The ClearVu Digital Video Baby Monitor offers most of the features we were looking for in a video baby monitor and some nice extras. We think you will like the unique nightlight, automatic light adjustment and voice-activated camera feature.
One feature every user is bound to love is the unique nightlight on this unit. The multi-colored lights create a soothing show for your baby to watch while drifting off to sleep. You can manually switch it off from the receiver unit whether you are in the same room or not once the baby is asleep.
You can travel up to 350 feet away from the camera and still know what is going on in the nursery, but that reception range is not quite up to the level of some in our lineup. You may not plan on going much further away than that as you use your monitor so it will only be a problem for some users.
We like that you can conserve the power of your monitor by shutting off the display screen. You will still hear what is going on but you won't have the glaring light to contend with, just a series of small LED lights to indicate activity. This is helpful for nighttime monitoring. You can also employ the voice-activated camera feature, which allows you to set a cut-off for sound. If the noise level falls below a certain level all sound and picture will be cut off. When the monitor senses activity both sound and picture will come back on.
This system is easy to expand as your needs expand. You can add up to three additional cameras so you never lose sight of your baby.
This video baby monitor helps you see your child in any lighting. The system automatically adjusts itself to nighttime lighting, even if it is pitch black. You will be able to set the camera up to 10 feet away and still get a clear image of your baby, even in complete darkness. The screen size is just average at 2.4 inches. That might seem a little small to some users.
We would like to see an out-of-range indicator on this unit, as well as on every other video baby monitor. It is just too easy to wander out of the reception range without realizing it. You may be taking out the trash and thinking your monitor is keeping tabs on the baby when it stopped working 5 feet back. If you don’t plan on going too far from your baby at any given time this would be less important, but then you might not need a monitor in the first place.
You have full control over brightness and volume with this video baby monitor, and that is not always the case. It's also nice to be able to personalize settings to your specific situation.
The sound quality is generally regarded as excellent though there are some folks that are annoyed by the volume levels. This unit does not have the option of being video-only. The volume goes down but not off so you are hearing every sound your baby makes, whether or not you think that is necessary.
Expect to see a clear image of your baby in full color during the day, and in black and white at night with this monitor. We're impressed that the camera can be as much as 10 feet away and still get clear images in utter darkness. It will offer a lot of peace of mind for parents. Some folks have found that the video is not perfectly reliable, blacking out at unpredictable intervals. We think these are the exceptions, though, not the rule.
Lenovo offers wonderful customer support options. We love the lightning fast responses through the live chat feature. The rest of their website is very well organized and helpful, too.
Though not our favorite video baby monitor, the ClearVu Digital Video Baby Monitor has some nice features. The voice-activated camera and rainbow nightlight will be the most noticeable.
