Netcamguy 0 Posted March 13, 2013 Looks pretty good to me - Costco usually brings the deals Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wgbiii 0 Posted March 16, 2013 I purchased both the Qsee 720P IP system (8 channel with 4 ports on the unit from samsclub.com) and the Swann 1080P IP system (8 chanel with 8 ports on the unit from Costco.com). I was definitely more impressed with the Swann's picture quality and field of view. Didn't pay much attention to frame rate. Everything looked fine with only 3 channels hooked up. I couldn't get the Swann system to connect to one of the supplied cameras via a separate POE switch on my network. It would see it in the quick search function, however, would not let me connect to it. it seems the NVR is locked down to only using the POE ports on the unit itself which is not very useful for 2 buildings 100' apart. Swann claims Costco will sell additional cameras by the end of the month but pricing is unknown at this time. I tried to get the Qsee to connect to the Swann IP cameras, however, couldn't get it to do so nor could I get the Swann to connect to the Qsee cameras. I'm looking for a solution that will allow me to connect 8 1080P cameras with 4 connected at the NVR and 4 connected through a remote switch. If anyone knows of a cost effective solution that will work let me know. Thanks, Will Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shockwave199 0 Posted March 16, 2013 Swann claims Costco will sell additional cameras by the end of the month but pricing is unknown at this time That should be interesting. Didn't pay much attention to frame rate. Pay attention please- this is an unknown that would be nice to have an answer to. Your review of both systems isn't all that comprehensive unfortunately. Oh well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
buellwinkle 0 Posted March 16, 2013 Just plug in a another switch to the PoE ports on the back of the NVR to extend that internal network. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flynreelow 0 Posted March 16, 2013 I purchased both the Qsee 720P IP system (8 channel with 4 ports on the unit from samsclub.com) and the Swann 1080P IP system (8 chanel with 8 ports on the unit from Costco.com). I was definitely more impressed with the Swann's picture quality and field of view. Didn't pay much attention to frame rate. Everything looked fine with only 3 channels hooked up. I couldn't get the Swann system to connect to one of the supplied cameras via a separate POE switch on my network. It would see it in the quick search function, however, would not let me connect to it. it seems the NVR is locked down to only using the POE ports on the unit itself which is not very useful for 2 buildings 100' apart. Swann claims Costco will sell additional cameras by the end of the month but pricing is unknown at this time. I tried to get the Qsee to connect to the Swann IP cameras, however, couldn't get it to do so nor could I get the Swann to connect to the Qsee cameras. I'm looking for a solution that will allow me to connect 8 1080P cameras with 4 connected at the NVR and 4 connected through a remote switch. If anyone knows of a cost effective solution that will work let me know. Thanks, Will Any screen shots of the SWANN set up? Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dexterash 0 Posted March 17, 2013 I couldn't get the Swann system to connect to one of the supplied cameras via a separate POE switch on my network. It would see it in the quick search function, however, would not let me connect to it. it seems the NVR is locked down to only using the POE ports on the unit itself which is not very useful for 2 buildings 100' apart. Swann claims Costco will sell additional cameras by the end of the month but pricing is unknown at this time. Is the camera and the external NVR interface in the same IP range/class? Even if it detects it, if your camera si 192.168.1.108/255.255.255.0 and your NVR interface is 192.168.0.100/255.255.255.0 you can't connect to the camera! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lasa 0 Posted March 19, 2013 8 POE ports NVR, why only packed with 4 pieces 1080P IPC, and only can connect with POE can't by normal network enviroment, and Swann can provide another 4 IPC packs at the nedof month, I doubt it is not 8 channels 1080P realtime solution, only can go to 4 channels 1080P, 8 can only with 14 or 15fps. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BLMacs 0 Posted March 22, 2013 CCTV Newb here. @wgbiii or anyone else trying these systems. Any more luck comparing the Swann 1080p system from Costco and the QSee 720p system from Sam's Club (on sale again)? I ordered the Swann just before the QSee went back on sale. Looks like several other (more expensive) 1080p systems just came out too. I like the 8-ch systems so I can have the capacity to expand. In particular, do you think the Swann has better *recorded* picture quality than the QSee? Any idea whether you can record at 1080p on all channels at a decent frame rate? How are the interfaces (ease of setup, scheduling, motion detection, record search, playback)? Just wondering if it's worth trying the QSee. I understand that the QSee is supposed to be a nice, rebranded Dahua and recognize the opinions against the Swann product quality. I'm trying to be impartial and get the most bang for my buck (and hope that what I get doesn't fail, or if it does, call on Costco's extra warranty). Many thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lasa 0 Posted March 22, 2013 Just studying the Swann 8 POE NVR system. In the playback, when go to single window from multi splits ( more than 4 windows playback ), the picture is not very well like CIF image ( 352*288 ), I doubt they use substream in the multi channel playback, as resources limited Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vahighland 0 Posted March 22, 2013 CCTV Newb here. @wgbiii or anyone else trying these systems. Any more luck comparing the Swann 1080p system from Costco and the QSee 720p system from Sam's Club (on sale again)? I ordered the Swann just before the QSee went back on sale. Looks like several other (more expensive) 1080p systems just came out too. I like the 8-ch systems so I can have the capacity to expand. In particular, do you think the Swann has better *recorded* picture quality than the QSee? Any idea whether you can record at 1080p on all channels at a decent frame rate? How are the interfaces (ease of setup, scheduling, motion detection, record search, playback)? Just wondering if it's worth trying the QSee. I understand that the QSee is supposed to be a nice, rebranded Dahua and recognize the opinions against the Swann product quality. I'm trying to be impartial and get the most bang for my buck (and hope that what I get doesn't fail, or if it does, call on Costco's extra warranty). Many thanks! Thanks for the heads up on the Sam's Club sale. I think they didn't even have the 8 channel available before, it was the 4 channel system. At $799, this seems like a good deal, but I'd love to hear what people think about the Swann vs. Q-see 8 channel IP systems. One question I have is about the cameras. The Swann system comes with 1080p vs. Q-see's 720p cameras. Do people think that the Swann camera's are better? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cctvin 0 Posted March 22, 2013 Hello. I'm also deciding which nvr systems to buy. Sams club 8ch. Q-see(dahua)$800 or the new swann Costco $900 within this week. Which is better? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lasa 0 Posted March 24, 2013 By now, both Swann and Q-See are 4 channels system, we don't know when Swann can launch the next 4 IPC pack choice, Swann have the choice to extend in the future and Q-See have the Price advantage and I heard their app with Push Notification with Video function. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cctvin 0 Posted March 24, 2013 The sams club version of q-see (dahua) is actually 8 ch. 4 cam system same as the swann. The difference I see is that the swann has 1080p cams while the q-see is 720p cams. Also swann already has a built-in 8ch. POE while on the Q-see you have to buy a separate POE switch if you want to add more cams later on. Also, Swann uses 4mm lens vs the 6mm lens on Q-see. On paper it seems like swann will have better picture quality, but the actual recording quality and reliability wise? dunno till people try it out. Another thing is that the cat5 network cables are shorter 60ft vs 100ft on the q-see. I think I'm going to try the swann, not much to worry about because of easy 90 return policy and long costco warranty. I think 3yrs warranty, right? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flynreelow 0 Posted March 25, 2013 The sams club version of q-see (dahua) is actually 8 ch. 4 cam system same as the swann. The difference I see is that the swann has 1080p cams while the q-see is 720p cams. Also swann already has a built-in 8ch. POE while on the Q-see you have to buy a separate POE switch if you want to add more cams later on. Also, Swann uses 4mm lens vs the 6mm lens on Q-see. On paper it seems like swann will have better picture quality, but the actual recording quality and reliability wise? dunno till people try it out. Another thing is that the cat5 network cables are shorter 60ft vs 100ft on the q-see. I think I'm going to try the swann, not much to worry about because of easy 90 return policy and long costco warranty. I think 3yrs warranty, right? Please try the swan. Would love a good write up, and some sample images and video.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
coolie11 0 Posted March 25, 2013 Check out the reviews http://www.costco.com/Swann-8-Channel-HD-NVR-Security-System-with-2TB-Hard-Drive-and-4-1080p-IP-Cameras.product.100027599.html#product-tab6 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cctvin 0 Posted March 26, 2013 ok guys i ordered the swann nvr from costco. i'll try to post some pics later. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flynreelow 0 Posted March 27, 2013 ok guys i ordered the swann nvr from costco. i'll try to post some pics later. pics and videos will be great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MaxIcon 0 Posted March 27, 2013 Firmware reports from the cameras would be good too. That can help figure out who made the camera originally. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cchan 0 Posted March 29, 2013 Hi all, new to the forum, been watching and researching... Decided to try this new Swann system from Costco for home, instead of the Q-See. It arrived via FedEx this morning, had a little time to play around with it. I have no real prior security camera system experience but decent home networking/tech experience. I plugged the NVR and cameras together in front of the TV to give it a test. From a user standpoint, it was relatively easy (at least for a more tech saavy consumer) in that I just connected it to a monitor, plugged in the cameras and got it showing video on screen without a lot of work or configuration. So far it "looks" good, but we'll see after it actually gets installed and I hook it up to the network, and actually try recording footage/stills. One comment to note - I first connected the NVR to a HD TV via an HDMI cable. The TV wouldn't show an image because the mode wasn't supported. So I dragged out a computer monitor and attached it via VGA cable, which worked. Looks like the default output resolution was set to 1024x768 IIRC, which my TV didn't like. MaxIcon, the cameras come up in the Swann system as model SWNHD-820CAM, firmware says V4.0.9 build 130106. A couple of pics of the cameras attached. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shockwave199 0 Posted March 29, 2013 Well the TV hookup is more than 'easy'. Are you to say that you couldn't get the NVR to show on your HDTV via HDMI at all? You had to resort to VGA to monitor? HDMI is a big deal, so more info would be appreciated. What output resolutions are available for choice in the NVR, and which one works via an HDMI cable to an HDTV or monitor? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cchan 0 Posted March 29, 2013 Ah, sorry didn't explain that well - to clarify, yes, I am able to get video to the TV over an HDMI cable. I just had to change the video output setting to the 720 or 1080p display sizing and it works fine. The resolution choices -were the two "TV" (720p or 1080p) and three 4:3 computer screen resolutions (1024x768, 1280x1024, and 1600x1200). My TV just didn't like the default 1024x768 setting, so I had to hook up a VGA monitor to change it to a resolution that made the TV happy (only the 720 or 1080p works). Not sure if it is just my TV (a Samsung 55", only a few years old), maybe others support 1024x768 over HDMI? Or should perhaps Swann have set the resolution to 720p as the default? I could see a non-sophisticated consumer seeing nothing on their TV and return it thinking the video output is broken. FYI, one can use both the HDMI and VGA display ports at the same time, assuming resolution is set to something both support. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flynreelow 0 Posted March 30, 2013 Cant wait for sample video. Thanks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites