Any actual experience with these:

[oneirishpollack 0]

This appears to be a forum of CCTV experts and/or installers, of which I am neither. I am however curious as to how many of you that discount the "cheap" offerings of Costco have any real experiencing with installing and/or using the system(s) in question.

 

I have been eyeing the the two systems below primarily for their price point. I am ideally looking for a system to provide home surveillance, indoor and outdoor, day and night, on all four sides of the house plus coverage in the garage and at both the front and rear doors.

 

Is there is a preference of Swann vs. Q-See, or do they use the same internal electronics for the most part?

 

Q-See QSD2216C16-250 16 Channel Network DVR with Remote Internet Monitoring and 16 Sony Sensor CCD Camera Kits

 

Swann DVR16-8600 16 Channel Digital Video Recorder with 250 GB Seagate SV35 Hard Drive (5 Year Warranty) pre-installation

[doyo 0]

This topic might help;

http://www.cctvforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=13886

[Thomas 0]

This appears to be a forum of CCTV experts and/or installers, of which I am neither. I am however curious as to how many of you that discount the "cheap" offerings of Costco have any real experiencing with installing and/or using the system(s) in question.

 

I have been eyeing the the two systems below primarily for their price point. I am ideally looking for a system to provide home surveillance, indoor and outdoor, day and night, on all four sides of the house plus coverage in the garage and at both the front and rear doors.

 

Is there is a preference of Swann vs. Q-See, or do they use the same internal electronics for the most part?

 

Q-See QSD2216C16-250 16 Channel Network DVR with Remote Internet Monitoring and 16 Sony Sensor CCD Camera Kits

 

Swann DVR16-8600 16 Channel Digital Video Recorder with 250 GB Seagate SV35 Hard Drive (5 Year Warranty) pre-installation

 

I was given one of Q-See's products on sale via Sam's club to play with. The disdain is well earned.

[oneirishpollack 0]

Alright, I am going to test one of the two systems. If you had to pick between Swann and Q-SEE in regards to quality, which would you choose?

 

I will post the results after I have tested.

[Thomas 0]

Alright, I am going to test one of the two systems. If you had to pick between Swann and Q-SEE in regards to quality, which would you choose?

 

I will post the results after I have tested.

 

Neither. They aren't very good and I'd spend a little bit more to put together a decent system.

[CollinR 0]

Alright, I am going to test one of the two systems. If you had to pick between Swann and Q-SEE in regards to quality, which would you choose?

 

I will post the results after I have tested.

 

I think suicide would become an option at that point.

 

I have installed systems for Costco and they do not use that stuff.

[oneirishpollack 0]

Well the good thing is that they will take it back if I am unsatisfied. All I am looking for is the clarity of the pictures/video during daylight at approx. 60 feet, and the same goes for night time clarity.

[cvasara 0]

Alright, I am going to test one of the two systems. If you had to pick between Swann and Q-SEE in regards to quality, which would you choose?

 

I will post the results after I have tested.

 

I think suicide would become an option at that point.

 

I have installed systems for Costco and they do not use that stuff.

 

With that said, and your point is well taken, can you recommend a decent DVR and a 16 camera system that you use in a limited budget system?

Is the main problem with grainy/quality with the cameras, or is it the DVR? I'm using A Speco DVR model DVR-16TNDVD and the Speco cameras are CVC627, and the video looks good right to a monitor but not very good at all through the DVR. The DVR cost was over $1,300.00. I was thinking about one of the Q-See systems thinking that I could substitute in the cameras for the Speco ones and test the differences.

Thanks

[chugger93 0]

I just bought the swann DVR16-8600 and am pretty happy with it.

[Soundy 1]

I've seen the Costco systems: one here on their website has a DVR and four cameras for a whopping $479. I routinely install cameras that sell for $450. Each. Without lens. It follows that a $450 camera is going to be better than a camera that you get as part of a full system that costs the same.

 

Another Costco system I see is a DVR and 16 cameras for $3,800... one of the DVR lines we sell, the bottom-end machines alone sell for $4,000 (others they make sell in the $8,000-$10,000 range).

 

The point is, you simply can't expect these low-priced systems to provide anywhere near the power, flexibility and quality of more expensive recorders and cameras. You wouldn't buy a Ford Matrix and expect it to have the gravel-hauling capability of a dump truck, or the raw speed of a $1.5M Indycar racer.

 

It's pretty simple, really: you get what you pay for. If you're on a tight budget, there's nothing "wrong" with cheap Costco surveillance systems... just keep in mind that they are CHEAP. You won't get the detail, the clarity, the capacity, the low-light performance, or the features of higher-priced, professional-grade systems.