eyeaml337 0 Posted April 23, 2012 And lots of it ... So ... I have an 8 cam system with only 5 cams hooked up - I have read a bunch of stuff during the past year that I have had this system and today is finally the day where I need some help from people who actually know what is what and what they are talking about. That is why I am here. I thought the stock system for a good chunk of my hard earned change would have been somewhat decent. the only other option was spending over 2k. I was really hoping for the best when I spent 400 bucks ... Harry Homeowner is who I am not Millionaire Merle. I don't need surveillance for the Playboy mansion ... I just need to make sure that if someone does something stupid like breaking into my house, or stealing my ATV that I can see them, find them, and deal with them ... I hope. Firstly: I need something better than the POS stock cameras that this thing comes with! I need to be able to identify people at around 75-100 feet for christ sake. Not some pixilated image of what looks to be a human being ... Any cameras that I can buy on say ... Amazon? that would give me better quality? Can I just hook them right up and be good to go? and if all this is yes so far ... what is the best camera to get for my situation? I have no idea what I am looking at with cameras to be honest. I'm a sysadmin not a videophile. Someone please dear god help me. Second: Hard Drive! I believe this thing has a 500gb drive. Is it as simple as popping a new one in and it will just automatically start using it? I mean I understand I may need to format it but I guess the question here is will it know what to do with a new drive because the software that runs the system is onboard the actual box? or do they make it software that is running on a partition of the drive that makes this thing know what is what? Has anyone ever replaced theirs? Third: Seriously ... I have a mac. I'm not in the mood for a what is better PC or Mac debate ... I had this working through Safari with a firmware update. Then I had to install their little webkit BS ... now one day it just stops working. Not just on one mac but EVERY FRACKING MAC I GET MY HANDS ON! I have tried it on brand new out of the box macs at work and it doesn't cooperate. Not my local machine's problem. I have no idea what the heck happened! I've done all the standard stuff but someone must have a mac and know what to do??? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
groovyman 0 Posted April 23, 2012 Hard drive - I'm thinking 500GB should be large enough for your purposes, but the answer is yes, you can replace the hard drive. Supports 1 SATA HDD up to 2 TB. In the DVR setup screen, under Disk Manage, there's an option to format the hard drive. So, just swap it out, format it and it should be good to go. Instructions on swapping the drive are on page 83 of the product manual: http://qsee.custhelp.com/ci/fattach/get/48580/1334086153/redirect/1/filename/QT%20Manual%20v3-0_web.pdf For the MAC issue, maybe reinstall the Safari Client &/or reinstall the firmware on the DVR. Here's some info to help: Using Mac Safari to view your cameras online: http://www.q-see.com/files/RightNow/how_to_connect_to_QT_dvr_with_fw_3.1.9_from_MAC_10.pdf Mac Safari Setup: http://www.q-see.com/files/guides/QT-Safari%20Setup.pdf Firmware version 3.1.9 for QT428, QT454 and QT504: http://qsee.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1277 As for cameras, I'll let others chime in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbird 0 Posted April 24, 2012 eyeaml337 I haven't done this myself but a friend with an older QSee system had to replace a defective drive in the manner described above. He ended up returning the system in favor of a newer QSee QT426 16 channel system. I do have a question for you though (Sorry, I don't mean to hi-jack your thread). I too have a QSee QT428 (8 channel) system. The Power and HDD lights flicker lightly on the DVR itself. The flickering is more pronounced when motion is detected. Does your DVR exhibit the same? QSee support told me that this is normal, but my buddy's similar QSee QT426's LED lights are always consistently lit. Although I don't have any experience with these hi-res cameras, you might want to check these out: http://www.q-see.com/products/product_description.php?cId=88&pId=147&id=88&pid=2 Check out Costco.com for pricing/reviews. Two of these cameras alone will run close to what you paid for your system. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
