cottonloops 0 Posted September 20, 2008 I am in the need of a simple dvr for my deli. I've been offered a Digital Watchdog DW-MAX250 dvr made by Kaltech by a local sales rep. Does any one know anything about this brand? I need a basic 4 channel dvr with 250gb+ h/d and internet monitoring capibilities. This is my first dvr purchase for surveillance and want to spend less than $800. I already have 4 dome cameras w/420 tvl resolution. I'm not expecting the best resolution for recording but am most interested in decent quality for live remote monitoring as well as ease of use. Is this dvr better than the Swann and Q-See brands sold at Costco? Also, is there a big difference in MPEG4 and H.264 compression? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wachhund 0 Posted September 20, 2008 The resolution on that unit will not be very good (352x240 or about a quarter as good as TV resolution) but you said you are not worried about it so its a moot point. It is a real time recorder with 30fps so it won't be choppy. For a little over $525 it will do what you want for monitoring. As far as the Costco stuff, it's probably on par with them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ak357 0 Posted September 20, 2008 The resolution on that unit will not be very good (352x240 or about a quarter as good as TV resolution) but you said you are not worried about it so its a moot point. It is a real time recorder with 30fps so it won't be choppy. For a little over $525 it will do what you want for monitoring. As far as the Costco stuff, it's probably on par with them. 352x240 called Video CD res reg TV is not 4 times better then 320x 240 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wachhund 0 Posted September 20, 2008 Your right, I was trying to be over simplified. I was trying to point out that a DVR with CIF resolution will not be as clear as D1 which is also referred to by some sources as TV - an example: http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/terms/cif.cfm. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted September 20, 2008 Your right, I was trying to be over simplified. I was trying to point out that a DVR with CIF resolution will not be as clear as D1 which is also referred to by some sources as TV - an example: http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/terms/cif.cfm. dont sweat it, ak is just ripping on CCTV equipment, he's an IP camera fan boy. psst. and that darn bug! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daedalus51 0 Posted September 20, 2008 Pretty close though, isn't it? Isn't TV 640 x 480? 3.64 = (640 x 480) / (352 x 240) Is that not right? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted September 20, 2008 (edited) Pretty close though, isn't it? Isn't TV 640 x 480? 3.64 = (640 x 480) / (352 x 240) Is that not right? I dont know much about Television but these guys claim: "the most resolution that will be seen for received TV broadcasts is 330 lines" http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/vidres.htm And that could be correct, as I have hooked up many high res CCTV cameras with 800x + effective pixels and their video quality has blown away any TV programs I have watched on the same TVs. Ofcourse they cant match the actual TV Cameras used but thats neither here nor there, just as a CCTV PTZ camera can zoom in hundreds of feet away while a fixed camera cannot and the same object hundreds of feet way will be a blur with the fixed camera. Edited September 20, 2008 by Guest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wachhund 0 Posted September 20, 2008 psst. and that darn bug! I almost broke my laptop screen trying to swat that stupid bug when I first saw it...........Good one AK......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ak357 0 Posted September 20, 2008 [quote=" "the most resolution that will be seen for received TV broadcasts is 330 lines" http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/vidres.htm quote] Woow that is one of these rare times I agree with Rory by the way 330 lines res only apply when u watch through tuner if u use video input is a little better Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cottonloops 0 Posted September 20, 2008 I was just at Fry's Electronics and the sales dude was trying to sell me a Lorex dvr. Does any one have any experience with this brand? He said that Q-See, Clover, etc are crap and are returned all the time. I'm not looking for anything too high end. Just the best bang for the buck. Would I be better off in terms of picture quality with a H.264 Pentaplex dvr with 320 x 240 resolution or a MPEG4 with 720 x 240. They are both the same price. I'm more interested in picture quality for live Internet monitoring rather than record quality. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted September 20, 2008 I almost broke my laptop screen trying to swat that stupid bug when I first saw it...........Good one AK......... especially since i actually do have these darn insects crawling on my monitor alot. I went to mash it but it didnt try to run Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ak357 0 Posted September 20, 2008 I almost broke my laptop screen trying to swat that stupid bug when I first saw it...........Good one AK......... especially since i actually do have these darn insects crawling on my monitor alot. I went to mash it but it didnt try to run My is very special it is IP micro pix Bug Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted September 20, 2008 My is very special it is IP micro pix Bug yeah dem set is get mash too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted September 20, 2008 I was just at Fry's Electronics and the sales dude was trying to sell me a Lorex dvr. Does any one have any experience with this brand? He said that Q-See, Clover, etc are crap and are returned all the time. I'm not looking for anything too high end. Just the best bang for the buck. Would I be better off in terms of picture quality with a H.264 Pentaplex dvr with 320 x 240 resolution or a MPEG4 with 720 x 240. They are both the same price. I'm more interested in picture quality for live Internet monitoring rather than record quality. I would lump Lorex in with the rest of those DVRs actually. I dont think anyone on the forum is going to recommend either of them . But will it do the job, it probably will, not sure how well though or whether it will meet your expectations. Pentaplex is just a fancy name the asian manufacturers came up with to distinguish the difference between their lower end DVRs and the more expensive units. I wouldnt be happy with 720x240 myself, let alone 320x240. Look for something that does at least 640x480 regardless of compression type. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ak357 0 Posted September 21, 2008 My is very special it is IP micro pix Bug yeah dem set is get mash too Rory my "bug" is very usefull I usually send him inside routers and it's does port forwarding for me Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wachhund 0 Posted September 21, 2008 My is very special it is IP micro pix Bug yeah dem set is get mash too Rory my "bug" is very usefull I usually send him inside routers and it's does port forwarding for me AK- You should train more of those bugs to port forward- you'd make a mint renting them out! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
