solid, WAY less shaky/sloppy, and WAY WAY WAY easier to adjust (no hidden locking screws) than the AV3155's, too. Take a good look at the gimbal/yoke in the 3155 sometime, it just looks and feels REALLY cheap and flimsy.

 

The only advantage the Areconts really have is better low-light and day/night performance, and unfortunately, once you get past the extensive installation headaches, that's what ultimately matters the most.

 

But the subject of this rant: the main difference is, the Areconts appear to have NO QA at final assembly... I can't see this kind of damage happening during shipping; there are parts that are actually put together wrong (and I've seen this on a previous install as well). The more assembly steps the thing goes through after that, the worse QA looks for nobody catching it.

[rory 0]

maybe they werent proud of their job?

[shropna 0]

maybe they werent proud of their job?

"Nice" looking job place is not quality guaranty

[3RDIGLBL 0]

A little over a year ago I order 5 of the 3105DN cameras and 3 were DOA. Never ordered another Arecont after reading about lots of other complaints. It seems nothing has changed over the course of the past year. Piss poor quality controls makes me extremely hesitant on recommending any Arecont. Sad to say since I went to there dog and pony show training. Appeared to be a good product and made in the USA was a plus and good selling point for a few customers.

 

Oh well this is just further justification for me to turn away.

[Soundy 1]

Well, it just gets better and better...

 

Six more of these going into the current site. The first two to go in had issues...

 

These cameras use tiny Allen-keyed setscrews to lock the back-focus adjustment and the yaw rotation. They nicely include the Allen key tool for them, however these first two, the sockets in the setscrews for the back-focus were too small and the Allen key didn't fit. The other one, the yaw-locking screws had the same problem. *sigh*. Tried the tools from both cameras, as well as a couple others from other cameras... no dice.

 

And then last night, opened up the box to install another camera... the main yoke rotation adjustment, that lets the entire camera assembly rotate within the housing, is held in by three clips and two locking Phillips screws... and it was completely loose. Like, not attached. Like, another assembly FUBAR.

[hardwired 0]

...And yet, they have a great picture, and price, and maybe we are a little masochistic? The first AV5155's I got were the first off the line, and the yaw adjuster was designed wrong, so you could not turn it at all (had to use wall mount brackets), and the dome had horrible distortion.

 

Oh, yeah, and the firmware.. I had a AV5105DN box cam turn itself into an AV3105DN (according to the web menu, and the firmware loader), after putting it in place of a defective 3105, the Milestone software apparently pushed the 3105 settings into it.. I did not even think that was possible .

[danielsan2222 0]

What is the reliability of their products over the longer term? A low price doesn't help much if the camera is a paperweight after 2 years and judging by the poor build quality out of the box I'd be afraid of that.

 

...And yet, they have a great picture, and price, and maybe we are a little masochistic? The first AV5155's I got were the first off the line, and the yaw adjuster was designed wrong, so you could not turn it at all (had to use wall mount brackets), and the dome had horrible distortion.

 

Oh, yeah, and the firmware.. I had a AV5105DN box cam turn itself into an AV3105DN (according to the web menu, and the firmware loader), after putting it in place of a defective 3105, the Milestone software apparently pushed the 3105 settings into it.. I did not even think that was possible .

[thewireguys 3]

I have Arecont cameras in the field for 3 years without a problem and I haven't received defective units.

[ssi 0]

Arecont has been and always will be a joke.

[hardwired 0]

I'd disagree about Arecont being a joke. For all the other problems that I (and others) have encountered, they still have some characteristics that make them a good choice in some applications.

 

They still seem to be the only manufacturer running H.264 above two megapixel, they have pretty good night capabilities (especially the dual-imager models), high frame rates at highest resolutions, and a few other features that are pretty desirable.

 

I'll probably keep deploying SOME Arecont product for a while longer... At least until something better comes along. I really do hope they get their act together, there is a lot to like about them...But sometimes, I do feel a little masochistic for using it

[thewireguys 3]

^^^^ agreed

 

Arecont does have video good image quality when setup properly.

Edited November 17, 2011 by Guest

[Soundy 1]

I have Arecont cameras in the field for 3 years without a problem and I haven't received defective units.

The ones we have installed have been fine so far, once they're in and working... but consider yourself VERY lucky that you haven't had any broken or mis-assembled ones yet.

 

Just installed the last two of this batch of six yesterday, yet another one had the "unpunched" set screws - one on the yaw ring, two on the backfocus. Had a chance to look at it under the light, and it looks like the screw was drilled, but never stamped with the hexagonal shape.

[ssi 0]

I think I came off a bit to harsh... While I dislike Arecont products it's undeniable that they do offer an excellent value for your buck. I had some bad experiences with them in the past, and I never really gave them another shot but I'm sure by now they're improved a bit.

 

As for H.264, the entire IQeye Alliance series does that, from 0.3MP to 5MP, but nothing to rival Arecont's 10 MP H.264 or Arecont's 2MP @ 30 FPS H.264 camera.

 

Anyways, to each his own.