Can someone please help a newbie choose a decent DVR card

[chapin4life 0]

I got my security camaras a few days ago in a bargain hunt

but I need to get a a DVR pci card so I can record my question is, is there a big difference

between expensive DVR pci cards and the ones they sell in ebay?

 

since I found some for $3 bucks on ebay but I dont know if they work as well as the ones they sell in tigerdirect for about $70 bucks

 

thanks in advance for the help

[rory 0]

$70 retail is a very cheap DVR Card also. They shouldn't be used for any real security installation. Most probably use Direct Show in that price range. Personally I wouldn't touch them.

 

As for the $3 DVR Card, LOL.

[UMDRanger 0]

Used cameras off Ebay - I've had good luck. Plus, if you go cheap, you can always upgrade if they don't work to your expectations. I've had 2 bad cameras out of 15 I've bought on ebay. Not too bad for discount bargans on used equipment.

 

DVRs - I wouldn't buy a DVR card off ebay. Too many "clones" and fakes. Plus, upgrading to a better DVR is more expensive than upgrading cameras. Since the DVR is the "heart" and "brain" of the system, it should be the best product you have. I spent about $450 3 years ago for my DVR card from an online website for a name brand DVR card. Expensive on a college budget, but well worth it. I've since replaced and upgraded all the original cameras. But the DVR card... solid. Oh, and with name brand cards from dealers you have better customer service (returns, tech support, etc). Try that on ebay.

[neugent 0]

Yes indeed, there is a big difference, resolution, video quality, frame rate, storage are just some things that differ between cheap and premium cards. Example, a cheap card can only record at lower frame rates, made even worse by adding more cameras. A real time frame rate of 60 fps will be divided among the number of cameras for a multi camera setup, whereas it can be easily handled by pricey but more powerful dvr cards.

[Kingwood 0]

For $3 DVR card,I think it must cannot work,or work with bad conditional.

 

If you want the good quality,I think hardware compression cards is a good choice. Please pay more attention on the record FPS and resolution,that's importand.