Costco Packages vs Buying Cameras

[robpiat 0]

I am new to this and have done quite a bit of research on here. There seems to typically be a Costco/Sam's IP camera package priced at 600-1000 that includes Cams and a NVR.

 

Currently the only one on "sale" is

 

http://www.costco.com/Lorex-8-Channel-Stratus-HD-NVR-Security-System-with-2TB-HDD-and-6-1080p-Cameras.product.100048576.html

 

I can't tell by looking whether those cams are Hikvision, Dahua, etc but it definitely sees that going through DSD or some other direct supplier would be more expensive than the kit. Are those NVRs included junk? I have a POE switch already but the kit seems like the better value even if you outgrow the NVR etc.

 

Any thoughts?

[halasell 0]

The indicated package is provided by Lorex, recently acquired by FLIR Systems Inc. http://investors.flir.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=728060

I've no personal experience with them, but have seen comments to the effect that this company makes systems that are about as good as you can find within this price range.

Best of luck with your installation.

[buellwinkle 0]

The bundles are a good deal, but those cameras bought separately with the Hikvision branding are 3MP, so 50% more pixels. Also, being a bundle means you take the cameras you get where buying them individually you can pick which cameras, which lenses, etc.

[45921cam 0]

Some other things to consider. The Costco stuff comes with Costco's warranty and I can confirm that even though they are, in this case in part, cameras they are covered by the standard Costco warranty and not the shorter one for certain electronics (I just had to return two SWAN HD 820s) and it was past the shorter 90-day window and they confirmed to me surveillance stuff was covered by the longer warranty.

 

On that deal you are basically getting the DVR for free and your are buying stuff with a warranty that is at least as good as the US branded Hikivison cameras (these Lorexs are rebranded Hikivsion). The US Hikivision stuff is more expensive than the gray market Chinese Hikivsion which appear to come with no or a short (90-day warranty). So if the warranty matters then the Costco cams/dvr are actually quite a bit cheaper. The only problem with returning to Costco directly is you have to return everything you bought. So if a camera dies in say a year you will have to return the DVR and all six cameras if returning to Costco (I understand why the do this but it is a pain to have to remove everything). Or of course you could just RMA the failed camera to Lorex (I think the Swann's at Costco came with a three year warranty from Swann directly).

 

As for the 3MP resolution buellwinkle is right but you can flash these cameras to the Hikvision firmware (or at least you could on the Swanns) but that might impact your ability to return to Lorex (Costco won't care). Also in addition to making sure you like the camera models you are getting with bundle you also have to like the lens choices. If you purchase separately you can choose you lens as well. Note if using the DVR you probably don't want to do this or at least make sure you have a way to go back to the Lorex firmware if you do.

 

Bottom line if you had asked me a month ago which way to go I'd would have said if you don't need/want the DVR then buy the Chinese Hiks and call it a day. But in the last two weeks I have had two failures of the four Swann/Hiks I bought back in July. The Hik I installed first which was outside for maybe six months or just under, failed a week ago. Just died in the middle of the day (it would not power up via POE or the 12v jack). Returned it to Costco with one of its working brothers (since I bought a two pack they would not take just one). Replaced the dead cam with the fourth cam I had never installed and within a week it had developed internal condensation. I saw some posts back from June where folks reported the same issue with their Swann's and my cams were the same batch (5/2013 manufacturing date). So it looks like I will be taking the other two Swann's back to Costco to get a refund on my second two pack. While I don't think my experience with the Swann/Hiks is typical, I am now a little hesitant to buy the Chinese Hiks with their shorter warranty.

[robpiat 0]

Thanks for the wisdom....

 

Is there a logical step up? I am less concerned about the resolution but wouldn't mind spending 2-300 per camera if there was something that was much higher build quality and longevity. It seems, however, that 100-200 the current price point for an IP bullet camera and anything additional has diminishing returns and is just as likely to take a dump.

[buellwinkle 0]

The next step up in my eyes is to move away from cameras made in mainland China and go with cameras made in Taiwan which are considered better made and better supported. Out of all the camera brands made in Taiwan, I'm happiest with ACTi because of good prices, good service and support. The other thing is they provide very good NVR software for free and takes very little resources on a PC so you can re-purpose an older PC and it will likely be fine. Also, they provide a good website with many resources like firmware updates, manuals, knowledge base.

 

The downside of an NVR is what if you get an 8 camera NVR and now you want 9th camera you can't add it. What if the NVR fails after the warranty period, who can service it. Where PC's are universal and easy to repair or replace, just my 2 cents. And lastly, the most overlooked, putting 8 3MP cameras on an NVR with an ARM processor has it's limitations, may not be as responsive as even a lower end PC.