jsl10

Compaq also wanted to broaden their appeal to the corporate IT world (i.e. to take on IBM). They saw DEC floundering with indecision so they moved in. DEC with Alpha could of become the next IBM. Instead, Alpha technology and patents ended up being sold to Intel who folded it into their future generation CPU's. So I guess we are all benefiting from it even today.

Yup, the DEC Alpha processor was amazing and way ahead of it's time. But DEC didn't capitalize on it adequately and the company ended up having hard times. So, the second largest computer company in the world ended up being bought by Compaq (a PC company)! Compaq in turn was bought by HP. It was an amazing journey through all that but it ended up with massive layoffs with myself included. The rate of change of technology over the last couple decades is truly mind boggling. Compaq was an intel slut at the time. If I recall correctly they bought dec to essentially shelve the product, and pick up on patents and move customers from their vms...to their "far superior cough inferior cough" itanium....the sad part is compaq was already in the half way in the red at this time they only had a handfull of boxes under the compaq name that used alpha processors. DEC also got too big...they started getting into the mind set "we are your technology partner" alot of companies did that back then. Micron, Nokia (yes the phone company), nortel, All these companies stated literally making everything.

Yup, the DEC Alpha processor was amazing and way ahead of it's time. But DEC didn't capitalize on it adequately and the company ended up having hard times. So, the second largest computer company in the world ended up being bought by Compaq (a PC company)! Compaq in turn was bought by HP. It was an amazing journey through all that but it ended up with massive layoffs with myself included. The rate of change of technology over the last couple decades is truly mind boggling.

I'm flipping back and fourth between BI and a dedicated NVR. CPU usage is one deciding factor. Anyway, maybe a dumb question but if using the new direct to disk writing, does BI still do the motion detection analysis the same (i.e. by the BI server)? Or do you set it up in the cameras and then BI simply writes the motion triggered videos to disk?

Your comment caught my eye! Unless your talking about something else, "Alpha" wasn't a company. In the 90's "Alpha" was the name of the 64 bit risc processor developed by Digital Equipment Corporation for running their version of Unix. A VERY fast processor (for the time) that was pushing the envelope in 64 bit and risc architectures. Anyway, I worked on that project and that's why your comment brought back fond memories.

DSD???

Is it wanting a scratch disk to create a new bootable disk? Maybe it wants to create a standalone NVR bootable system rather than just run as an application under the OS. Or does it just need an entire disk (formatted by it) to write the video files to? Did you try pointing it to a scratch disk to format and see what it's doing? No need to have it format the C: drive with Windows on it I assume. Maybe it needs it's own formatted drive to write video streams in some unique way for efficiency sake?

It says that the iVMS 2000 can be in "NVR Configuration" so maybe that component does the recording. If you get this working (iVMS 2000 and 4200) could you let us know how it is on CPU load (w/motion detection, etc)? It would be great if this was in the same class as the ACTi cameras as far as very light cpu usage.

Looking at the picture and description in the owners manual, it does not list any alarm inputs. Maybe you saw the RS485 connector to the right of the LAN. The manual says that is "Not Suppored".

Deal breaker for me! Q: Can I connect the IP cameras to my local network? A: No, the IP cameras are designed to connect to the NVR via the built-in PoE ports. This enables them to be automatically detected and recorded by the NVR once connected. Lorex does not support connecting the IP cameras to the local network or viewing video from the IP cameras except via the NVR. This was pretty much the same that Swann said. Even though it's obvious the cameras work fine just hooked to the local network, if you want to use an NVR it looks like the ability to support non-local cameras would not be there. Plus powering the cameras from a POE switch could give Lorex and Swann a way to not support them if there was a problem. Stupid if you ask me.

I don't think the analogy of a still shot camera and a IP camera holds. Even a 12MP camera that also does video does not do it at 12MP per frame. Most high MP cameras today might go as high as 1080p (i.e. about 2MP). Can you imagine trying to put together a BlueIris system to monitor a dozen 12MP IP cameras! But I do agree that the prices have been too high. They do seem to be coming down and I hope they continue to.

You mention buying a Dahua NVR..... Why Not buy the Swann NVR? Why would that be any different than a Dahua NVR. There may be different options in the two NVRs but I'm not sure about them all. Does anyone know if the Swan NVR is also a HIKVision product? I posted in anther thread that Swan was adamant that the NVR would only work with cameras plugged directly into the NVR's. I know that should not be the case of course. But the NVR's users manual does not mention the ability either. They could of easily disabled that ability in the firmware. I'm hoping someone with the NVR can confirm one way or another. In the mean time I'm really interested to hear examples of how others handle the recording side of the equation.

I'm torn on getting 4 of these or wait for Dahua mini-bullet and get a Dahua NVR. The Swann cameras look great but can't pull the trigger because I can't figure out the recording side of things. What are you guys using for recording the video? From my understanding I've really got two options... 1) Get an inexpensive ftp network drive and have the cameras ftp motion detected clips to the drive. Or 2) Use a pretty high end PC (top of the line i5 or maybe even i7) and run Blue Iris (or some other NVR software). I can get a Dahua NVR for about $300 but I can't build a i5/i7 system for that price. What are you guys with this camera (or other multiple 1080p cameras) doing? For live viewing (TV, PC, Android) there seems to be lots of inexpensive options right? Sorry if my confusion seems silly. This is my first attempt at setting up security cameras for my home.

That's where I got the one I have. Took about a week to get to me. Do you guys have a direct email to Tina? I tried their generic support email and they replied that they won't ship to the US.

Looking good. Does motion detection work ok with Blue Iris with these cameras? What kind of system are you using for Blue Iris? Along the same lines... does anyone have any recommendations for an inexpensive compact low-power system that would be well suited for running Blue Iris for say 4-6 of these cameras? For me, it's a toss-up between these cameras (want 4 to start) and a PC w/Blue Iris OR get the new 1080P Dahua mini-bullets and a Dahua 8 port NVR. The NVR would be cheaper (I believe) since I doubt if an Atom based nettop would be ok for Blue Iris.

Anyone using an NVR with these yet (dedicated or software)? Curious what the options are with these and how well those options work with these cameras. buellwinkle... how do you think these will compare with the new 1080P mini-bullet from Dahua? I know you haven't reviewed either yet (but soon) but based on your experience how do you expect these two to compare since they will be about the same price?

bbp30... are you using their NVR? Swann wasn't saying the cameras wouldn't work without being in NVR's POE ports. Only that the NVR required them to be plugged directly in. It could be that they didn't understand but its also not in the NVR's users manual. So I figured it would be prudent to check out. Anyway, that's why I'm interested in alternatives to their NVR that work good with these cameras since the cameras seem pretty darn nice!

The NVR package is here: http://www.costco.com/Swann-8-Channel-HD-NVR-Security-System-with-2TB-Hard-Drive-and-4-1080p-IP-Cameras.product.100027599.html After looking over the users manual for the NVR I didn't see it talk about adding in cameras outside it's POE ports (over it's WAN port). This is important to me since some of the future cameras will simply be plugged into POE switches on my LAN. I emailed Swann and asked. They responded VERY fast (within an hour!) which I thought was exceptional. But they said any cameras managed by the NVR must be plugged directly into it's POE ports as stated in the users manual. Well, for me this is a deal breaker unless some really good non-Swann NVR solution is available for these (i.e. BlueIris confirmed, etc.). Anyone have any thoughts on what else to do since on paper these cameras look really good?