grmrgecko

We got ourselves a system at Costco.

I'm working with my church to get a CCTV system setup, it looks like we have a "TVI Magic" device with 8 channels that we may return the the person who was going to setup the CCTV system. I am a network guy, so my expertise does not go into CCTV other than a little bit of research and knowledge of running/adding connectors to cables. My questions is relating the following. 1. Coax (TVI/SDI) or POE IP Camera system? Which is better or cheaper? 2. Where would you buy such a system in the US? We are located in Huntsville, AL. 3. Open source system such as ZoneMinder or a NVR/DVR from a vendor? From research so far, these are the answers I think I have... 1. It seems that TVI/SDI is cheaper or at least was cheaper. POE IP cameras can do much better resolution as they are digital and they do the analog to digital conversion within the camera itself. 2. Amazon has some, but most are none branded systems which you buy from ether local security companies or from online re-sellers which I do not know if I can trust. 3. NVR/DVR system is cheaper, but you are limited to the number of channels it supports. ZoneMinder will work with many POE cameras, including the one I am looking at as it supports ONVIF, but you need a POE injector/switch for it to work and a PC which I would probably build but would cost about $300-$400 to build. One of the kits I was looking at as we can purchase from Amazon is the reolink NVR kit, as it seems like it would be fairly cheap. What system would you recommend for 8 cameras and where do I buy it? Thank you for your assistance, James Coleman