New Products and Services Reviews on Cameras, Computers, RVs, and more.

Recreational Vehicle: Our Review of 2022 Keystone Montana 3761FL Fifth Wheel RV

What You Should Know Before You Buy A Keystone RV.

Did we say don't buy one of these RV's?  Well, if we did not say this before, we are saying it now.

Don't waste your hard earned money on this junk, because the manufacture doesn't stand by their products and warranty.  These RV's (fifth wheels and travel trailers) are very expensive junk.  Our experience with this dealer and manufacture has been nothing short of a nightmare.  We are going to outline every issue we have been dealing with this manufacture, we are going post pictures of all the things we found wrong, and we are going to list the e-mails communications between them and us.

To provide some background information about our purchase of this defective 2022 Keystone Montana Fifth Wheel RV we bought from Sunrise RV in Omak, Washington whereas this RV company is owned by Sunrise Chevrolet in Omak, Washington. The 2022 Keystone Montana RV was made by Keystone RV Company, which this company is located in Goshen, Indiana.  Please be advised, our experience with this dealer and manufacture is they will not honor their warranties on their products that they sell.  Both the dealer and manufacture should not be trusted whatsoever.  We don't know how Sunrise Chevrolet deals with its customers, but be warned this company does own Sunrise RV.

In November of 2022, my wife and I purchased a brand new 2022 Keystone Montana Fifth Wheel RV.  The reason we bought this RV is because I was diagnosed with stage 4 head and neck cancer.  Our home was currently being remodeled by myself when we found out the bad news.  The doctor told us that I could not be in a bunch of construction dust and dirt, before and after the surgery, so we ended up purchasing this RV, so I could have a clean place to live, while recovering from a radical cancer surgery, chemotherapy treatments, and rehabilitation.

We ended up putting a large deposit down using our Capital One Visa card and financed the rest of the purchase of the RV through WSECU, (Washington State Employees Credit Union).  After providing Sunrise RV with a large deposit, we asked the dealer do a couple of upgrades to the solar system and water heater in the RV and were waiting on it to be delivered to our home.

The Many Issues We Found with this So-Called Legendary Fifth Wheel RV.

The first issue started when the dealer was taking a long time to complete the upgrades and deliver the RV to our home.  The dealer had all kinds of excuses and blamed the delivery of the RV on parts not being on hand, the part supplier not having and sending the parts, and also the weather.  The dealer ended up delivering the RV on New Year Eve, December 31, 2022, which was nearly 2 months after purchasing the RV.

We don't believe that the RV would have been delivered on this day either, other than the fact we had checked the weather in Omak, Washington by looking at the Washington State Department of Transportation web cams to see if there was snow on the streets in Omak, on I-90, and Snoqualmie Pass, which of course there wasn't.

We texted the salespersons Charlie Breshears and Michael (the new salesperson) about why they had not delivered the RV, we also e-mailed them pictures of the streets in Omak, I-90, and Snoqualmie Pass showing Charlie that there was no snow on the pass and driving conditions were good for delivery of the RV. We did this so Charlie would not have excuses for not delivering the RV.  We really did not think that the RV would have been delivered to us this day either, if we had not sent photos and road conditions to them.  This must have been embarrassing to them for us to check the weather conditions.  It was really poor customer service, if you ask us.

Anyhow, the RV was delivered by a service / deliver driver and the Sales Consultant Charlie Breshears on December 31, 2022.  Both employees of Sunrise RV setup our RV in our driveway. Prior to delivery we had spent $1000's to level our driveway, put in a 50 amp electrical service and sewer hookup for the RV, weeks prior to the delivery.

The second issue that we experienced was with the RV.  When the dealer went to level the RV with the self-leveling mechanism, it wasn't apparently working properly, because Charlie could not get it to auto level.  Charlie did not diagnose the issue with the self-leveling mechanism or even discuss this with us that there was an issue, he instead manually leveled the RV using the leveling system mechanism.  Come to find out, when we sent the RV back for the warranty work and the major pipe leaking issue, which we will discuss in more detail on here, we found out the curbside front landing gear (hydraulic jack) was bent.  Supposedly, the dealer replaced the landing gear.

The third issue we found, after Charlie Breshears manually leveled the RV, he then showed us the RV's features of the instant hot that we had upgraded from a water tank and solar panel command center, and the other features in the RV. Charlie gave us a brief narrative on how to operate these things inside the RV.  When checking over the RV, the third issue we noticed is there was water on the floor of the RV in the Kitchen/Galley and bathroom area.  We asked Charlie Breshears why there was water on the floor of the RV.  Charlie Breshears stated that it was probably water from the toilet that splashed out onto the floor of the RV, while traveling from Omak, WA. to Kent, WA.  This really seemed strange to us why water would splash out of the toilet, but we accepted Charlie's theory of what may have happened and why there was water on the floor.  We would latter find out this was not the reason at all and that there was a leaking pipe in the wall of the RV.

Our understanding is that we are not the first customers to deal with defective PEX piping in Keystone RV's either, according to other reviews on Keystone RV's.  Its a really big issue with Keystone RV's, because the people who are doing the work putting together these RV's don't know what they are doing and are not testing these water systems, before shipping out these RV's to the dealers.  The dealers are also not checking to make sure there are no leaks in the PEX piping or in the grey and black water tanks.  This is causing the RV customers big headaches when they first connect their RV to water systems and the RV floods, causing major damage or when put water or sewage in the holding tanks.  In some cases, the owner of the RV, finds out months later after so much damage has been done that the RV is consider worthless.

The forth issue, after Charlie Breshears setup the RV, he immediately left back to Omak, WA. with our keys to the RV.  We called him on the phone and he did not want to come back to drop off the keys.  He said he would FedEx the keys to us, but never followed through on his promise to us.

We ended up having to call Charlie Breshears again to get the keys sent to us.  We at this point let Charlie Breshears know about all the problems with warranty items we had found so far in the RV, which should have been fixed prior to delivering the RV to us.  We asked Charlie why they did not look over the RV, before delivering the RV.  They only had months to make sure the RV was in tip top shape.  We ended up having to purchase a new lock, so we could lock the RV door as we where not staying at the property and we did not want vagrants or thieves breaking in to the RV.  This lock was not cheap either.  We also had the locksmith make keys to the store compartments too.

After the delivery of the RV, the fifth issue we found was the RV was really dirty.  As seen in the picture below.

The dealer did not take the time to clean the RV or fix any of the warranty items needing fixed in the RV.  There was mud and dirt on the floors.  Besides this, the heat register ducts had construction debris, dirt, saw dust, loose screws, and other types unknown debris in the heat register ducts.  As you can see in the pictures...

Now we specifically asked Salesperson Michael, if Sunrise RV would make sure that the heating ducts and RV were clean before the delivery.  We explained to Michael that we had bought an RV travel trailer before from Keystone and found construction debris in the heating ducts.  We also explained that we had found a vinyl front trim piece detached on the Montana RV when we viewed the RV.  This part needed to be fixed prior to delivery.  Salesman Michael assured us that the RV would be cleaned and checked for any issues prior to delivery of the RV.  This was not the case when the dealer delivered the RV.  The RV was extremely dirty and the vinyl trim still was not fixed when the RV was delivered at our home.  Charlie also made excuses for the trim not being fixed.

The fifth issue we found, after doing some cleaning of the RV and looking at the appliances that the doors on the refrigerator were misaligned.  We don't know why the dealer had missed this, but when we called back after making a list of items that needed addressed.  The dealer's technician said that he was not going to come to our home out of the kindness of his heart to fix these items, whereas the dealer should had fixed or repaired these warranty items prior to selling and delivering this RV to us.

This sixth issue was not damaged when we viewed the RV in Omak, WA, prior to us purchasing the RV.  This item is the console where the 50" T.V. is recessed into a cabinet.  When the RV was delivered to us there was a split in the wood and scratches on the cabinet top as shown in the picture here.  You can also see the dirt and construction debris on the cabinet and T.V. in the picture we posted here.

The seventh issue we found is that there were miscellaneous scratches throughout the cabinetry inside the RV.  Again when we originally viewed the trailer we did not see these kind of scratches on the cabinetry.  The trailer looked new.

The eighth issue we found is the instant hot system that was installed by Sunrise RV in order to upgrade the factory water heater in the RV also was not working properly.  The instant hot would not get up to 124 degrees.  The dealers technician claimed he checked the unit after installing it and that it was working fine.  The technician even had the balls to claim it was user error.  When we called his boss, we told him what he said to us and we told him that we have been turning on hot water for more than fifty years of our life.  We also found out that the instant hot was not electrical/gas model as we had asked and paid for to be installed.  This instant hot model was gas only.

We ended up calling the manufacture of the instant hot to get help to diagnose problem, because the technician refused to come to our property to fix it.  The instant hot manufacture was very helpful and after providing the error codes, they were able to figure out that the technician who installed the instant hot did not adjust the flow properly.  We told technical support guy at the instant hot manufacture what the dealer's technician said to us.  The technical support guy at the instant hot manufacture said, "he said it was user error?"  The technical support guy at the instant hot manufacture said, what did he think you did, only turned on the cold water?  He called the dealer's technician a moron.

The ninth issue we found is the refrigerator was advertised on the dealers website (Sunrise RV) that it had an ice maker in it.  When we checked the refrigerator doors we also looked inside the freezer and there was no ice maker.  Nothing short of false advertising.

The tenth issue we found is that the gas range knob light was not working properly.  The lights are suppose to come on to let you know that the gas is turned on.  We had a knob light that would just come on when there was no gas that was turned on.  The light intermittently would just turn on.  We again took a video of the issue and sent it to the dealer and manufacture.  The dealer (Sunrise RV) refused to come out and fix this issue on the gas range.  We had to call the manufacture and they too dragged their feet, until January 18, 2023 when we woke up to a lake in our kitchen galley and bathroom.

The eleventh issue is the worst issue we found on this new fifth wheel.  We only had this RV at our property for roughly 18 days at most, until we where rudely awaken to a lake in our Kitchen/Galley and Bathroom on the morning of January 18th, 2023, which prior to this leaking PEX pipe, we spent at least 5 days just cleaning the RV, and we spent several days getting the electrical and water hookups ready at our home.  We also spent a day to buy and install a new door lock and get keys for the storage locks from a locksmith for the RV after the dealer took the keys with them after dropping off the fifth wheel RV on our property.  This all happen prior to finding the leak and the mold (defects) in the RV storage area.  Remember, this RV was supposed to be new, as that's what we paid to get.

The manufacture and dealer have now had our RV in their possession now for over a year now, while we are still paying huge payments for the RV to the financier WSECU.  The floors and insulation are still are not fixed/repaired/ or replaced from the water damage due to this water leak in the wall, which was a Keystone's manufacturing defect in putting together PEX piping in the RV.

In the pictures above prior to the dealer repairing the RV, you can see the insulation above the floor and after the repair, in the pictures below you can't see the insulation above the floor area anymore.  The dealer removed the top part of the insulation, but left the wet insulation below the floor.

After the so-called warranty repairs the dealer had done, we ended up useing a Fiber-optic camera to check underneath the RV floors in the storage area.  We found that the insulation was still wet. We also found mold too.

In this photo that we took using a fiber-optic camera below the floor, you can see the darkness of some of OSB wood.  We sent the Keystone RV Company and Sunrise RV and Truck this and other picutures that we took underneath the floor.  Dead silence by the RV dealer and RV manufacture.

Mold is extremely dangerous to those with immunosuppressed immune systems.  Those who have or are going through treatment for cancer will have weaker immune systems, the effects of breathing in mold can be much worse for those with weaken immune systems and can potentially lead to death.  We explained this to the Keystone RV company and Sunrise RV and Truck in several e-mails we sent to both companies.

The oncologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, which treated Alan for cancer, wrote a letter of concern for both companies to read and it was sent to both of these companies by Melissa and Alan via e-mail.  The oncologist advised against living in the fifth wheel RV that was flooded as it could have mold.  The flooding and the mold found inside this Montana fifth wheel is a result of these companies own negligence in failing to properly test their water systems in these manufactured RV's, prior to selling their RV's to the public.  There really is no excuse for this incompetence.

Insulation and OSB manufactures both warn companies that use their products to build RV's, homes, and other products about the potential effects of mold should their products get wet.

The RV Manufactures and dealers should both be doing their jobs of understanding building product service warnings and Material Data Safety Sheets, prior to building or servicing any product were habitancy of humans will dwell.

In the picture below, you can see that the insulation manufacture warns about their products getting wet and the only solution to repair it, if it gets wet, is to replace it.  This picture was taken from a bag of rock wool insulation, which is water resistant, unlike the insulation that is installed the Keystone RV's.  We asked Keystone and Sunrise to replace the OSB floors and the insulation that got wet, due to the RV manufactures defect of the assembly of the PEX piping.

OSB and insulation manufactures have put out a technical bulletins on mold, which states that almost all building materials are susceptible to surface mold formation under certain conditions and the key to eliminating mold growth on surfaces is by controlling the moisture.  The Structural Board Association states that OSB is manufactured very dry with the average moisture content in panels leaving the warehouse have less than 5% moisture content. The Structural Board Association states that OSB in not waterproof or mold resistant.  The Structural Board Association warns that prolong high moisture or wet conditions there is a potential of mold growth.  When we had the dealer pick up the fifth wheel to fix the defect and do the warranty work it was near the end of January 2023.  After the defective Pex pipe was fixed and the warranty work was supposedly completed it was March of 2023.  Please see the technical bulletin locate here.

In March 2023, we went to the dealer's location where the trailer is still there today at the dealers location, whereas it was supposed to be fixed.  The dealer stated that they have fixed the defective PEX pipe and supposedly completed the warranty work that was needed on the fifth wheel trailer.  When we arrived at the location, we checked and inspected the floors to see if the delaminated floor was replace in the storage area.  What we found when we got there and then did an inspection of the fifth wheel, we found that the floor in the storage area was warped, delaminated, and still wet after a couple of months of sitting at the dealership waiting to be fixed, after being picked up by the dealer in late January, after Alan went to the hospital to have surgery.  We also found that the kitchen and bathroom floors were also still wet and the OSB wood was soft when you walked on it.

We use moisture meters on the floors and walls to check for moisture. We found that the moisture content was as high as 99% in the floor and insulation.  The alarm on the meters were going off on both moisture meters we used.  We used two different moisture meters to make sure the moisture content readings were consistent and not wrong.  We also used a fiber optic camera to look below the floor in the storage area and we found the insulation under the floor was still wet.  We also found mold underneath the OSB wood floor panels.

It appears the dealer tried to cleaned the mold off on the inspection panel and bathroom wall inside the storage area.  The dealer also removed some of the wet insulation from around the pipes in the hole located in storage area.  When we tested the OSB wood, the OSB wood tested as being very wet with some readings roughly 50 times higher then the moisture content of when the OSB was originally made by the structural board manufacture.  This moisture testing we performed was done several months after the water damage had occurred, so this proves that the dealer and manufacture did not even try to dry out the wood and insulation after doing the defect and warranty work, whatsoever.

In the pictures below we used two different meters to positively confirm our moisture readings were correct.  In picture of the Klien Tools moisture meter there was a reading near the pipe of 30.7%, which was 6 times higher than dry OSB that has 5% moisture content.

As seen in the other picture, the other meter reading near the same area of the pipe hole was 22.5%, which is roughly 4 1/2 times what the moisture content should be in this OSB wood.  The Klien Tool moisture meter was also used to test further away from the pipes and pipe hole, which is closer to the storage entrance door or exterior door opening into the storage area.  This moisture reading was at 16.1% in this photo, which is roughly 3-plus times that of dry OSB wood, according to the structural wood manufacture.

Below the door opening and floor in the storage area is a black and grey tank area for dumping the waste water tanks. This area is below the storage door and floor on the exterior side of the RV .  We took a moisture content readings with the General Moisture Meter and according to the meter the moisture content was 22.7%, whereas this reading is more than 4 1/2 times of what a dry OSB wood floor should read.

This is a moisture content reading we took in the pipe hole where the insulation is located.  As you can see in the picture that the moisture content is at 99.9% and the alarm is going off on the moisture content meter.  This moisture content reading is roughly 20 times higher than dry OSB with a 5% moisture content.

This is a moisture reading near the back of the RV, where the RV was not water damaged. This is what dry OSB sheets should look like that come from the factory.  Note, the moisture content reading in the RV of the dry OSB is at 2.8%.

Keystone, the RV manufacture, stated and told Alan that there was nothing wrong with the fifth wheel RV as everything was fixed by the dealer, but the dealer Sunrise RV and Truck outlined in their warranty repair report that there was water damage to the floors of the RV in the storage area.  Dave Wakefield, Melissa More and Alan Hoffer went to Sunrise RV on March 4, 2023 to look at the defect, water damage, and warranty repairs on the Keystone Montana RV.  What we found after driving to dealers location to check on the repairs done by Sunrise RV that the RV floors were not repaired.  The floors were delaminating and were also soft to the touch.  The dealer told us the work to repair/replace the floors and damaged wood was beyond the dealers ability to fix and it would need to be repaired by the RV manufacture, (Keystone RV Company).

This is the warranty repair invoice that Sunrise RV and Truck sent to us and Monique Blackburn of the Keystone RV Company, CLICK HERE for the full documents 

Melissa and Alan were way more concerned about the water damage that was done to this new RV.  In the e-mails between the Keystone RV Company, Melissa, and Alan, you can see that Keystone RV Company was told about the water damage by the dealer Sunrise RV, after the dealer completed the warranty work.  The Keystone RV Company even wrote an e-mail to the dealer to trying to get the technician to restate that there was no issue with the floors and insulation from the water damage.

Below is the e-mail of the dealer stating the floor is damage.  Tyrel Swezey who is the General Manager of Sunrise RV, admits to the damage floor, but calls it minor.  See the string of e-mails.  Monique Blackburn of Keystone RV Company after being e-mailed a copy of this e-mail from Tyrel Swezey states, "what we have presented to us in the pre authorization does not indicate there is damage.  If there is damage that we aren’t aware of;"

This is the e-mail that Monique Blackburn received, CLICK HERE for the full documents. 

It states, as plane as day, that there is damage to the RV floor, but Keystone totally ignores this e-mail and continues to ignore the damage, while we are paying high payments for a unusable damage RV, due to a defect that the Keystone RV Company made in the PEX pipe, which caused the flooding in the RV.

In the video below, you can see the damage and the wetness in the floors and insulation.  The moisture testing that was done and verified by a third party and Alan, show that they checked the floors and insulation and found moisture in the floors and insulation.

In the video you can hear from a third party (Dave Wakefield) that the kitchen, bathroom and storage floors are soft, spongy, warped, and damaged because of the water damage from the leaking defective PEX pipe in the wall, which was the cause of flooded the Kitchen, bathroom and storage floors in the new RV.

A direct link to the video can be found here...

Both the manufacture and dealer are refusing to repair or replace the OSB floors and the insulation.  Sunrise RV and Keystone RV are also refusing to refund us our money for the RV, since they don't want to fix the issues.  Keystone RV Company offered us $1000.00 for the extensive damage to the floors, walls, and insulation, whereas this would not fix anything of this magnitude.  It is completely obviously that Keystone RV Company and the Sunrise RV and Truck doesn't honor their warranties on their products that they make and sell.  The manufacture calls their fifth wheel's legendary.  We call these fifth wheel RV's very expensive legendary pieces of shit with epic defects.

The financier Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU) was contacted immediately about the issue and should have acted in their best interest, not just for our sake, but they too failed to take any action against the RV dealer and manufacture.

We then contacted our credit card company Capital One and did a charge back on the deposit we paid Sunrise RV.  We told Capital One about the defect issues and Capital One recovered our deposit money.  We were then asked by Capital One to provide them information showing them our claim about the defects in the RV.  We sent Capital One this information we posted here on this website and more, which shows the water damage to floors and the wet insulation, and also including a statement from the dealer (Sunrise RV) who stated the floors are damaged.  We sent all this information to Capital One's on-line file folder by uploading the files to their servers that Capital One created for us.  We provided the all this information, pictures, and more than what's posted on this website in timely manner as required before the submission date deadline.

We then confirmed with Capital One that they had received all the information we had sent to them.  Capital One said they would take it from here.  Capital One then supposedly failed to sent any of our response, pictures, dealer statement, and the video to Visa Card disputes in a timely fashion.  We then were again re-charged for the deposit after successfully disputing the defective merchandise with the credit card company.

We called and spoke with the Capital One representatives about the charge back multiple times and on January 30, 2024, the Capital One representative stated for the second time they had screwed up and the company would make good on the mistake.

After fighting with Capital One to get the money back for about a year, Capital One finally said to us, 'tough luck' about the money, claiming this was lemon law case.  We told the Capital One representative that this was not a lemon law case as the RV doesn't have a motor in it.  We told Capital One that this was a consumer protection issue.   We also told the supervisor that we will stop using their credit cards and she said no biggy.  Since then we have stopped using our Capital One Visa card and we are now in the process of closing our bank account there too.

We don't recommend anyone to use Capital One for the purchase of merchandise, as you too may get screwed over by Capital One too, just like we did.  We've been banking with Capital One, since they bought out ING Direct, whereas we had many years of never having any type of issue with doing a charge backs on bad products or services.  Since Capital One took over, they no long have your back, so make sure you don't have this card in your wallet when you buy something!  So much for Capital One and WSECU protecting their customers and stopping predators like Keystone RV and Sunrise RV from robbing their customers and in this case also a cancer patient!

We have submitted complaints to the Better Business Bureau about Keystone RV company and Sunrise RV and Truck.  So far, neither company has responded to the complaints filed with the BBB.

We will be adding more to this review over the coming months with pictures, video's of the defects, e-mails, and even the RV dealers' acknowledgement of the damage floors and warranty issues.

In the mean time, in order to protect yourself from predators like Sunrise RV, Keystone RV Company, WSECU, and Capital One, please find a different Manufacture, Dealer, and Financiers to buy your RV from, because this manufacture and dealer will not honor their warranties and the financiers will not help you get the dealer and manufacture to abide by the terms of their warranties.

• Attribution: Peer Reviewed Products™ | Product Review Attribution: Melissa More and Alan Hoffer | Author(s): Melissa More and Alan Hoffer  | Date: From February 5, 2024 to April 10, 2024 | Product Review Photo/Video Credit: Alan Hoffer

Hotels: Our Review of Richland Homewood Suites Hotel by Hilton

Know Before You Go.

Price was $252.86 for a King Room with a view of buildings.  The furniture and curtains had a somewhat outdated look and the furniture was mismatched for the price of the room.  The room had a small couch that appeared to have a Herculon fabric.  The rug appeared to be clean, but it had an outdated 1970's look to it as well.

There was a small kitchenette with a two burner stove and there were dishes to use in the cupboard. The dishes were clean. There was a full size fridge in the room, which was clean.

What We Liked.

The room was good sized and had a walk in shower, which was clean. There was a lighted mirror in the bathroom with a vanity, this too was clean.

The room had two good sized LED TV's in it, (one in the living area and the other in the bedroom).

We liked the fact the room had a kitchenette, which saves you money, rather than eating out at expensive fast food restaurants while on the road.

The hotel also had a free breakfast, which we had scrambled eggs, waffles, juice, potatoes, oatmeal, and fruit, the food quality was ok.  The floors and counters appeared to be clean. The room did have sanitizer towelette's by the TV remote controls on the dressers.

There were tissues and other toiletries in bathroom area.  The bed was comfortable and the sheets and linen appeared to be clean.  There was not much of a perfume smell in the room, which we really appreciated not having, as this sometimes can gag you and I have breathing issues with perfumes.  The room had internet access and it was not slow and was easy to connect to it.

Issues We Found at the Hotel.

The room was mostly clean with the exception of the beds head-board.  The head-board appeared to have something on it.  We were not sure if it was food or what it was, but we did not touch it.

The heating/air conditioner was making a lot of noise during the night.

About the Staff

We spoke to the maintenance person about the heating/air conditioner. The gentleman apologized for the inconvenience it caused during our sleep.  The maintenance person thanked us for alerting him, he stated it likely needed to be replace and that they would look at it.

The reception person was polite and asks us about our stay.

Amenities

• Two T.V.'s
• King Size Bed
• Kitchenette with full size refrigerator.
• Internet access
• Fitness Center - We didn't use or check for cleanness
• Swimming Pool - We didn't use or check for cleanness

Why we gave this rating.

We gave this rating because of the dirty headboard on the bed and the noisy heater/air conditioner, otherwise we would have rated this as 4 star hotel.

The fabric appeared to be outdated, but it did not look like it was actually old.  According to the price that Hiton was charging for the hotel room, it really should have more updated rugs, drapes, couch and chairs.  The colors in the room were to dark. The food was editable, but it could have been of a higher quality for as much as the hotel is charging on the per night rate.

• Attribution: Peer Reviewed Products™ | Product Review Attribution: Alan Hoffer | Author(s): Alan Hoffer  | Date: March 20, 2024 | Product Review Photo/Video Credit: Alan Hoffer - Room Photos, Richland Homewood Suites - Snapshot of hotel exterior website picture

Security Cameras: Our Review of Arlo Essential Wireless Security Camera

What To Know Before You Buy A Smart Home Camera.

Image quality, low light, resolution, zoom and field of view are some important factors to consider when having security cameras.  These factors will make a big difference in how effective your camera system is at facial recognition, vehicle detection, and detecting other types of movement like animals from a distance and at night.  Other important features are notification of motion and/or storage of the videos in the cloud.

A Little Bit How We Became Aware Of Arlo Cameras

We got some cameras for my birthday this year from our neighbor.  Are neighbors are some nice folks, we hope you have neighbors like this too.  We exchange little gifts on birthdays and holidays.  We also watch each others homes too.

A couple years back, we had a neighborhood burglar who was breaking into homes.  One beautiful morning, I got up early and was home for the day.  I went outside to enjoy my coffee and the sun.  Low and behold there was a man who walked up to my neighbors home and started to loudly knock on their door.  Not thinking too much about it, I sat and watched him quietly as I was drinking my coffee.  Then all of a sudden that loud knocking became loud kicks at the door and it no longer looked like the person was trying to get the neighbor to answer the door.  It looked more like a crime was about to be committed.  I had my cell phone on me, so I immediately called the police and let the police know that someone was trying to break into my neighbors home.

Long story short, the police arrived and arrested the guy after the burglar set off the neighbors alarm and then causally tried to walk away.  I provided the police dispatcher minute by minute details of what the man was doing and where he was going too, until the police got there.  Needless to say, after helping our neighbor we have been good friends ever since.

Well would it not be nice if everyone would have someone watching their home, so when someone comes around to rob your home and then starts trying to kick the door down, your neighbor calls the police for you.

Our Review Of A Wireless Cloud Based Camera.

Well, most people don't have neighbors that care that much or want to get involved with someone robbing your home.  Thankfully, today there are cameras that can and will notify you while you are away from your property and when someone has entered your property.  The camera technology of these cameras that we are reviewing here are amazing as compared to just several short years ago.

We are talking a high definition 1080p video with a wide angle view of 130º.  The features don't just end there either.  These cameras that we tested and then bought more of are also wireless, which makes them a snap for an easy installation without wires.  The cameras have an integrated spot light, so you can get colored video at night too should you need it.  The cameras have motion detectors, they directly connect to WiFi, and they have internal chargeable batteries, which can last up to six months, depending on the use.  Other options allow you to connect a small solar panel to the camera, so the battery can be constantly charged during the day time when there is sun.  The monitoring software allows you to blow up or magnify the video too, while watching live or after the video is recorded and your reviewing the video.  Depending on how close the subject is and the type of cameras you have installed, you can get a pretty crystal clear image of the person, vehicle, or subject you are video taping.

We liked that these cameras allow you to store the video in the cloud too. No equipment needed.  This feature of course requires you to have a paid monitoring account, whereas the cameras can be monitored through a monthly or yearly plan.  The nice thing about these being monitored is you can get notified 24x7 on your phone when someone enters the monitored zones being watched by your cameras.  Also, the video is not kept locally on any equipment and can be downloaded or shared from the cloud without the worry of someone damaging the DVR or having recording equipment failure.  Paying for a account allows you to be notified in real time if something is picked up in the zone your camera is watching.  This makes it easy for you to call the police or even a friend, then explaining to that person what is going on your property.  You can easily provided the police a copy or share the video too.

This system also has options of a door bell camera, so you can monitor and/or speak with people who come to your home, while your away or there on the premises.  The cameras allow you to monitor packages that are delivered to your home too.  The monitoring cost is reasonable.  If you don't have monitoring then the cameras can only be viewed live and there is no saving the video to the cloud.

We have a local professional camera system that records the video to a DVR, but the problem is it can't notify you when someone is on the premise like this Arlo system can.  That's why we like it, plus it was easy to install and setup. Within a couple of hours, we had 3 cameras installed and setup.  Arlo then gives you a test account to use for several months for free too.  If you pay for monitoring for the year, its a little less expensive then buying it by the month.  Arlo has all kinds of different cameras available for all types of uses, either for an indoor or outdoor setting.

We are happy with our system, even though it requires you to pay for an account to get the live monitoring.  We're not fans of monthly bills, so if you don't want a monthly or a yearly bill, then this system is not a camera system for you.  For our use, this camera system works good for us and allows us monitor our home when we are not home.

• Attribution: Peer Reviewed Products™ | Product Review Attribution:  | Author(s):  -  - | Date: | | Product Review Photo/Video Credit: 

Computers: Our Review of Dell's 2 in 1 Laptop

Manufacture: Dell
Model Number: Dell XPS15
MSRP:
Recommendation: 
Two Thumbs Down!

We bought this computer online from Dell's website.  The computer has been sent back to Dell multiple times to be fixed.  When we first got the computer, the keyboard was not working properly right from the day we recieved the computer.  After troubleshooting the issue, Dell sent out a box to return the computer.  The computer was supposedly fixed.  We continued to have issues and had to contact support again.  After some adjustment the mouse started to work better.

• Attribution: Peer Reviewed Products™ | Product Review Attribution:  | Author(s):  -  - | Date: | | Product Review Photo/Video Credit: