Q-See QC444 DVR Consumer's Mini-Review

[Toaster 0]

q-see qt428 8ch dvr is made by TVT, one of the good chinese dvr makers, along with dahua.

 

 

Cool.. I'm so glad I found this forum! Is TVT a good brand?

 

I have a stupid question, is it possible to modify, hack or overclock these DVR's? To get higher frame rate, better quality video, resolutions, etc...? Like might it be possible to make these do 30fps at D1 ????

[rory 0]

q-see qt428 8ch dvr is made by TVT, one of the good chinese dvr makers, along with dahua.

 

thanks going to check it out

[loop 0]

Maybe feeding it with higher voltage?

TVT is a good company and makes good products when compared to other chinese makers.

[Toaster 0]

Well the QT428 is scheduled to be here tomorrow. I guess I'll report back after I hook it up

[Toaster 0]

I have not had a chance to hook it up yet, but the Q-see QT428 is in fact a TVT TD-2308SE motherboard inside the q-see QT428 box. there is a spot for a small cooling fan (not installed) and my understanding is it will accept up to a 2tb sata drive. The TVT site doesnt say much, the q-see manual gives a lot more information.

 

Will report back once I've had the chance to hook it up and play around some.

[mstoetz1 0]

What makes me really nervous about Q-SEE and its recommendations to allow IE to use the remote access:

 

1) It seems to recommend IE, but makes you configure ActiveX so that it disables/removes many safeguards that are enabled by default and therefore exposing your system to security risks.

 

2) It says you can use firefox, but you need to install the IE TAB which appears to have alot of malware etc.

 

In my opinion any company that has to expose your PC like this should be avoided.

[rory 0]

What makes me really nervous about Q-SEE and its recommendations to allow IE to use the remote access:

 

1) It seems to recommend IE, but makes you configure ActiveX so that it disables/removes many safeguards that are enabled by default and therefore exposing your system to security risks.

 

2) It says you can use firefox, but you need to install the IE TAB which appears to have alot of malware etc.

 

In my opinion any company that has to expose your PC like this should be avoided.

 

As with most networked DVRs, it has the option of a browser application. BUT it also has a client program. I have the same brand DVR here from the manufacturer in China, and I never use the browser. The IE Tab I mentioned is for Google Chrome, not sure if they have one for FF also. If one was to avoid any DVR that has an HTTP server then that would pretty much count out 99.99% of networked DVRs.

[mstoetz1 0]

Good point.

[Toaster 0]

What makes me really nervous about Q-SEE and its recommendations to allow IE to use the remote access:

 

1) It seems to recommend IE, but makes you configure ActiveX so that it disables/removes many safeguards that are enabled by default and therefore exposing your system to security risks.

 

2) It says you can use firefox, but you need to install the IE TAB which appears to have alot of malware etc.

 

In my opinion any company that has to expose your PC like this should be avoided.

 

Just to clarify, it only wants you to lower security settings to install the activex controls, once they are installed - you can return the settings back to where they were before... Once the activex controls are installed - they will work even after you set the security settings back to high (or whatever the previous status was)

 

As for firefox, yes - yes you need ie tab, and no - ie tab is not infected with malware - its just an extension of internet explorer on a windows machine.. ie tab does not work on mac's - because there is no ie on mac osx.

 

Overall the QC444 dvr is a good dvr in my limited experience. It has lots of great configurable user options, like changing the color scheme based on time of day... Like someone said, all dvr's are going to have pro's and con's - I doubt any 1 dvr is the "ultimate", perfect for everyone, in every way.... but ymmv.

[rory 0]

Also regarding the activeX and security settings, in most cases one can just set the disabled activeX settings to prompt, and add the site as a trusted site, then set them back to defaults after. Or better yet, just download the activeX file/s and manually install them, if its a cab in most cases can just extract the files and right click install on the .inf file. As mentioned IE tab wont install anything, it has to be done prior to running the site in IE tab or it wont work.

[shaywood 0]

I purchased a QC444 DVR from Fry's about a month ago. For the price it can't be beat. I actually was able to replace a Geovision GV800 PC card with this DVR. The DVR has many features not found in low end DVRs. It can do most everything a home or small business owners needs. The manual is better than most, but the DVR will require some setup time. I contactedTech Support a couple of times with mixed results. The first time I emailed them and they actually called me. The second time I called them, but they didn't seem too excited about helping. I was able to figure things out though.

 

Simply put - for the money, this DVR is hard to beat!

[Toaster 0]

I purchased a QC444 DVR from Fry's about a month ago. For the price it can't be beat. I actually was able to replace a Geovision GV800 PC card with this DVR. The DVR has many features not found in low end DVRs. It can do most everything a home or small business owners needs. The manual is better than most, but the DVR will require some setup time. I contactedTech Support a couple of times with mixed results. The first time I emailed them and they actually called me. The second time I called them, but they didn't seem too excited about helping. I was able to figure things out though.

 

Simply put - for the money, this DVR is hard to beat!

 

 

I see this listed alot, "will require some setup time" ... what specifically did you have trouble with. I consider myself pretty computer and tech savvy... Once I figured out what all the terms meant, and the basic concept of how these dvr's work - I think I got it now... The hardest part IMO is getting the port forwarding setup, but I personally set my DVR's up on a static IP which is the same for home/work, and just allow that IP to forward port "so-n-so". After I got that working, its pretty basic after that. (I think?)

 

I'd like to know what needed setup, and are you comparing that setup to something else --- was the task at hand easier on another dvr or software? Please explain. (I'm just curious)

[shaywood 0]

Thanks Toaster, I was able to set up everything (including the port forwarding), EXCEPT this....

 

* I have four channels which I want to RECORD 24 hrs/ day and TRACK Motion Detection (for searches)

* On Channel 4 I want to also email on Motion Detection during overnight hours.

 

On this DVR it appears that I can only email all hours, or no hours on channel 4.

[Toaster 0]

I do not have the QC444 hooked up anymore, I've switched to the QT428 - and I know for a FACT it does that, because I have that set at my store, to track motion and send email pictures during motion events only while we are closed. I sure thought the 444 did it too? NOT SURE - SORRY.

 

FWIW, I really liked the QC444. I liked the ability to get D1@30fps one CH1 and 7fps on the others was really nice too.

[rory 0]

 

On this DVR it appears that I can only email all hours, or no hours on channel 4.

I just went through the settings and that seems to be how this one is too.

[rory 0]

I do not have the QC444 hooked up anymore, I've switched to the QT428 - and I know for a FACT it does that, because I have that set at my store, to track motion and send email pictures during motion events only while we are closed. I sure thought the 444 did it too? NOT SURE - SORRY.

 

FWIW, I really liked the QC444. I liked the ability to get D1@30fps one CH1 and 7fps on the others was really nice too.

Oh wait, so you're talking about this other model in the thread regarding encoding etc? That would be different then as its a totally different brand

[shaywood 0]

Toaster, why did you switch to the QT428. Does it offer more than the QC444?

[Toaster 0]

Toaster, why did you switch to the QT428. Does it offer more than the QC444?

 

I got the 8ch QT428 for the sme price as the 4ch QC444. So for the same money I gained 4 more ch's. That's the only reason. Otherwise I was happy with the QC444. It did everything I needed. But I will admit the QT428 seems impressive to me.and fits our needs completely at this point. I will write my review soon

[Toaster 0]

I do not have the QC444 hooked up anymore, I've switched to the QT428 - and I know for a FACT it does that, because I have that set at my store, to track motion and send email pictures during motion events only while we are closed. I sure thought the 444 did it too? NOT SURE - SORRY.

 

FWIW, I really liked the QC444. I liked the ability to get D1@30fps one CH1 and 7fps on the others was really nice too.

Oh wait, so you're talking about this other model in the thread regarding encoding etc? That would be different then as its a totally different brand

 

um yeah... I realize I'm making this thread confusing - I'll stop referring to the "other" dvr in this thread. HOWEVER I still think I saw that option to schedule motion detection during a period..? Because I remember thinking that was perfect for doing exactly that - sending email motion notifications during closed hours. I will hook up the QC444 tomorrow and search the menu's.

[Toaster 0]

Ok, I just looked at the pdf manual from the q-see web site for the qc444 dvr, and on page 32 of the q-see qc444 manual, it shows a menu where you can manually select the motion detect time, day of week, etc.. and explains how to make the dvr send a snap shot on a motion event. Is this NOT what you are asking about?

 

(forgive me if I'm wrong, as I've stated many times - I'm no pro- I'm an average guy who's very new to this whole scene)

 

So after reading your question, and since I'm sure you've seen this option - I'm thinking I either don't fully understand the question or is there something specific about ch#4? Are you trying to get motion detection 24/7 and only trying to get emailed pics during closed hours or your unit won't do it only on ch4?

[rory 0]

yeah but the email part wont let you select a schedule.

so if you are recording motion 24/7 on a schedule (like me) instead of continuous, then it wont work.

now you COULD record continuous and then just setup motion during a specific time and have motion send you email.

BTW im using an old 80GB sata for this test machine, hence motion only and not continuous.

[shaywood 0]

I was only using ch4 as an example. It doesnt matter which channel you are using. I would like to record 24/7, but mark or log motion for search purposes. Setting up motion detection is easy enough, as you mentioned about the manual. The motion detection period option is great, however you can not choose to email snapshots during one period of the day and not another. It all or none.

 

So in my case since I want emails sent over night, I created a motion detection period for over night. But, because I don't want emails every time there is motion during the day, I can't setup motion detection during the day for the same channel because the email snapshot option can't be changed for each period. I'm stuck manually searching for things during the day.

 

I hope this makes sense.

[Toaster 0]

Yes that makes sense... and now I understand. (sorry for any confusion I might have injected)

 

I just happened to want mine setup the way it was possible, which was to record 24/7 and only sense motion and send emails during closed hours - so that was easy. I suppose that would be nice to track motion during the day too...