Hozzie

Hi Everyone, New to the forum, but I have been doing a lot of research and reading on here and the wealth of information is great. I am going to put in a new system in my house and I have decided to go with an NVR since I want the higher resolution camera's. With that said, I think I have narrowed my choices down to two different options. The first is the ION Series ESDV-NVRION-8 and the second will be one of the Dahua NVR's, either an NV3208 or the NV5216. Basic info: - I am not interested in a software only NVR. I want to set this up and leave it not worrying about an OS and such. - I plan to initially install 5-6 cameras, but don't ever see needing over 8. They will all be Dahua. - I will have 2 outside 3MP camera's and 3 or 4 inside 1.3MP cameras as their field of view doesn't really need as much MP. - I will be buying an 8 Port POE Switch. This will only be dedicated and connected to my NVR. - I am a technically capable of doing any network config and setup that is needed, so that isn't an issue. - I will want to review footage remotely as I travel a lot. If there is something detected, I want to be able to check it out. A good web interface is important. I have read a lot about max Bitrate, etc and understand in general the limits around these. Essentially, I see that the ION Series ESDV-NVRION-8 says it can support 240 FPS and 64MB of throughput. The NVR5216 supposedly has 64MB throughput and the FPS is a little harder to figure out by their specs (at least for me). The NVR3208 only supports 32MB. As the 5216 isn't that much more, I figured I would just go with it if I go Dahua. Of course, there is a $300 difference between these NVR's and I am trying to figure out if there is a good reason to not go with the ION Series ESDV-NVRION-8. It is cheap, but I want something that is going to last and do what I need. I don't expect it to jump through hoops, but I do expect it to do what it was designed for. It may be that the software is so much better on the Dahua or vice-versa, or general performance is better on one or the other, but I don't have experience with either. I would appreciate any feedback, good or bad on either one as the specs seem to be really close other than I could go up to 16 channels on the Dahua. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I could build a PC, but I don't want to mess with it, plus it will eat more energy. I think I have decided to go with the Dahua. If it doesn't work, I will have the cameras and I can always try a PC based system. I have a spare PC I can try it on now if I want to compare, but I am really looking for something I don't have to think about too much. I want to just set it up and let it go. From everything I have read, this setup should work well for me.

Thanks, I have also heard good things about the Everfocus brand, but then we are talking $900 more than the Dahua. I am not completely opposed to going that route, but it better have some major advantages. I would really like to stay at $1500 for the NVR and 5 cameras and that is near impossible to do with one of the higher end NVR's. I don't really need support for Raid 10 and such that some of the higher end ones come with.