Q-See QC824-4C9-2 Sams Club Special

[Aggie86 0]

Hey Guys,

 

Sam's has got the Q-See 4 Channel HD NVR Security System w/ 2TB Hard Drive, 4 1080p IP Cameras with a $200 off coupon for $699 'til mid April I think.

 

I know this is a pretty standard deal (Black Friday) etc... but I had a question about possible expansion for this system.

 

I would like to eventually have 8 1080p cameras for home security use, so I initially dismissed this deal cause its only a 4 Channel NVR...but at $700 for everything its hard to pass this up right now. I've seen the promotional material from Q-See that says you can combine their systems (from different locations, etc...).

 

My question is this: What would be the downside to buying 2 of these and combining the systems on the same home network. My plan would be one now...and another possibly next year or so. (Got write a BIG tax check this year...so Trying to keep expenses low for a little whileO

 

Just looking for opinions from you smart guys, would also love to hear any pros/cons for this system. (I THINK this is a Dahua rebrand right?)

 

Thanks -

John

[selinger 0]

John,

You don't need to buy two of the systems at all. You can purchase the cameras by themselves. The only other thing that you will be requiring is a POE network device that can push power to the camera. That's what on the back of the DVR. POE stand for Power over Ethernet. You can get out cheap with just Power injector for the power side of the network. Found those for $50 and the cameras for $150 on the internet. I just purchased this unit as well. I like the fact you can takes these cameras anywhere and plug them into any network and they still connect up to the DVR. The POE Ethernet connection is really cool too. I think you can also add different cameras too. I would be adding a Pan/Tilt/Zoom camera in the future.

[stroonzo 0]

I would suggest you consider doing something other than what selinger is proposing until you understand what your requirements are. The NVRs used on these systems (usually Dahua) are limited in the total FPS. The less channels on the NVR, the less total FPS the NVR supports (usually). Therefore, these smaller units are actually designed to be daisy chained (for lack of better words).

 

Essentially, when you run multiple, stand-alone NVRs you configure them to work together. In short, imagine on NVR 1 you add your four cameras and those four maximize the processing power, POE, and storage of that single unit. Instead of adding the 5th camera, on NVR1 you point it to NVR2. NVR2 then acts as a relay server (if you will) for NVR2's four cameras utilizing NVR2's processing power, POE, and storage.

 

When connecting to the master NVR1 system, all systems are time synced, you can display all 8 channels at once, and you configure remote viewing etc from the one system.

 

My other suggestion I would have for you (if you are only interested in prepackaged systems) - buy a more robust 8 channel HD system with an NVR consisting of 8 POE ports, appropriate processing power, and adequate storage for your needs. For the price you would pay for two of these systems you described above, for $1399.99 you can buy a Q-See 8 Channel HD NVR Security System with 2TB HDD and 8 1080p Cameras (these were Dahua NVR and Dahua Bullet 1080p HD cams just a few months back, but it looks like they may have changed the OEM on this one) from Costco.

http://www.costco.com/Q-See-8-Channel-HD-NVR-Security-System-with-2TB-HDD-and-8-1080p-Cameras.product.100111530.html

 

There's also the (Dahua) Q-See 16 Channel HD NVR Security System with 3TB HDD, 8 1080p Bullet Cameras and 1 12x Zoom PTZ Camera for $1999 now.

http://www.costco.com/surveillance-systems.html?refine=30896%2b13767

[ssnapier 0]

John,

You don't need to buy two of the systems at all. You can purchase the cameras by themselves. The only other thing that you will be requiring is a POE network device that can push power to the camera. That's what on the back of the DVR. POE stand for Power over Ethernet. You can get out cheap with just Power injector for the power side of the network. Found those for $50 and the cameras for $150 on the internet. I just purchased this unit as well. I like the fact you can takes these cameras anywhere and plug them into any network and they still connect up to the DVR. The POE Ethernet connection is really cool too. I think you can also add different cameras too. I would be adding a Pan/Tilt/Zoom camera in the future.

 

 

I would be VERY careful making this assumption. A lot of those systems are designed to ONLY accept that number of cameras with no expansion built in. This is a licensing issue, plus it ensures quality of service that they cannot provide if the system were expandable. It is also one of the multitude of reasons they can keep the cost down.

[shockwave199 0]

It's not terrible to have two units going. With PSS software you'll be able to view both systems blended into one view. Another way to go if the deal is there is to buy an 8 channel system with four cameras included. Then you add cameras as funds permit.

[jasonrosalez1977 0]

If I understand correctly, you want to eventually run two 4CH NVR's on your home network and each NVR already has 4 PoE ports in the back. The nice thing about this is that it will only take up two ports on your switch when you connect your NVR to the network. There shouldn't be a problem with this so long as you resolve the potential IP conflict when installing the second NVR, considering that most NVR's of the same brand and model have the same default IP address.

 

As far as blending both systems into one view through PSS software, I would rather go with two separate HD televisions. Maybe a 19" or so.

 

Regards,

Jason Rosalez