I am looking at video baby monitors and they are not cheap!
As a technologist I am having a hard time accepting that a couple of a webcams and an LCD screen cost 200+ dollars.
I can get a pretty decent in home security system for that price that would give me baby monitoring capabilities in every room and increase my homes value.
I can also get a couple of wireless webcams and set them up to stream to the internet and use my phone for video monitoring, or set up a dedicated monitor on a raspberry pi.
There are so many possibilities, but a part of me (and my wife) tells me that this isn't a good idea.
Edit (a year later, with a baby):
Some features that I didn't think as very important, but really they are the most important:
- Handheld monitor you can take from room to room, and one that my parents can easily use
- A cam that you can pan and zoom from the monitor
- Ability to take the whole system to another house, which means quick assembly and disassembly
- Baby proof!!!
In hindsight I am glad that I shelled out 200 bucks for a crappy RF cam/monitor that does all of the above really well.
The last thing I want to do right now is deal with electronics!
Is a Do-It-Yourself baby monitor a bad idea?
YES!!!