As the high-end member of the lineup of Angelcare baby monitors, there’s a lot of pressure on the AC1100 to excel. A high $290 price point just adds to this; the AC1100 really has its work cut out for it in convincing consumers that it’s a worthwhile purchase. You’ll have a hard time finding a more expensive monitor on the market, so if the AC1100 doesn’t fly, it’ll fail completely. Your baby does of course deserve the best – but is the Angelcare AC1100 capable of justifying its price point, or are cheaper units just as good? That’s what we’ll be looking at today.

Features:

• Wireless digital audio/video transmission
• Included rechargeable batteries and charging station – plus an AC adapter
• Motion sensor pad activates alarm if no motion is detected in a given time frame; by default, 20 seconds
• Receiver is portable and easily carried around the house, but docks with a charger when stationary
• Night light keeps the baby at ease
• Temperature monitor helps you to ensure an ideal environment for your baby
• Two-way intercom lets the baby hear your voice, even when you don’t have any choice but to be in another room entirely
• High-power broadcasting on the 2.4 GHz frequency band minimizes interference issues

As with all baby monitors, the first thing we need to look at is the basic audio/video functionality. Angelcare  have a history of quality; the question is if the AC1100 lives up to it. And, for the most part, it does very well. Sound quality is great; you won’t find any other baby monitor that can best the AC1100′s audio fidelity. Video quality is more or less mediocre, on the other hand – but it does the job, nonetheless; you can see what your baby is up to just fine, and the night vision mode works brilliantly to allow you to see that at all hours. The unit doesn’t have nearly the issues with wireless interference some do, either. Of course, if you cram as many 2.4 GHz devices into your house as possible, you can make it completely impossible to receive a signal – but, at least under normal circumstances, you’ll be getting absolutely crystal clear signal quality from anywhere in your house. One thing is worth noting, though – the 2.4 GHz frequency is the same one that older 802.11g wireless routers broadcast on. As such, if you’re still using one, you can create a great deal of interference; however, frankly, you should have upgraded to a more modern 802.11n router for security reasons, if nothing else. If you have enough income that an Angelcare baby monitor like this is a plausible purchase, you can certainly afford to replace an outdated router in order to ensure optimum performance.

What about the motion sensor? It works just as well as the audio and video, if not better. While your baby is on the motion sensor pad – ideally, this is placed in the crib – an alarm will automatically be triggered after 20 seconds (more or less if you want; you can easily configure this in the unit’s menu) of inactivity. This really is incredibly useful. No parent wants to think about the possibility that their child could run into a significant health issue, but it’s a possibility, and it happens, every second matters. The faster you know something is wrong and get to your baby, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to prevent calamity. Using the motion sensor in tandem with the live audio and video monitoring functionality enables you to easily keep on top of your baby’s status around the clock; when combined with the portable receiver, you can be certain that you’ll know if something goes wrong. The portable receiver really is a tremendous boon; with a static baby monitor, you have to take a risk whenever you leave the room you have the receiver in. And you will have to leave; there’s no getting around that. Parents are people, too; you need to eat, you need to use the bathroom, and sometimes you’ll just have something you want to do elsewhere. The small, portable receiver can be kept on your person at all times during the day and recharged using its charging station by your bed at night; you’ll never miss a moment. Still, a battery life of only 4.5 hours can be a bother; it means that you’ll need to keep the receiver on the charging station when it’s possible during the day.

Speaking of the charging station – the combination of an AC adapter and a rechargeable battery backup is endlessly useful. In the event of a power outage, of course, you should be checking on the baby in person either way – but if it’s a smaller issue like a flipped circuit breaker, an issue you can manage entirely by yourself, the battery backup means that you don’t have to worry about your baby while you’re correcting that. This might not seem like a big deal, but babies really are incredibly fragile; once more, if your child encounters a real health issue, every second matters. It’s also nice that the rechargeable batteries come in a standardized AAA form factor; this means that, when they inevitably fail to hold a charge, you can easily replace them off-the-shelf without any kind of specialized knowledge.

Build quality isn’t the best on the market, but the plastic casing of the components is still durable enough that there’s no real risk of a child managing to destroy something. Since the AC1100, like most Angelcare products, uses modern broadcasting technology, there’s no external antenna; this is a good thing, since it remove a particularly fragile part that was often the first thing to go on many older baby monitors.

The price may be high, but the features and overall performance are well worth it. The AC1100 is an outstanding choice for your baby, and, if you can purchase it, you absolutely should. There are flaws, of course, but they really are nitpicks; this is an incredibly well-rounded product. Angelcare baby monitors are always sound choices, and this is exceptional even among those.

Parents that have used baby monitoring equipment will probably be well versed with the Summer baby monitor brand. The company have been involved with the production of a range of different such devices for over 25 years now, they provide some of the most respected and reliable equipment available.

Better Technology

In the past baby monitors were mainly a listening device that as well as transmitting the sounds would also deliver a degree of background crackle and hiss. Thankfully things have moved on quite a bit since then. The advent of better technology now means that the sound quality offered is much clearer and the units can be used further away, thus eliminating the feedback that used to happen; in addition to this many of the baby monitoring devices can also show live images.

Summer has been keen to keep pace with the latest technology, putting their expertise in this area into some of the most innovative products around. One of the best-selling Summer baby monitor products is the complete coverage color video monitor set, with many parents giving it the thumbs up.

Packed With Useful Features

They really have packed many very useful features into this particular gadget, making it stand out in the market place. Some of those features are:

• 7″ LCD color flat screen, plus 1.8″ LCD hand-held unit
• 900 MHZ frequency with a 350 meter range
• Swivel stand with tilt option
• Belt clip and stand on hand held unit
• LED Sound lights
• One touch video on/off
• Two channel selection

One of the biggest benefits to this baby monitor is that the parent is able to use either the large 7″ flat screen or the hand held 1.8″ monitor to keep an every watchful eye on their loved one; both of these displays provide excellent video quality as well as top notch audio. The handheld unit gives a much greater degree of flexibility for the parent as they are able to complete any tasks that are needed, whilst being able to see exactly what is going on with their infant.

Up to 350 Meter Range

The 900 MHZ technology that is used means that both the audio and video signals are always crystal clear, within a range of 350 meters. This compares very well with other lesser specified units as it allows the parents of much larger properties to still gain the benefits that this item offers.

The unique swivel stand on the large display means that the user is able to position the screen at the best possible viewing angle for them; in the process this increases the comfort levels of the viewer, whilst ensuring the best possible image is always displayed.

Connected to a Large Screen Television

Moving to another room is never a worry, the hand held unit allows for the display of vivid images and crystal clear sound. This unit can be clipped on a belt to ensure comfort and safety when moving around and can be set down with its own built in stand. It is also possible to hook up this hand held unit to a large screen television, by doing so providing even better audio and video quality.

The LED lights will illuminate to confirm that the unit has picked up some noise that your baby is making, providing a reassuring feedback that everything is well. This particular benefit applies to both the 1.8″ hand held and the 7″ static display units.

For maximum ease of use the video can be switched on or off at the touch of a button, this of course is ideal at night time when the parents want to sleep themselves. The crystal clear audio is still delivered, to provide the parent with the utmost reassurance that all is well with their baby.

Second Camera Option

The two channel reception allows for an additional camera to be installed, this is perfect when a family has more than one child. This of course will help to save money on the costs of buying a completely separate 2nd unit, not to mention the space saving and convenience of being able to use the original LCD display. In the case of using the unit with a single display, switching the channel can allow for slightly improved video or audio quality.

Negatives?

With so many good things to say about the Summer baby monitor it can be difficult to find the negative aspects; however, a couple of different areas are worth considering:

• Occasional static noise
• Hand held unit switches off video automatically when not in use
• No zoom or pan feature on the camera

In the most part the static noise is found to be minimal, very often it is an indication that the maximum range has been reached as the signal quality becomes a little less. The hand held unit has a built in feature that automatically switches off the audio when not in use, this helps to conserve battery life; it should be noted that the audio element continues during this mode of operation. The camera that is used is stationary, this is fine for most occasions; however some parents might prefer the option of a zoom or pan feature; especially when using the baby monitor in larger areas.

The positives far outweigh the negatives and as such this is certainly a unit that deserves to be given consideration. The hand held display unit will serve to be a real bonus for many parents as it prevents them from being restricted in their movements, ideal in a situation where the parent is completing routine household tasks. Plus the ability to hook up this to a larger screen television will be something that many parents will find useful, even though the 7″ LCD unit already provides some extremely clear images.

So when you find yourself in the market for a new baby monitor, it will be well worth taking a closer look at the baby monitor from Summer Infant.