drzman49

Hi, I am new to this forum, and new to security systems. I am looking into creating a pc based system. I am making the following assumptions: 1. I can set up the software to only record when the motion sensitive camera is activated 2. unless the motion camera is activated, the computer can be made to go into sleep mode 3. When the motion camera is activated, and sends the signal to the dvr card in the computer, the computer comes out of sleep mode and records. Please let me know if my assumptions are accurate. Thanks Man stares into the abyss, and there's nothing staring back at him. That's when man finds his character. And that's what keeps him out of the abyss

I now have exact figures for the computer, thanks to a watt meter. It costs 160 a year to run my pentium 4 computer 24x7, not including monitor, of course without going into sleep mode. A DVR costs 60 a year to run. I save 100 a year by using a DVR. If I need to upgrade in 5 years, let say, the DVR, it would seem the better deal. Especially when you consider the additional costs of upgrading computer when things wear out faster. less flexibility with the DVR, the only downside that I can see.

well, looking at the specs of a DVR, Security DVR - L104161 I noticed it is DC 12 volts at 4 amps, meaning 48 watts to run. So this would be 48 watts x 24 x 365 = 424,280, 424.28 kw hours x .14 = $59 dollars a year to run. that's $150 savings a year compared to a computer running an average of 200 watts. The person who stated "Have you checked the power consumption of a dedicated unit as well, for comparison? I doubt you'll find they use that much less than the PC." My figures to run a PC were very rough. Do you have some data to show that a computer (with monitor off of course) could run on about 48 watts? That would be helpful. Thanks

protecting my residence, in and out. I read that the costs of keeping a typical computer on full time 24x7 is about 250 bucks a year, so perhaps I'll take the money and buy a dedicated dvr. 200 watts (average use of computer to stay on) x 24 hours x 365 = 1,752,000, 1752 kwhours x $.14 kwhrs = $245 dollars a year. For that I could buy a good dvr over couple years. I don't think a dvr costs nearly this much, but perhaps someone knows these figures? Maybe I'm being to picky about the running costs though.