Page 1 of ALDI Colour PIR Surveillance Camera - Poor Quality Control ?

`Now from the safety of your own home, keep an eye on your house, garage, car and callers with this heavy-duty, high-resolution camera. It simply connects to your TV and transmits live pictures and sound.

* Remote passive infrared movement sensor
* Built-in microphone
* 2 way intercom and buzzer control box
* CCD camera lens
* Night vision LEDs
* SCART connector
* 20 metre cable
* CCTV warning labels included`

Went on sale Sunday 24th September 2006 at £29.99 each, but details already gone from the Aldi website.

My son got 2 yesterday for me at Castleford (lots available, I`m told) - Well, there`d better be, as these 2 are going straight back for replacement !

One of them has very poor focus, compared with the other one, and there doesn`t appear to be any way to adjust this, even with the protective cover removed, to expose the CCD and electronics.

On the other one, the focus is quite good, but the `Night vision LEDs` are set too far back into the housing, meaning they have a very restricted beam-width, giving a `spotlight` effect, rather than a `widebeam` effect, as the other camera gives, but with its poor focus.

So, 2 cameras - 2 faults !

It just proves the value of `lashing things up` to try them, as I would hate to find this problem AFTER they were fixed to the wall !!

Luckily the nearest shop is only 2 minutes from where I work in Leeds, as I can foresee several visits before I get 2 acceptable units.

Blimey, no disrespect Philip4242, but you don`t want much from a piece of electronic equipment and associated gubbins for the price of a chinese takeaway, do you ;)

And no disrespect to you numskull, but regardless of cost you should expect the goods to be in perfect working order. :)

Brubby

<<but regardless of cost you should expect the goods to be in perfect working order>>

I agree.Initially I thought you were a bit ott calling him numskull,then I realized that`s his user name,lol.

think you need to go to a different chinese takeaway with cheaper prices or go on a serious diet or admit that thats feeding the entire family for £29.99 :p

Hey that £29.99 each, so the meal would be £59.98. Now thats feeding the family, hehe!

This item was edited on Tuesday, 26th September 2006, 15:10

OK - perfect is relative - normally to the price one pays for goods (unless its anything made by Philips!) Your not really gonna expect to get the quality of a £200 CCTV camera for £30, are you?

You`re quite right, numskull, I wasn`t expecting the highest quality of build or performance (although it does state `high resolution` on the box, but without defining exactly what that means), but I WAS expecting that the units would both work at least as well as each other !

However, I`ve just been to Leeds ALDI, to find all the cameras now sold, and none of the nearby stores have any left, so I can`t exchange them.

I can`t quibble at all at the manager`s helpful and apologetic attitude - nor the full refund !

Anyone have any suggestions for good value (I didn`t say `cheap`, although that`s what I mean !) CCTV cameras with similar facilities ?

Hi,
Check out this lloydspharmacy.co.uk they have cctv cameras for £9.99 down from £29.99. they look ok for the money they had loads in our shop, i`m down south nr london don`t know if you have them where you are, sorry didn`t look to see if you can order off their site. Hope this is helpful to you.

The Dodge

Dodge,

I`d spotted those earlier, but they look very `plasticcy` (the ALDI camera had a metal case and fixing bracket) and they`re only monochrome (not colour), nor do they have the PIR functionality.

But for what they are, that`s now a bargain price !

That doesn`t stop them from being offered on sale on Ebay, though, with `Buy it Now` prices ranging from £14.99 + £3.99 P&P, up to an OUTRAGEOUS £26.00 + £6.50 P&P !!

I very much doubt that these sellers bought the item before it was reduced in price and are selling what are described as `Brand New` items at a loss, so they`re basically just trying to take advantage of innocent buyers.

Thank goodness for sites like this !