And lots of it ...
So ... I have an 8 cam system with only 5 cams hooked up - I have read a bunch of stuff during the past year that I have had this system and today is finally the day where I need some help from people who actually know what is what and what they are talking about.
That is why I am here.
I thought the stock system for a good chunk of my hard earned change would have been somewhat decent. the only other option was spending over 2k. I was really hoping for the best when I spent 400 bucks ... Harry Homeowner is who I am not Millionaire Merle. I don't need surveillance for the Playboy mansion ... I just need to make sure that if someone does something stupid like breaking into my house, or stealing my ATV that I can see them, find them, and deal with them ...
I hope.
Firstly: I need something better than the POS stock cameras that this thing comes with! I need to be able to identify people at around 75-100 feet for christ sake. Not some pixilated image of what looks to be a human being ...
Any cameras that I can buy on say ... Amazon? that would give me better quality? Can I just hook them right up and be good to go? and if all this is yes so far ... what is the best camera to get for my situation? I have no idea what I am looking at with cameras to be honest. I'm a sysadmin not a videophile. Someone please dear god help me.
Second: Hard Drive! I believe this thing has a 500gb drive. Is it as simple as popping a new one in and it will just automatically start using it? I mean I understand I may need to format it but I guess the question here is will it know what to do with a new drive because the software that runs the system is onboard the actual box? or do they make it software that is running on a partition of the drive that makes this thing know what is what? Has anyone ever replaced theirs?
Third: Seriously ... I have a mac. I'm not in the mood for a what is better PC or Mac debate ... I had this working through Safari with a firmware update. Then I had to install their little webkit BS ... now one day it just stops working. Not just on one mac but EVERY FRACKING MAC I GET MY HANDS ON! I have tried it on brand new out of the box macs at work and it doesn't cooperate. Not my local machine's problem. I have no idea what the heck happened! I've done all the standard stuff but someone must have a mac and know what to do???
