jwhittaker

I am looking for a domestic system to monitor 4 cameras. I would like it to be recording all the time, but still alert me if there is movement on a camera (easier to find if any 'problems' arise). I would prefer one that can take more than one hard drive, but this is not essential. I would also like to be able to remote view the cameras either on a linked PC or via a web browser on other systems. The cameras I use are day/night cameras, so recorded picture quality is very important to me (night vision can be very bad when recorded). I currently have a system that uses M-JPeg, but the quality of the images is not good enough at night. The system I am looking at has a 250GB hard drive installed, so I should be able to get plenty of hours worth of footage on there, so a second hard drive may not be needed on this system. I am on a rather tight budget, and although I would prefer to future proof myself and get a greater channel DVR (9 channel ideally) I am finding that this is not a practical idea, not on such a tight budget anyway. I need a system that I can get in the UK, and preferably around the £400 or so mark. So, is the AV Tech 780W system my best bet, or are there other systems you can recommend?

Thanks Rory, that all makes sense. It would appear that I don't know as much about the cameras as I thought, so some recommendations for decent cameras that can also see clearly at night would be great.

The cameras are made by a company called Lianyida. They are wireless cameras, although three of them are hard wired to the unit, the forth is in a place that cannot be wired in easily (back of a garden). These are the cameras: http://www.cnszlyd.com/showbig.asp?id=248&gb=english The picture that I get from them is a little washed, but generally very good, even at night. In pitch black they still produce a clear image. However, when that image is recorded on my current unit (a Hisharp DVR046) the playback images are of poor quality, even set to the highest setting. Images taken during the day seem ok though, it's just the night images that are not great. John, I am having some difficulty in finding a supplier for the AVC783 here in the UK. If anyone knows where I can get a price and possibly the unit then the help is more than welcomed.

I too am thinking about getting the 780W system, it seems to offer a lot for a good price. Have you managed to solve your problems with this unit, and would you say in general that it is a good DVR? What about the network capabilities, are they any good any fairly easy to set up? Thanks in advance.

Thanks Sean, just knowing who makes the product helps me find out more about it. If I end up buying one I'll post some info about how it works...

I have tried to find a name or code for this DVR, but alas all I have is the code "045", which would not help a lot. I hope a direct link to the item will not break any rules here, and if it does please accept my apologies. http://www.henrys.co.uk/cctv/digitalvideorecorders.htm Is this any good, and does anyone have any experience with it? It is for home use, with day/night cameras, so I need a versatile system within a fairly constrained budget.