veryken9

Hey I'm glad I found these forums. Let me jump right into my question. There seems no other place with the info or reviews I need. I've also browsed a few discussions here not finding the info. I'm looking at purchasing a low-end 4-cam bundled surveillance system that's expandable to 8 cams. I already have two existing installed cams and a dedicated flatscreen display (one cam is not connected). So these systems are all basically a bundled DVR, 4 IR outdoors cams and associated wiring. They all boast H.264 compression, remote monitoring via mobile device, motion-detect recording, support for PTZ controls and roughly a 500GB hard drive. Those are the features I want. Ideally I can connect two displays to the DVR. Now the question is, how are the following brands ranked for quality or reliability or performance? I suppose it's mostly about the DVR. I'm totally new to these name brands: Swann Lorex Q-See Night Owl Please don't say they're all trash, as those are the only ones on the shelf at my budget. I just need to understand how they compare to each other. Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the comments (all)! Like I said, I already have two cameras. And I am indeed seeking an 8-cam-capable DVR. Now it seems the Apollo 8 is what I should get. The price ($265 no drive) is actually LESS than those $600 packaged 4-cam+DVR bundles I'm comparing! Even if I separately get the hard drive, which is what I would want to do anyway. So I take that Qvis is a more reliable brand? Reliability is my top priority, with performance and features next. One thing I'm reading about the Qvis Apollo series is the triple output-- BNC, HDMI, VGA. I really need two physical displays connected, so hopefully this is it. I've never heard of Qvis until now. Are they like the Honda of DVRs? I mean, I wouldn't mind getting the Hyundai of DVRs, you know. Hyundai and Kia are better than Fiat and Triumph.

Just as I figured — I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel right off the bat. Alright, so if I were to get a low-budget DECENT dvr with same features (and okay, scratch the PZT requirement), what would you suggest? How much more should I put and toward what "good recorder?" What name brand and model to point me in the right direction? I'm new enough to the whole world of multiple-cam surveillance, but so far understand that a DVR is basically what I need (for the functionality I mentioned). If it doesn't come bundled with about 4 cameras, no big deal except I hope to be able to mix and match them easily.