MetzLyov

You mean SDVR-4PII-80? Check your PM... SDVR 4 channels come with 40G but PII series starts with 80G to 320G max... Levon

I will check it out on Monday and if I do not forget then I will let you know... As a reminder, can you please send me e-mail regarding this topic, so that when I get to the office, I will verify and let you know. Levon

I need to verify this with their latest systems. A lot are changing and something tells me that it works with both the WaveReader and IE... But I need to confirm... It is a great box and it is much better than standard SDVRs (excluding the PII which is the same technology). We are moving quite of few of them... In few months as I stated, a newer firmware will make it to playback recorded video, which is not an option at the moment, except live view only... Levon

We have few member from Canada that I am sure they will help or you can get everything from U.S and have them shipped to you... If you need a quote, just ask and I am sure several of our member will be happy to give them to you! Levon

Chuck, besides the SDVR series, GE has yet another series called Digia... Now, this is a 4 channel DVR and uses MPEG4 technology for compression and gives you excellent picture quality and better use of the 160G hard drives that it comes with.. This does give you real time remote live view capability and it is very much dependent on the up speed of where your DVR is installed and the down speed of where your viewing is taking place. There are two drawbacks though.... first, it does not provide remote playback of your video.. only remote live view! In few months, they will have the firmware upgrade available to be able to playback stored video... and second, this unit does not come with CD burner like SDVR series... Digia series DVR is even more cost effective than SDVR series... If the local CD burn capability is important, then please stay with SDVR, otherwise, go with Digia and when the new firmware becomes available, you can upgrade without any problems. Levon

G22, unlike for the regular PC based DVRs, the speed of the hard drives do not matter in the embedded systems, as everything is parked in the BIOS. Basically the purpose of the hard drive is to store video and that is why faster hard drives will not render better performance unless the speed of retrieving video is very crucial to your apps (military and government).. Slower the hard drives, less heat they generate, thus will last much longer... However, if your system is based on PC based setup, then everything you need must be as fast as you can afford... faster processessor, hard drives, faster video memory cards, etc.... Levon

Juke, Here are you choices that I can see... Hi end equipment: Color Mini-Domes: 1. You can use Panasonic Vandal Proof Surface mount cameras with built in SDIII technology - WV-CW474AS. This camera basically will give you the best light processing capability, so that when you have an instant lighting changes, i.e. open the door and having a flood of light and then next moment, darker or less light... OR 2. Bosch LTC 1464/21 - not as light sensitive, but a great performer and it is more cost effeictive than Panasonic. Fixed Cameras with AutoIris Lenses: 1. Pansonic WV-CP484 - SDIII technology and the works.. Need Computar TG2Z3514FCS 3.5-8.0mm AI lens.. OR 2. Bosch LTC 0495/21 comparible hardware with the same lens and is overall more cost effective. OR 3. Ganz ZC-Y30NH4 Wide Dynamic range camera with the same lens and this combo is even more cost effective than the above choice... Amount of cables, connectors, type of power supplies and monitor will be determined on number of cameras needed... and it will be very easy to calculate once you can give us this information. As for DVRs, as Herm stated, embedded are more stable and easier to use, but less features vs. PC based that has more features, but it is a very maintenance extensive and carries typical Windows inherent problems... My suggestion is to go with embedded system. It is a hastle free and with least amount of problems... Whatever you purchase, make sure that you get full 3 years warranty and support on all the hardware! Levon

Rory, they initially were using 4,200 RPM and later 5,400 RPM... The latest ones are coming with 7,200 RPM drives (I guess they may run out of the older ones) They charge so much because they can.... They did not use SCSI or RAID, but lately we are seeing a lot of changes, including the hard drives, the newer internal design, using hardware MPEG4 compression and much more... The Gigia series is great and only if they could have the remote playback... They finally announced a month ago that the newer models starting sometimes October, will have them... No justification for a such major price difference on the hard drive changes... As you already know that their latest SDVR PII series already have the above compression feature and much more, but I think the price should be in line with its previous versions... rather they are charging more for them... GE does what it wants and when they want it... All we can do is to work with what is on the table... Levon

The speed the of the hard drive even at 5400 RPM is more than any DVR will need, specially the embedded DVR that use hard drives mostly for storing video only... If you are using windows based DVRs, then higher speed may matter providing that the speed of the retreiving the video is a crucial part of the application (military and government projects). However, give me something that works slower than 5,400 RPM any time, as they will work cooler and last much longer.. By the way, the Sanyo's hard drives are 7,200 RPM standard... Levon

For B&W cameras, you get get them for $150.00 including the camera and the lens and some cases even below $100... Usually those cameras are your standard 380TVL models and if you need high res. 570TVL, it will cost little more... Have not used Speco or other second tier product lines, but the major brand manufacturers do provide very comparible equipment, may be little expensive, but well worth it... The same price range will get you fixed camera with a lens or minidome with already built in camera and varifocal autoiris lens... Look into Ganz brand that will give you better bang for your money and those cameras come with 3 years warranty... Levon

Chuck, it all depends on the type of cameras you want... Are you looking for B&W or color cameras? Are all for indoor or outdoor or combination? As Rory stated, it depends a lot on the type of cameras you need and that is what may bring everything under $2,000 price tag... Levon

Very much the same as for shmindows except you have to be much more organized than ever (must make sure that you adhere to all applicable dependencies), otherwise it will not work... I know one of our engineers used C++ to right a code for an application (parsing) to interface OSCommerce (linux version) to UPS software (charts, shipment status, etc operating on Windows, but running in WINE) to our accounting software (operating on Windows, but running in WINE) and to SQL (linux version) for data mining.. All these apps are running on FreeBSD's latest platform.... The whole package with all these apps work as one and it is very secure and stable... Levon

Scott, no thread in this forum goes bad It sometimes goes other ways that we never intended... That is what makes this forum interesting... Good choice on your Nitek equipment... Keep us posted on the progress and the results.. I am curious how it stocks up with latest and greatest with American Fibertek's latest and greatest (hope you used them before).... Levon

Rory, do not sweat it man... It is called learning... and you know your personal opinion does count, but sometimes sit back and observe and sometimes you will see that you are learning something new Everyones, not only yours, opinion do count. My only beef is that if you are not 100% sure on a specific topic, let others get involved and may be we all will learn something new... Let me make final comment for this thread - The Sanyo DVRs may not be the best embedded systems, but it delivers the goods and it does work. Like any manufacturer, they have their best and the worst and if you think that they DVRs are not for you, then stay with something else that does. As for NVT, well I will take Nitek anytime vs. NVT... Levon

Herm, do not pay attention to our jokes, you have done well. At least you are the only one giving us something about the show... Levon

Data, what or who are you afraid of anyway? You think Gates & Company will come after you? Hell with him and his company and the products they offer... You have the right to do whatever you want... Linux for anyone? Free, stable and it works! Well, not if you need active X, IE or all the headackes that it comes with.... Now using FreeBSD version of their latest GUI. It does seem work faster and it is more stable than Linux. I am running all the apps available in Linux. The only gutcha is that it is not easy to install apps at the moment... Nothing like YAST from Suse that is a life saver... Levon

Now we know why you purposely made the pictures blury, so that we do not see what you look like Levon

Guys, I have been in VU's facilities in Boston and I personally know the president of the company. Now, if you know anything about my posts, you know I am not biased with any product line and never will be. Every manufacturer we work with has their best and the worst and I will never have a problem to expose either. But lets be professional in the forum and stress the facts and nothing but facts, rather just posts something for just heck of doing it. Sanyo is a great manufacturer and yes, they have their best and the worst and I will not state otherwise if they have anything that will damage our performance. However, I have not had any issues with them nor any of their products and their reputation is top notch. Therefore, please lets not compare Sanyo with NVT... I will not say the same or hold any punches back about NVT however, as their entire product line is based on hype and due to the fact that they started this technology or better yet copied the techology, therefore they must be respected - B.S.... When you use enouph of their products and realize all the limitations and then find other sources that provide much better and more cost effective gears, then you will change too.... But then again, you may not... and again, I will leave you with the same thought to think about as I stressed below...

Now you know why I did not go to any ISC show for the show alone in the last 15+ years.... Levon

Herm, great pictures man... Now, are you the guy next to Thomas with the bold head? Just kidding man... Levon

Rory, Again, you are incorrect. How can you see the designs of the product when such design is not available for your reivew? Are you comparing the outer shell plastic covers or how each design defers from each other and better yet, how they were manufactured? How do you know what each design contains or do you have their design information? And yes, NVT gear is crap and I have sold enouph to prove you or anyone wrong if Ihave to, but that is a mute point. Yes, NVT started this technology, but they never got their head out of their..... and everyone looked at the concept and perfected the technology... But, that is ok. I will leave you with this thought to think about - the experience in any trade renders easier and better solutions than aggressive and pationate disbelief based on theories or emotions... Levon

Juke, welcome to our forum! Typical problems we have seen with school security systems were the wrong selection of the camera equipment. It is a known fact that schools operate on a shoe string budgets, therefore they do not have the money to buy a good equipment. However, after purchasing cheapo products, later they realize that such equipment does not render the results that they expect, therefore they start spending more money to start replacing to better equipment that works. Lets see your requirements: You need 8 cameras now with expansion capability - go with 16 channel digital recorder. Since you have a lot of computer and parts, chances are you will be better off to use PC based DVR cards (Rory do you want to jump in?) Most of the DVRs, regardless if they are embedded or PC based, come with a motion only record capability, therefore your chosen recorder will record when it senses motion... As for the cameras - we all went to school and remember our hallways, doors and activities. What you need is a camera system that does not wash off the picture when you have to open the entrances by exposing to a lot of light change and then have the picture to degrade at night when there is less of a light... In order to make the correct recommendation, it will help to know if you want to use B&W cameras or color cameras. So, please clarify. Also, give us the approximate distances that you can estimate between the camera placement location and the doors - this way the correct lens will be recommended... The rest of the requirements are easy, the power supplies, the cables, the connectors, the camera mounting hardware, etc... Levon

Rory, not sure what you are referring to, but I will tell you that VU passive baluns are better than NVT crap out there... Based on your assessment of having a "loss of video over 100'", I firmly belive now that you never used this product. I have seen you respond before on this same topic in the same manner, but you never stressed if you used these baluns. I can see in many posts that you like NVT, but that brand is a piece of crap and there are many others out there that make much better gear than NVT and much more cost effective. Now, I have seen and tested your referenced baluns from that website. Well, I will concur with you that those baluns are very poorly designed and that is why you had a very bad experience. But lets not generalize your bad experience with the ones that you tested and based your decision on that alone. That is why we have this forum to exchange information for better products and better ideas and I hope you will accept my assessment that yes, these baluns do work and perform much better. We have tested these passive baluns from VU in a very large warehouse installations and were able to extend CAT5 cables to 1,500' streight runs and were able to get an exceptional video quality... In other areas of the warehouse, we used the active baluns from American Fibertek and were able to extend CAT5 to 5,000' with no problems at all May be it will be a good idea for you to get a pair of these baluns and test them yourself (if you do not belive my assessment)! Levon

Sal, the passive balun that you are referring to is from VU... Their website is as follows: http://www.videobaluns.com/ The company is located in Boston and great people to work with. Both of their models BL3265 & BL3725 have the surge protectors built in, which NVT charges double the amount... These baluns give you much longer CAT5 cable stetch than NVT and we easly stretch such cables to 1,500' without any loss of video signal... Also, please keep the price discussions only in the Dealer section if possible.. Herm, any comments?? Levon

I really wish I was there to meet everyone that were attending the show just to talk over few beers or better yet, some good old american whisky.... But you guys had all the fun.... Levon