Hi CCTV forum,
I'm after a simple 4 channel DVR system for use as a theft deterrent at my residence, as we have some crappy neighbors. Particularly, I'm wanting to watch the front and back yards for the neighbor's feral children, and other opportunistic punks/vandals. One camera would be mounted inside on the living room as kind of a "nanny cam".
I was considering, for a little under $400 from Amazon:
LH114501C4 - Lorex ECO 4 Channel Security DVR with 4 Indoor/Outdoor Security Cameras
or maybe this, since it was about the same price but rated better:
SWDVK-425504 - Swann Digital Video Recorder with Smartphone Viewing and PRO-550 Cameras
But after reading this forum for a bit I see people really speaking favorably about the Dahua products, and someone just a few minutes ago posted a list of vendors carrying their rebranded products. (thanks Larry!) So there I see their answer to this from "Security Camera King" whom I selected more or less at random from Larry's list.
Complete 4 Channel Elite Mini Economy DVR Security Camera Surveillance System
http://www.securitycameraking.com/complete-4-channel-elite-mini-59022-prd1.html
No HDD, and a little dome cameras instead of the bullet style that Swann and Lorex are selling. Little bit more expensive after adding HDD, but not a showstopper if this is a truly better product.
I don't mind putting in a HDD, unless these recorders are fussy about certain brands (i.e. seagate versus wd).
I also intend to use cat-5 wiring since I am most familiar with it. On ebay they have these "active 4ch balun" units such as this, which I think is what I want since it will give a "cleaner" installation than having 4 wall-warts for each of 4 cameras.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4CH-CCTV-4-CH-Active-Balun-Video-Audio-Power-over-UTP-Cat5-up-to-1200M-BEST-/200813154507?pt=US_Surveillance_Accessories&hash=item2ec16590cb
I'm very familiar with networking so this won't be an issue for me I think, besides I had set up a q-see product for some friends who run a day care facility and got this to work OK.
Do the Dahua systems still require activex/ie for remote viewing via http?
I already have a web server at my residence. Can you change the port for http access?
