Samsung SEW-3037W Wireless Pan Tilt Video Baby Monitor

Samsung SEW-3037W Wireless Pan Tilt Video Baby Monitor Infrared Night Vision and Zoom, 3.5 inchI have been using a Motorola MBP36 for almost 1 year (purchased on December 2011), and it died on me last month. I have to say MBP36 is quite decent unit until it is broken. Motorola's customer service is absolutely horrible, and they will replace your broken unit with another broken unit. I finally give up with all the hassle and decided to look for another baby monitor. I came up across that Samsung recently released new baby monitors, so I tried SEW-3036, but without pan and tilt, it was no use to me.

Between SEW-3036 and SEW-3037, the price different is $50 and that's the price for pan and tilt function with night light. The parent unit of SEW-3036 and SEW-3037 have very similar design, button layout, and function. In SEW-3037's product description, it advertised as 900 foot coverage when 3036 has 800 foot coverage. But to me, it was pretty much same.

Let's compare between SEW-3037 and MBP36 here:

Resolution: SEW-3037 < MBP36

With level 5 brightness setting, MBP36 looks more colorful than SEW-3037. SEW-3037 is clam and darker display. If you will constantly check the monitor, SEW-3037 will be better because MBP36 is too bright and color smudges when you stare it for long time.

Interface: SEW-3037 > MBP36

Button layout of 3037 is way much better than MBP36 because when you control the baby camera, MBP36 is giving you a hard time since navigation control is located in the left side as vertical line. I always confused with up and down (top two buttons) and right and left (bottom two buttons). On the other hand, 3037's navigation control is round shape which is pretty common for controlling pan and tilt camera and easy to control. Clearly, for controlling the camera unit, 3037 is the winner.

Night Vision: SEW-3037 > MBP36

Because of calm and invisible IR display, 3037 looks better than MBP36 in the night time.

Sound: SEW-3037 > MBP36

The accuracy of sound level is identical between 3037 and MBP36, but 3037 has VOX feature which I really like. I do not know why MBP36 does not have VOX feature when it is pretty much standard for baby monitors. Moreover, accessing volume control in the night with MBP36 gives you pain since you have to go through the main menu to change the volume. On the contrary, 3037's volume control button is located on left side of parent unit which is convenient in the night. 3037 supports mute when MBP36 doesn't.

Pan & Tilt Camera: SEW-3037 > MBP36

Rotating speed and angle is identical. 3037 camera has more slick and professional looking. MBP36 has temperature sensor when 3037 doesn't. Yet, 3037 has night light which can be turned on or off from the parent unit.

In my opinion, these two units are quite identical to each other and have crucial features of baby monitors, but yet, Samsung clearly did their homework to improve down flows of MBP36 by making SEW-3037 more user-friendly and get rid of unnecessary features such as temperature sensor. SEW-3037 is a well-built baby monitor that I highly recommend for anyone. If you are looking for updated version of MBP36, this is it.

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A video giving you the truth about the start up sound...

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Another reviewer did a beautiful comparison with the motorola PTZ (pan tilt zoom) unit, and based on that review I decided to try this monitor, not the motorola. However, there were aspects of this monitor I was not happy with, so I also purchased the summer infant touch, and compared them side by side for a few days. Here are my thoughts following this experiment:

INTERFACE-Zoom: I use caps for this one and put it first, because that was probably the most important issue for me. The time I use a monitor most (I've had one with a smaller screen for almost 2 years) is at night. At night, one doesn't want to think much. The first thing I noticed on the samsung is that it took *6* key presses navigating through the menu to toggle the zoom. Really??? Yes... At that many presses, I found the zoom feature basically useless. In the summer infant, you touch the screen to turn the menu on, and the zoom is right there one touch. Beautiful.

Interface-other: Generally, I found the Summer infant easier, more pleasant, and faster to navigate. For instance, the sleep option on the samsung (toggle video off/on) is a small button on the middle right. You have to feel for it in the dark. In the summer infant, it's the biggest button on the top, middle. Kinda like where you'd want a snooze, trivial to hit without even looking. Volume controls are about equivalent, perhaps a touch easier on the summer infant. Both require about 5 menu clicks to switch between cameras, but it feels easier to do with the summer infant. Both have a "scan through cameras automatically" feature. Lastly, at night, the summer infant menu lights up on the screen with big icons, in a nice blue. Very very easy to navigate in the dark. With the samsung, you're kinda feeling your way around the navigation. It's easy enough (circular with the "ok" in the center), but not as nice. OH, and as you do that, you might accidentally turn the night light on or off, because the OK button is also the night light button. I often found the night light NOT where I thought I left it (on when I thought it would be off and vice versa).

Features-****Start-Up Tune****: The most annoying "feature" of the Samsung. If the Samsung is off (not "sleep", full off), when you turn it on it plays a quite loud start-up tune. I can't even begin to say how annoying I found it. It's the kind of tune that would wake up partner, and could also wake up a nearby lightly sleeping child. I dealt with it by never turning it off, and just using the sleep option. There's no such thing on the summer infant.

Image quality: quite comparable. The Summer infant is a bit "sharper" and the samsung a bit smoother, but both allow you to see the baby equally well. Screens are the exact same size.

Features-VOX: This is ONLY on the Samsung. The video will automatically come on (from sleep mode) if anything more than ambient noise is picked up. I found it not that useful once on, it doesn't turn off again when the noise is gone, so you have to manually turn it off. I am a light sleeper, so the light of the monitor suddenly coming on in the middle of the night because of a cough for instance, and then having to turn it off, did NOT appeal to me. Others seem to like it. Perhaps it's useful in a really noisy situation, when you're unlikely to hear. But in such circumstances (e.g. hosting guests?), I can't imagine you'd have your eyes glued to the screen anyhow, and it's not like it would attract a lot of attention in daylight at least.

Features-night light: Only the samsung has a night light feature you can control remotely. I don't care about that feature, but if it's important to you, do consider. By the way, it's easy to turn it on/off accidentally when navigating the menu, because it's the same button as the "ok" one.

Features-talk back: Both units have that. Again, not something I use often, I'd say it's equivalent.

Bulkiness: The summer infant is just thinner enough and smaller enough to make it feel much nicer when hand held. It's just "sleeker" to hold when carrying it around or holding it to navigate menus.

Stand: The summer infant has that magnetic base that saves you having to unplug it every time you take it around. I have to admit I LOVE it. Both units also have a pull out stand, and again, somehow the summer infant one gives a more convenient angle of viewing and feels more stable, even without the magnetic base.

So, my conclusion: I am pretty sure there is a good chance the samsung has better reliability than summer infant, although it's hard to know since this monitor just came out. However, it's clearly feels like the summer infant is designed by people who know parents and parents needs better than the samsung people. And I decided I prefer to take my chance on reliability, for a monitor that feels easier and nicer to use, and serves my needs better the summer infant. I should probably also mention that when my previous summer infant monitor broke (the one with the smaller screen that I am now upgrading), summer infant answered the phone immediately, and within 5 minutes they had arranged for a replacement to be mailed to me at no charge (unit was still in warranty), so I was happy enough with their customer service. That said, if you don't care about the zoom feature, bulkiness of hand unit or start-up tune, and having a night light option, the VOX feature or better reputation for reliability, the Samsung is probably a better choice for you.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung SEW-3037W Wireless Pan Tilt Video Baby Monitor Here

This is the 4th baby monitor I have purchased over the past 5 years, and I would have to say that so far Samsung products make me happy. I can't speak to the longevity of this particular model because i have only owned it for about a month. But my previous Samsung purchase (the audio monitor) was quite excellent and is going strong after over a year's use--unlike other brands I have owned which typically die within a year.

I think this is a very well thought-out product. Particularly these are features that I really like:

Control buttons are intuitive and easily accessible. EXCEPT the zoom, which requires going through the main menu. But I rarely zoom anyway, so it's a non-issue for me.

VOX: Voice Activation is extremely useful and helps me sleep well at night without having to hear the little sounds. This is the main reason I purchase this unit instead of the Motorola MBP36, which doesn't have voice activation.

Pan/tilt/zoom very useful.

For our use, we leave the monitor plugged into the outlet at all time, so battery life isn't a concern.

I would like to add a note about our installation. First, it is nice that Samsung provided the screws necessary for the installation so we don't have to get our own. Because of strangulation concerns it is not recommended to have the camera cord dangling within 3 feet of the crib. But we really want the camera to be placed above the crib so that we can see the baby better. We came up with a solution to use a cable/cord cover to hide the cord. I will post a picture to show how it looks. We use the Wiremold C10 Cordmate Cord Channel, White (5 feet of cord cover), which we purchased from Lowe's but it's also sold on amazon. This way the baby can't mess with the cord.

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I knew exactly what I wanted when I was going to get baby monitor for my baby daughter. I searched both for a video and audio monitor and decided on the Samsung SEW-3037. As far as I am concerned, I don't mind spending a little bit more as long as I am getting what I paid for. With this in mind, I quickly decided not to go with an audio monitor. I think the option to monitor my child with both video and audio would worth the extra money I spend. Then focusing my attention on the video monitors, I settled between on the Samsung SEW-3037 for several reasons.

Before making the purchase I looked at the features of the monitor. The monitor offered a great range and an interference free connection. It also has some features that really tweeked my interest. I thought the two way talk feature was pretty useful and the fact that you can connect up to four cameras really got me thinking about the various potential uses of this system. (maybe not only as a baby monitor). Lastly, it had the VOX feature that I didn't know too much about but it got me interested. It said something about noise cancellation and I wondered how that would work. Lastly, I was very excited about the PTZ feature on the cameras.

As for design, I believe Samsung's monitor looks sleek and elegant. The black on white really makes the monitor look like a quality product. The overall design of the camera, the color, and shape of the monitor is sharp, and the four way directional button to control the camera is very convenient and easy to use.

Why I decided to go with Samsung: I purchased the SEW-3037 because of three reasons. As a company, I trust Samsung. They know how to make electronic products. I love their TV and I love their phones. I figured, they'd do a great job on this as well. Secondly, the overall image quality, the PTZ feature, and the VOX feature. Lastly, the monitor being expandable to four camera system.

After receiving the monitor: I love it. I tested it for a couple of days and I can't stop playing with it. The overall video and audio quality on the camera is very good. The range hasn't given us any problems and we have a pretty sizeable house. I don't believe it's available now, but I definitely plan to purchase more cameras. The VOX is a great feature. It saves battery so you get a good couple of hours on the monitor. It also keeps things quietly and goes into sleepmode when my daughter isn't making any noise for a minute or two. Then it comes alive again if she stirs. You can set the sensitivity and also turn it off all together.

The feel of the cameras and the monitor is solid, not flimsy at all. The color and design is as I thought, very sleek. I love the look of the camera. I'm thinking I'm going to find other uses for it even after my daughter gets older. I think this was a great buy and definitely will recommend it to my friends.

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