Swann vs. Lorex vs. Q-See vs. Night Owl vs. ?

[veryken9 0]

Hey I'm glad I found these forums. Let me jump right into my question. There seems no other place with the info or reviews I need. I've also browsed a few discussions here not finding the info.

 

I'm looking at purchasing a low-end 4-cam bundled surveillance system that's expandable to 8 cams. I already have two existing installed cams and a dedicated flatscreen display (one cam is not connected).

 

So these systems are all basically a bundled DVR, 4 IR outdoors cams and associated wiring. They all boast H.264 compression, remote monitoring via mobile device, motion-detect recording, support for PTZ controls and roughly a 500GB hard drive.

 

Those are the features I want. Ideally I can connect two displays to the DVR.

 

Now the question is, how are the following brands ranked for quality or reliability or performance? I suppose it's mostly about the DVR. I'm totally new to these name brands:

 

Swann

Lorex

Q-See

Night Owl

 

Please don't say they're all trash, as those are the only ones on the shelf at my budget. I just need to understand how they compare to each other. Thanks in advance.

[Soundy 1]

I just need to understand how they compare to each other.

I usually say that if CCTV equipment runs the range from a Kia to a Ferrari, Lorex would be a broken, rusty bicycle, missing one wheel, left to rot in a ditch.

 

On that scale, Lorex would be a blue bike, Swann would be a red bike, Night Owl is a white bike, and the Q-See at least still has both wheels.

 

You may not want to hear it, but the fact is, yes, they're ALL bottom of the barrel, which is why they all cost about the same. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of stuff is the same gear by the same manufacturers sold under different names.

 

Why do you want PTZ controls - do you have a PTZ now? If not, and you're planning to get one, you'd be better off to put that money toward a better DVR and save the PTZ for somewhere down the road. They cool to play with, but without a live operator, they don't give you a lot of benefit.

 

Rather than a bundle of underperforming pieces, you'd be better off to put more toward a good recorder and one or two decent cameras, and then add more cameras as budget allows.

[veryken9 0]

...you'd be better off to put more toward a good recorder ...

 

Just as I figured — I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel right off the bat.

 

Alright, so if I were to get a low-budget DECENT dvr with same features (and okay, scratch the PZT requirement), what would you suggest? How much more should I put and toward what "good recorder?" What name brand and model to point me in the right direction?

 

I'm new enough to the whole world of multiple-cam surveillance, but so far understand that a DVR is basically what I need (for the functionality I mentioned). If it doesn't come bundled with about 4 cameras, no big deal except I hope to be able to mix and match them easily.

[shockwave199 0]

I like my system. Peek at my vids if it helps.

 

I don't know of any dvr's that don't have ptz control as standard in there anyway, so you won't be sacrificing the fuction in your choices. Everyone always points to this one-

 

Qvis Apollo HD 4 (Dahua OEM DVR)

 

I would suggest if you only want a 4 channel, get an 8 channel one. But just know that to get anything decent going, without looking at it and thinking it looks like garbage, you'll need upwards of a grand. That's the low end budget for this stuff. Good luck.

[groovyman 0]

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of stuff is the same gear by the same manufacturers sold under different names.

Yes. I've seen QSee and Night Owl DVRs with the same firmware. I always thought of them as marketing companies that buy equipment from the same manufacturer and package it differently. I can't prove it, just a feeling when I see the same firmware in different wrappings. I haven't seen Swann or Lorex though, so I can't comment on those.

 

Now, I'd just like to give a couple examples on my experiences with these cheap DVRs.....

 

A couple years ago a client had some time lapse VCRs in a couple locations. There was very little budget for DVR and camera equipment, but the VCRs had to be replaced. I figured anything was better than the VCRs. I went ahead and picked up a couple of $100 4 channel QSee DVRs, installed a hard drive and connected CNB DFL-20S cameras. The DVR itself is sorely lacking in features, but the recorded video quality is actually very good.

 

Recently I was fixing a point of sale computer in a small restaurant and happened to look at the DVR. It was some sort of no name DVR with inexpensive cameras - they looked the same as the QSee and Night Owl bullet cameras bundled with their cheap packages, but without any markings and the DVR had the same firmware as the QSee systems I purchased.

 

The colors on live and recorded video were way off. I was wearing a blue shirt which appeared purple on video and was washed out, like the brightness was too high. I tried fixing it with brightness & contrast settings, but no luck. I reviewed day and night video - both were terrible. I had a CNB DFL-20S camera in my car and as a test I replaced one of the bullet cams. Wow, what a difference. I ended up swapping out all the cameras and now he can actually get a good description of someone if an incident happens. I placed one camera above the register and the denominations of the bills can be seen. The client is thrilled.

 

The point I'm getting at is that you can get one of the inexpensive DVRs, but forget about the cheap bundled cameras. Use better quality cameras and the resulting video may surprise you.

[shockwave199 0]

Cameras, cameras, cameras. They make a hell of a difference no matter what. I only have experience with a q-see dvr, but having decent cameras goes a heck of a long way to providing shots that will work for you in time of need. I just put this video together as a short demo of q-see remote software. The quality suffers with a screen capture, but you get the idea. Even a modest dvr such as a q-see coupled with decent cameras can be helpful and work for you.

 

GrpvIellz_8

[veryken9 0]

... Everyone always points to this one-

 

http... Qvis-Apollo-HD-4

 

 

Thanks for the comments (all)!

 

Like I said, I already have two cameras. And I am indeed seeking an 8-cam-capable DVR. Now it seems the Apollo 8 is what I should get. The price ($265 no drive) is actually LESS than those $600 packaged 4-cam+DVR bundles I'm comparing! Even if I separately get the hard drive, which is what I would want to do anyway.

 

So I take that Qvis is a more reliable brand? Reliability is my top priority, with performance and features next. One thing I'm reading about the Qvis Apollo series is the triple output-- BNC, HDMI, VGA. I really need two physical displays connected, so hopefully this is it.

 

I've never heard of Qvis until now. Are they like the Honda of DVRs? I mean, I wouldn't mind getting the Hyundai of DVRs, you know. Hyundai and Kia are better than Fiat and Triumph.

[groovyman 0]

I've never heard of Qvis until I saw the company start to be mentioned on the forum. There are hundreds of DVR companies out there - some manufacture their equipment, some don't & brand equipment under their own name. Take Qvis for example - from what I've read here they brand equipment manufactured by Dahua. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Dahua makes decent equipment and Qvis sells & supports it under their own name.

 

 

[tomcctv 190]

Swann vs. Lorex vs. Q-See vs. Night Owl vs are all TVT brand and at the moment as Q-see have just found out have a big problem with networking (there rturns have gone up 43%) and they have removed alot from there website.

 

 

qvis. have been around for a long time we have delt with them over 10 years. they do use dahua and rebrand them and they also make cameras in there own factory and also have there own DVR and NVR.

 

 

dahua is not new to the DVR market ..... i think this is why people call them budget as they dont know dahua company history.

 

90% of hikvision DVRs and cards are infact dahua and been used by hikvision for over10 years.

 

 

i do think the name budget is the wrong word to use for dahua (good price yes) May is going to be a good month for full brand new range from qvis DVRs hybrids and some good cameras from both qvis and dahua.

 

 

 

[shockwave199 0]

at the moment as Q-see have just found out have a big problem with networking (there rturns have gone up 43%) and they have removed alot from there website

???! What's the exact info on that claim Tom? Where is that fact coming from? Judging from the forums here, the only problem with networking any brand of dvr is the end user, not what the dvr can or can't do. What you're saying is news to me. I'm not defending q-see, but to just say they're pulling stuff out of rotation by 43% and have major problems networking should be clarified as fact with something.

[tomcctv 190]

TVT brought out a new range last year only to find you cant connect using ie9 and problems with ie8

 

there was a sorry letter on TVT site.

[tricia 0]

I'm curious what the negatives with Swann are? I'm currently testing the DVR8-4000 with 600 TVL cameras. I think the quality of the image is good. Are the problems down the road? Will the DVR die on me? No one has mentioned what is so bad.

[yakky 0]

I'm curious what the negatives with Swann are? I'm currently testing the DVR8-4000 with 600 TVL cameras. I think the quality of the image is good. Are the problems down the road? Will the DVR die on me? No one has mentioned what is so bad.

 

Post up some nighttime pictures, lets see what good image quality looks like....

[tricia 0]

 

Post up some nighttime pictures, lets see what good image quality looks like....

 

EDIT- I was testing the camera by putting it in a chair and pointing it out of my window. I realized that the column on the front porch was capturing the light and not allowing me to see anything past that. Once I tested it somewhere else I was able to see much further. I may not be able to make out the person's face from far away but if you're using it to alarm you by email when motion is detected that someone is creeping around your back yard this works well. Up close you are able to get a good look at the face. I did return the system so I can test better cameras and a better DVR to see if it's worth spending double what the Swann costs.

 

Unfortunately all the lights on my house were removed because we're painting and we haven't installed the landscape lights yet. I'm testing Swann PRO 640 and 760 which both have 24 IR LEDs and are 600 TVL and 700 TVL respectively. At night you only get a clear image if you're a few feet away from the camera. If you are 30 feet from the camera it's just a faint image in the distance. I wonder how much of a difference it will make once the lights are installed. They state the night vision distance is 65 ft and 98 ft respectively but I don't know if that means in a well lit area or no light. It must be a well lit area.

 

Qvis was suggested here so I looked at the P400-E37-V2G40-N. It has 48 IR LEDs and is 650 TVL. It's cheaper than the Swann 760 at $84 versus $150 so that is confusing to me since it's supposed to be a better brand.

 

What do you suggest is a good number of IR LEDs and what other factors do I need to look at besides the TVL?

 

http://www.swann.com/s/products/view/?product=1366

 

https://securitycameraagent.com/files/P400-E37-V2G40-N.pdf

[rasheedsuun 0]

Please keep posting so next time I visit you will have something more good for us

[bogotabro 0]

IR night vision means just that, vision at night via infra-red light. Cameras that have this capability should not require any ambient lighting to create an image. Swann cameras are marketed and sold as IR night vision cameras, but they are not. I went through two systems and even got upgraded to their pro-580 model, none of which provided any image in total darkness. I created a video clip with one camera to prove it. How Swann can get away with selling their cameras as up to 65' feet night vision, when they can't see squat without any ambient light, is beyond me.

[sun2sirius 0]

CCTV equipment runs the range from a Kia to a Ferrari, Lorex would be a broken, rusty bicycle, missing one wheel, left to rot in a ditch.

The professional CCTV folks out there, what is the actual advice on a better DVR than Lorex, and other rusty bicycles?

 

I bought the Lorex ECO4 LH158000 in Costco today, set it up and giving it a try. Let's say I wanted to experiment, see what the low end stuff feels like and maybe get something better, but what? I spent several hours comparing different models at Amazon and reading reviews, but I do not see anything that stands out.

 

The thing that bothers me the most with this device is the Chinese software. Not only the lousy English in menus and messages, but overall low quality with a bunch of small bugs. You can kind of do what you need, but with extra effort and frustration. I read earlier that the listed DVR manufacturers have similar firmware, so software from all of them will probably be pretty crappy. I used Q-see cards and some USB video adapters before - same Chinese stuff of very poor quality. Is there anything better though?

[bogotabro 0]

The thing that bothers me the most with this device is the Chinese software. Not only the lousy English in menus and messages, but overall low quality with a bunch of small bugs. You can kind of do what you need, but with extra effort and frustration. I read earlier that the listed DVR manufacturers have similar firmware, so software from all of them will probably be pretty crappy. I used Q-see cards and some USB video adapters before - same Chinese stuff of very poor quality. Is there anything better though?

 

Unfortunately you will be hard pressed to find any surveillance system software that is not Chinese or Japanese. Through this forum I decided to get a Dahua DVR which I am happy with as far as quality goes, but the issues with the gibberish software menus and user guides makes it less than ideal. You have to learn it's operation through trial and error. It's a shame that they make a quality product but can't invest in correcting the communication breakdown that exists for the US market.

[spiirriit 0]

The Swann documentation/user guides is terrible!! I like mySwann system (quality) with 4 of their 820 IP cameras, BUT it was hell hooking it up and getting it to run with their abysmal documentation and weak support.

[clittle30680 0]

OK it July 2014, have the quality of these systems gotten any better? I see them

in big box stores and find it hard to believe that they would carry something that

did not work.

 

Thoughts.

[Jay Bo 0]

Have you tried a system out yet?

[Tej 0]

Hey guys... I found this thread on google, I have some questions if someones got the knowledge. is SVAT the same SH** as swann/lorex/night-owl/etc? I used night owl its ok but I want to be able to catch licence plates at night time on my yard. Other than brand wise is there a big difference from 800TVL to 1080?

[horseflesh 0]

I'm here with the same question as the OP from 2012... I want a system for home and the Costco stuff caught my eye, simply because I see it every time I am in the store.

 

I think I need an 8 channel system, and I want it to record in 1080p. Being able to use 3 MP and varifocal cameras in some locations would be great. I think POE cabling sounds better than coax, but I could be wrong. (If a system could also talk to a wireless camera, that would be fantastic, because I have a location with power, but I can't run cable there.)

 

I do NOT want to build a PC to be a DVR--a standalone unit is what I want, because I babysit too many computers already.

 

Can anyone recommend specific cameras and compatible DVRs? I am happy to do research, but I am so ignorant of the field that I don't know more than a few brand names like Q-See, Lorex, and Dahua.

 

While price is always important, I don't need to do this on a cut-rate budget.

 

If anyone can recommend specific products and even retailers to investigate, I'd be very appreciative!

[mdelvecchio 0]

I'm here with the same question as the OP from 2012... I want a system for home and the Costco stuff caught my eye, simply because I see it every time I am in the store.

 

ditto. costco is always pushing the Swann/Lorex/Q-See systems. i too have too many computers to deal w/ and just want a stand-alone 8-channel POE system that works. extra points for being quiet.

 

people say the above systems are garbage, but i dunno what else to get. dont mind spending some money and i can network them.

 

 

thanks!

[horseflesh 0]

I haven't solved all my problems, but I can tell you what I figured out so far.

 

Eventually I figured out that the best value was going to be in HIKvision or Dahua gear, bought direct from China via AliExpress vendors. You can also choose cameras with exactly the features you need, instead of compromising on a Costco bundle.

 

I began with the idea of getting a DVR with POE ports built in. Then I realized that the DVR would put the cameras on a separate subnet... This would prevent me from addressing the cameras individually from other devices on my LAN, at least conveniently.

 

So, I have decided that I want a DVR and all the cameras to sit on my main LAN, and so I will hook the cameras up to a POE injector. I'm going to start by buying a single camera to vet it and the POE hardware, and test field of view. Then I will get more cameras and the DVR.

 

Currently I am leaning towards HIKvision cameras/DVRs because it seems to be easier to get them with English firmware, but I could still go Dahua.