It took me a few hours to get the unit set up and running with four HikVision POE cameras and a suitable 2TB HDD. Only one of my cameras was on the approved list, due to their age, but all were easy to connect and seem to work fine. Searching through recordings seems a little slow, maybe because the processor in the NVR is a bit slow, but for the price I am very happy with both the performance and the ease of use.