MetzLyov

Rick, anytime! Levon

I use GAIM in Linux and I have no issues for any worms, spyware or anything at all... May be it is time to move to Linux? Just thought it was yet another form of tool that we can use... Levon

Cooool Levon

For most indoor application, chances are you will not see the difference, but when you have areas that are darker and others or flactuation of light, or for outdoor application, 1/2" camera will kick 1/3" camera where it hurts the most.... performance Think about this for the moment - larger images in case of 1/2" cameras does process more light and more responsive to changes of light. The technology behind it is different, as it works with larger imager, and it has to process more light faster and more effeciently. It uses 1/2" lens (preferably autoiris), which by all means will allow more light based on light change conditions, therefore better picture... Please investigate all around and I am sure you will find comparible pricing from second tier manufacturer, but as from majors, these two models are as good as it gets from price and performance stand point... Alwasy consider several factors: 1. Performance 2. Functionality and application (do not give more than what you need) 3. Warranty (must have 3 years) 4. Price (must be the best your money can buy) You see, we are not even talking about 1/4" cameras, as those cameras are even cheaper.... Levon

My two cents guys... All the DVRs from the majors have this feature. We mainly use Loroe audio mics and they provide all the necessary cables and hardware for it to work perfectly. Have not had any issues for audio sink with video clip, but it is a one channel, so you need to program to idenitify which video will have the audio overlay. One issue that comes back is the up and down speed of the Internet connection at the DVR and at the other end. If your up speed at the DVR is less than 256KB, then you will see very chuppy video and audio will be off sink. If you have higher up speed at DVR side and low down speed at remote side, the same issue exist. So plan ahead to make sure that up speed at DVR side and down speed at remote side are at least 256KB speed or better... Levon

Tom, here is a name that you can call... If there are these many problems, call Alex, the president of the company and I am sure he will not be happy to hear this, but you can give him the chance to fix his company's problems.... Here is their phone number (281) 443-2300... We did not have any issues like this, but again that does not mean anything if you have. Therefore, you call him yourself and give him piece of your mind... I know I will if I were in your shoes! Levon

Thomas, they have been fairly good and the deliver as long as they have them in stock. At the present moment, the only item we purchase are their PIP or video splitters and nothing else... We work directly with Bosch, GE and American Dynamics and work with their version of text overlay to video solutions... All I know is that AVE's original partners in the business were one of the few that actually started this process, which later were picked up by majors - i.e. one of their original equipment called POSEM was developed by them and sold through Sensormatic many years ago... Later Sensormatic changed it to Intelleview and wrote their own software and their own parsers... Bosch have their version of the softwar and so does GE... Levon

Kim, this is a loaded question... I know that the original owners of American Video Equipment started this over 15 years ago and from there, many copied and modified the concept... But who actually started this goes back to IBM and others who produce POS equipment and they were the first to test text overlay on video... Levon

This DVR has (2) hard drive bays. You will remove the top cover and the carefully remove both cages. Install any size hard drive and make sure you secure it to its cage. Then make that the you place the hard drive jumper for master and slave for the appropriate hard drives. Connect the ATA cables and the power.. That is it... The system will automatically configure the new hard drive configuration and does not require any formating or partitioning. You need to use only ATA hard drives with 7,200 RPM speeds.... NO SATA HARD DRIVES PLEASE... We are upgrading these units to 600GB and takes us less than 15 minutes... As for the webserver, it is already built it... Please PM me if you want and I will give you more information... Levon

Rory, what's up with Levon

Rory, you need to test it with some good equipment and not from second tier crap My assessment is based on not mixing the results between day/night pictures, vs. 1/3" B&W and vs. 1/2" B&W... There is a tremendous difference when we are referring to 2 different image sizes and the technology behind it... I wish I can give you some sources to read, but I am sure you can get them from Internet... Sometimes we get great buys on hardware and sometimes it includes 1/2" B&W, Color and even Day/Nights (Panasonic CP-924, Bosch LTC 0620/21 and others). When someone needs equipment at lower cost than average pricing, sometimes I will make a comment and make sure they understand that it is a special price and it will not be there for too long... Same applies to DVRs (Including GE), Monitors and other hardware... Levon

Rory, slight correction on your assessment of similarities of 1/3" vs. 1/2" cameras if I may and they are not the same... There is a huge difference on performance going from one to the next, as the technology differences are the image size - bigger the imager, better perforance and better overall picture quality and the processessors that are different. If that is not the case then why is the pricing going from one to the next is almost the double the price??? You can get 1" cameras nowadays that start over a $1,000 and in some cases, pushes to over $5,000 and more and simple logic will dictate to investigate and you will find out if your research and these are totally different. Rick, when I gave you my assessment on the comperison of both technology cameras, it was based on the factual availability of lower cost on 1/2" B&W cameras without any hype, i.e. Bosch LTC 0500 (120VAC version) and Sanyo VCB 3524 (24VAC version).. If you do a research, you will find out that any major manufacturer pricing, including even smaller manufacturers charge almost twice as much, as it is a totally different technology in the light processessor technique... Levon

Ok guys, here are some others... Panavise, Planar, etc... My list is very short on "P" letter based manufacturers, sorry Levon

Looks good man... Levon

Bob, thanks for your kind words man... It is kind of 50% done at the moment.. By the time we are done with it, it should have over 5,000 products.. and yes, the only word that I know that starts with "P" is Panasonic Levon

Guys, You know I do not use the "P" word nor I should make any comments about them or on anything they make... My take what is the best or the greatest? Well, lets see - THE ONES THAT DO NOT GIVE MUCH OF ANY HEADACKES Seriously guys, I am all for major brand manufacturers. The question is very broad in my opinion and you can never can give a complete answer.. Very few majors are producing DVR with 30FPS per channel anyway. They all are behind the curve from that stand point. However, every unit they produce is feature rich and very dependible and that is what I look at, not for any hype... Bosch - Great DVR series - DIBOS, DIVAR and DESA series and so many variatons in between.. Some are embedded and some are Windows based. Just in this brand, each model has its pros and cons, but overall, great product line. Price ranges from $2,000 to up to $10,000 or more (certain configurations). Just because they are expensive does not mean they are the best - rather, very stable and functional and have their uses for their own customers. - Warranty 3 years! American Dynamics - Intellex series - all Windows 2000 based - very expensive for what they deliver. With all the major problems last few years on the Maxtor hard drives, poor rated power supplies, etc, they still were able to get away with expensive prices - is it worth it? Well, retail industry thought so... With their latest and great design on their next generation units, they now are looking at MPEG4 compression, hot swappable and pull out hard drive, etc... Warranty 3 years on everything except hard drives that come with 2 years warranty. Panasonic - With the previous flop HD500 series, they came up with new series - Price variance between $4,000 to $25,000 and more... Great design, overly expensive and very difficult to program and maintain.. Is it worth it, well government agencies think so and they pay the top dollar because it is Panasonic... Warranty 3 years (do not care for their warranty repair procedures and it is the worst in the industry). Sanyo - With their latest DVR series "Tiger", they are trying to catch up... Always made very dependible DVR and great support. pricing vary from $3,000 to $15,000 and more.. Warranty 3 years. GE Security - Several series - SDVR, DVMRe, DIGIA and few others... Proabably the simplest and most functional design in the market. Price range varies from $1,500 to $15,000 and more... Everyday users will like it more than others, because of the simplicity of the design and ease of installation the programming and usage... Warranty flactuates. One day it is 3 years, the next day it is 2 years... I heard that outside of U.S., it is actually 1 year... Others available, i.e. Mitsubishi... but I do not want to bore you anymore... So, which is the most expensive and the best? Well, if you consider all the facts on the table, there will be no clear winner, as each and everyone of them have many pros and cons, including flactuations of prices.. In my book, there is no winner - they all produce great products and as long as they provide excellent support (including technical support), then they all are equal... Levon

Hey guys, Need help... Looking for video splitter for 2 cameras only. I know this was a hot product over a 10 years ago or more, but nowadays, it costs much more than a video quad versions. Need both color and B&W variations. I found some through American Video Equipment and few off brand and they all are crap and costs over $250.00 or more.. Any ideas where I can get video splitters for at least 10 pieces?? Levon

To have a clean picture in your bar, I will recommend high res B&W camera. The Day/Night cameras will not give you anything tangible, as it constantly will show the video in B&W anyway, regardless which one you pick... As you explained, your bar is contantly dark, therefore going with any Day/Night will be total waste of money... I will recommend 1/2" B&W camera that will give you more processing (becuase of a larger imager) and better performance than 1/3" B&W counterparts. Nowadays, you can pick up 1/2" B&W type of cameras very close to the pricing of 1/3" versions (variance is around $20 more). Even though they both will have the same specs (570TVL resolutions, various lux levels per type of lens used, etc.), you will have 1/2" versions to be better performers overall! Examples: Sanyo 1/2" B&W, 24VAC - http://sanyo.com/industrial/security/cameras/half_black_white/downloads/VCB-3524_prod.pdf Bosch 1/2" B&W, 120VAC - http://www.boschsecurity.us/pdf/EN/LTC0500%5FDS%5F39412%2Epdf And many others... Levon

Herm, thanks man... Awedio, please PM me on what your requirements are... Thanks, Levon

Coop... I agree man... Levon

Coop, sorry man... that "P" word gives me the chills and ruffs up my feathers everytime I see it or hear it... and I appogize bursting this way.... Chances are that there are many people like them and doing business just fine... I just do not care to discuss about them or what they offer or will offer... and actually they are the only company that I feel this way! Well, do not forget, old dogs have gone through what many are learning now and if we learned anything during this time line is based on EXPERIENCE and unwillingness to try something new based on marketing hype - rather facts! Many years ago (seems like yesterday), I remember using the Vidicon tube cameras and even Cohu. I remember that all the majors were trying to figure out this business and were trying to break in... We were going through Vidicon cameras like no tomorrow as they were coming not only as a fixed cameras, but because they were part of many PTZ domes (remember PTZ domes maximum pan was 355 degrees?). Everytime we received a dome, it always had the gears, the cameras and the hand made boards falling apart before the installation and we had to put everything together?... I think those were the days man.... Well now is what is going on and there are many companies and more coming into this market and trying to capture their share... Levon

Rory, can you recommend anyone that can supply this hardware? May be Herm should jump in? I know we can not, as we do not carry those brands... Levon

Herm, if your assessment of them is being the devil, then I will add that they are back stabbers, liers, cheaters, business plan that is based on unethical structures... I am sure that I can fill a 1,000 different ways why we will never do business with them and even if they are the last manufacturer in our industry... Levon

za, what you get from sams's club comes with 1 year warranty. Rory put together several excellent options that are much better than what you get from Sam's and within your budget... If you want 3 years warranty on hardware and no headacks, you need to raise the bar or spending. With your budget you are restricted on what is available and again, what Rory is suggesting is much better than what you get from Sam's... Levon

Price range to get GE DVR will not be possible - unless if you can find it on EBay... However, you can get a Sanyo 9 channel DVR with 80G hard drive (available limited time only) for under $1,000 - comes with all the bells and whistles and with 3 years warranty. Here is the product specs: http://sanyo.com/industrial/security/digital_video_recorders/index.cfm?productID=450 Levon