SEANHAWG

I'd pay that if I could get it. There is probably going to reach a point where download speed doesnt really matter anymore for the average user. What I mean downloading a song will probably be just as fast downloaded at 100 MBPS as it would 200 MBPS, atleast to the human eye, they are both going to be lighting fast and the differences probably wont be noticed. I assume the only way you would notice is if you are downloading a massive file. I agree that wired will probably always be faster, but as far as marketability and sales are concerned, I see wireless being the main thing in a few years. Yeah sure, most large businesses will still have wired, but the average dude will probably be mostly wireless. its just a convenience thing and people like convenience, and with all these smart phones and tablets and crap that are coming out, its just inevitable. That is my Nostradamus prediction.

I just assume that wireless internet will be the norm in a few short years. I mean if they can reach or exceed DSL & Cable speeds than people will start turning to just have wireless internet and do away with their landline internet options as long as the coverage is good. Right now, we dont get any kind of 4G in our area but I assume in a few years, coverage will be everywhere. I assume that wireless internet will just continue to get faster too. I bet once this happens, some really awesome products and gadgets will start coming out, All TV's will be internet accessible much like some of the new ones are, by that time, everyone will have a smartphone as the phone manufacturers will simply stop making the regular phones, and most all new cars will have internet access or be able to bluetooth to your cell phone. I predict that your cell phone will basically be your wireless internet modem for everything, kind of like what a wireless router does right now. Its gonna be crazy.

To me this is a no-brainer: Pelco

If you really wanted to go this route, It seems to me that you would get better video quality by logging onto your computer using something like Logmein. Thats free to and plus you will have control.

It sounds like you may have had a bad hard-drive. There are certain aspects of your DVR menu that may require use of a hard-drive to see or operate. Install a new hard-drive to see if that helps.

Hi Fred. I sent you a PM. Thanks!

I think you can get those converters but you will still get the same resolution no matter what, in a matter of fact, if you are putting it on a larger screen, it may look worse. Your DVR is limited to D1 resolution at best (480p basically). The best appearing resolution will probably be on a small 19" tube tv.

Do you absolutely need infrared at night? Is your area illuminated well enough?

Awww, okay. I just bought some lots of these off of eBay and they didnt come with the mounting base either. I will let you know if I can find a solution for this. I am currently waiting for them to come in. Its amazing how many used PTZ's there are out on the market that are missing the wire base.

If you use an IP megapixel camera you will get similar clarity as to the pictures that you took. Usually, you need less of those than regular Analog cameras because of their high definition. But they are a little more expensive than Analog which means you may only be able to purchase one with your budget. And that doesnt include a recording device. I am not sure if your IP manager will help you record or not but that is something you will want to find out. Traditional Analog cameras with a regular DVR will be less expensive but you are still pushing it for your budget if you want to get some brand new brand name equipment. You would probably just need a 4 camera DVR with some cameras pointed at various spots with different lens lengths to pick up on certain areas. The second picture you have is illuminated pretty good and most good cameras with fairly well low light capabilities will be able to see in that condition. Your first picture is pretty dim and some extra illumination may be needed (or you could use infrared cameras)

Did you happen to buy them off eBay?

Cool, can you post some video clips?

What exactly are you unhappy with on the Bosch Cameras?

You make good points about the 1000' max length spool. I'll ask him again to make sure to see whats going on.

I picked up four of these DVR's and I cant for the life of me find any info on it so I am hoping that someone else may know this DVR perhaps rebadged under a different name. It did not have a brand name on it but it did have a model #: VC-SYS-8CHWEBRMPEG-4 It has a built in CDRW. Used MPEG4 compression:

It is now working without HDD? Do you have the HDD installed, have you tried a new HDD?

Its just one long Cable run, no splicing apparently. Right now he is using a Gem BLN-PVRJ45-1 Balun But he is not running the power over the Cat5 as said before.

Thanks Soundy, now I will know to stay away from all "Craptastic" branded surveillance equipment from now on. This reminds me of another brand that I tested not too long ago "POS", and that didnt stand for "Point Of Sale" Yeah the live video looked really nice, as if I was plugging the camera directly into the monitor. The network video looks just like the recorded video, blocky. Too bad live video means nothing for evidence. The only cool thing about this DVR is the remote viewing GUI is exactly like the DVR's GUI. I assume this is an older Avtech DVR. Oh well, no dissing Avtech as this is the first one I have tested, I guess even among the name brand equipment there are some junky versions, I dont know which is worse, this DVR or a Pelco 4 channel that I tested a few months ago. But for the price I got on all 4 of these, i cant complain too much.

Ahhh I see, I was googling it with the MPEG-4 extension on it and nothing was coming up. I have heard of the joke, I guess all this turkey has gotten to my brain because the picture of the cracker jack box didnt trigger the memory of the joke. Anways, this DVR is really not that good at all. The biggest problem I have with it is the hideous recording quality. On playback, it looks like an 8 bit nintendo trying to play video. The video looks super blocky even on D1. Out of all of the crappy chinese DVR's that I have tested in the past month, this one looks worse than all of them on playback and to me, playback quality is the single most important thing that I look for on a DVR, and I didnt get these out of China. I guess I expected more because it "looks" to be like a particularly well built DVR, big and heavy, almost looks like a PC based DVR, but I agress judging a book by its cover is not the smartest thing. Do you think the quality of the recording has to do more with the DVR or does it have to do with MPEG4 compression. This is my first MPEG4 DVR that I have tested so I am not familiar with it but as I said, these things say they record in D1, I havent even tried to see what CIF looks like.

I didnt know Cracker Jack was in the DVR makin business? No seriously, this must be a Canadian joke because I dont get it?

Whenever you tested it when it was plugged directly into the monitor, were you using a short cable or a different cable? Since we ruled out that its probably not the camera at fault, you have to take troubleshooting steps to see what the problem child is. Go down the line and see what is different than the other cameras that have a good picture. Did you try swapping out the camera with one of the q-see cameras cables?

I cant even tell what that is. You may be better of saving money by just installing a light to illuminate that area, that is if you are just wanting to save money.

The problem with the cameras you are getting is the lenses on them are all small fixed lenses that are typical of many boxed packaged systems. They are okay for wide angle shots but if you want detail you would be better off getting a camera with a vari-focal lens. I assume that most of your cameras range from 3-6mm at the most correct? You can get a box camera and put a long range lens such as a 5-50, 7-70mm, 5-100mm on it to capture alot of detail or if you dont need something that strong a dome or bullet cam with a varifocal lens of 4-9mm to 2.8-10mm, etc would be even better to capture some detail.

havent heard that one before The top camera looks exactly like a camera I bought on ebay when I was first starting out. It was a PAL camera and those dont look right on US monitors, be sure to get NTSC cameras. Just by the "looks" the bottom camera looks better but that doesnt mean anything. Some basic specs you want to look for are: - CCD sensor sizes (1/3" are better than 1/4" in most cases) - TV lines (shows you what resolution the camera has, although the truth is often stretched for this spec) - What power type does it take (DC12V or 24 VAC or both, most chinese cameras will only take 12V DC) - Indoor or outdoor - Lens Size Those are just the very basic specs you want to look for. Of course there are more detailed specs but quite often, the above specs is quite often the only information that you will get on chinese cams. If you are looking for a cheap short range indoor camera, than I would say that those cams will probably be okay as long as they dont poop out on you after a short while. But for outdoor cams, you want to do alot more homework on as there are alot of variables that come into play for outdoor scenarios (ie variable lighting issues, day/night issues, how far does the IR shine, how well does it stand up in extreme weather, etc.) Let us know how it turns out if you get them.

I agree, my home security system is a little ridiculous. More of a toy than anything. It looks like you have caught the bug like many of us have, there is no stopping you now.