rexp

Hey there. I think I am a similar situation as you in that CCTV/security is not my job, but an interest that happens to have practical value for myself and others. I now have some experience under my belt, with setting things up. I wanted to share some tips and suggestions. First off for the NVS hardware I went with a laptop, because I was concerned about the power operating cost and environmental impact of running a heavily spec'ed PC 24X7. One route to go is to search ebay for a used laptop with a smashed screen. Purchase cost is low, and power costs are low. As long it is modern machine with a Core Duo CPU or better and with a healthy amount of memory, it will likely meet the requirements for a 4 camera install. You can set up the VMS with an external monitor initially, and then after do all your access with Remote Desktop Client if you install the Pro version of XP or Win 7, or you can use the remote client install of whatever NVS you choose. Just a suggestion, but it has worked well for me. My second piece of advice is to consider how you will do live monitoring as well as recording. Some of the NVS have clients that run on your phone, while others do not. If there is no app, you can use something like IP Cam Viewer to connect directly to the cameras. I get a tremendous piece of mind, if I hear an odd noise in the middle of night, by hitting three buttons on my iPad and seeing whats going on the street and at my doors. Also, when I travel, I port forward the cameras, so I can flip on my iPhone in the airport, hotel, wherever, and make sure that everything checks out at home. I even have a flood cam keeping an eye on my basement floor. I can't stress how important this functionality is to me at least. It is also, besides possible megapixel or greater resolution, one of the big advantages of an IP system. This leads to my next piece of advice, consider the compatibility of the cameras you are intending to buy with the software you are considering using. All the NVS's have a supported camera list, some products are on all of them, some are on some of them, and the crap directly from China on ebay is on none of them IP Cam Viewer also has an extensive list of supported camera. I would cross reference before you buy, and avoid annoyance later. My final piece of advice, which by your budget you already seem to realize, is that you get what you pay for. The no name products while cheap, often lack something: compatibility, features, support, something. The budget brands are better. The Vivotek cameras I bought, while relatively inexpensive have worked well. The premium brands are better still. (Loving my LevelOne FCS-5051). Incidentally, I have been using the Milestone GO software as my VMS. It is really quite good, and worth a test. You may even want to spring for the paid version after using it, in order to get the unlimited recording duration, and watermark free export. Cheers, Good Luck and Have Fun. -Rich

OP if you have not come across it yet, try Vitamin d, at vitamindinc.com. I found it on this site a while back. It provides motion analytics and I am using it with much better (but as others have said, not perfect) results than pure motion detection. There is a free version to try with lower res than the (inexpensive) paid version. I like it also because it worked on PC or Mac. One nice feature of the paid version, is that you can have it FTP video as well as save it locally. I use a slightly beat up macbook pro as my recording system, and back up the footage to a cheap net top box, running FTP in the basement, on the theory that a thief would probably grab the laptop and my video if I get burgled. It supports standard windows capture devices along with a decent list of IP cams. Cheers