Input on product selection

[pdxretail 0]

I work in retail and am the primary decision maker when it comes to CCTV equipment, plans, etc. Last year we started getting into IP cameras and have 2 stores running Exacq NVR's with AXIS cameras. Trouble is, I am pretty inexperienced when it comes to this world and am doing a lot of learning on the job. We were under the gun to choose a product and did not research options other than Exacq & AXIS, as they were suggested by our vendor.

 

Since then, I've found that Exacq is not quite as simple to use as I was told, and it has a lot of bells & whistles that we really don't use. In addition, we do installs in-house and they don't offer support to the end user. I love the AXIS cameras, but both Exacq & AXIS are not all that cheap.

 

I'm looking at other solutions with the following goals in mind (in order of importance):

1. Easy to use NVR GUI

2. NVR end user support

3. User-friendly VMS

4. Cost

5. Ease of installation for loading cameras to the NVR and configuring IP addresses & settings

 

On the NVR side I'm looking at Toshiba & Video Insight per vendor recommendation. I've also been told it would make sense to purchase Toshiba cameras for their NVR and Advidia cameras for the Video Insight NVR. I'll be testing both systems as well.

 

It's too late in the game to introduce a 4th option, so I'd be going with 1 of the 3 NVRs. If I don't like Toshiba or Video Insight I'll stick with Exacq.

 

I'm curious if anyone has any thoughts on any of the above mentioned equipment. If you have experience with any of those brands or thoughts to share I'd be very interested in your input.

 

Thanks.

[^Gecko^ 0]

Please, for the love of God, stick with Exacq. I can't speak about Toshiba, for I have never touched one. VI works but it is super CPU intensive and a nightmare to install or reinstall if the installation fails. Of all the systems I've used, Exacq is the most reliable and easy straightforward to use and configure. The documentation is very good too.