new / first cctv set-up

[VerdantHarrier 0]

forgive me if my queries seem a little simple/odd/whatever, but i am new to all of this. i also hope it does not seem arrogant or demanding that i am asking people to help find something for me, but even some general pointers or links to helpful existing topics would be great.

 

although i have looked on a few sites, i still don't know too much about what the minimum requirements are that i should be looking out for.

 

i am looking for an outdoor camera for a regular house/property. i don't imagine we would need any more than 4 cameras? and even just one or two would be a reasonable start. obviously i would like all the usuals of good image quality, weatherproof and decent night time / infra red visibility (although we do have some street lighting). and day-time colour is preferred, as is motion detection.

 

since i live in western new york, i think it is important to have a camera that can handle some level of extremes in temperature, particularly cold.

 

price-wise, obviously the cheaper the better, but i don't know if i can go much higher than the $400 mark. i was hoping more for around $200, but i suspect that may be pushing things a bit??

 

i might prefer a DVR, but i do have a computer that could be used if that is going to help me enough on cost to be worth using instead: 500GB ROM (expandable to 1TB), 4GB RAM (not expandable), and currently is not in use otherwise (we were going to use it for backup storage).

 

(as a matter of personal preference, i prefer dome cameras, as it seems harder to tell their line of sight. and something that is not too much of an eye-sore would be marvellous (minimal bulk, dark colours, that sort of thing)... but again, it's personal preference and i don't expect you to go around shopping for me, but i mentioned it just in case you know of just the thing).

 

thank you very much to those who take the time to help me out. it's a big help.

 

(let me know if there is more information i should have included).

 

if worst comes to worst, i'll just go back to putting a webcam in the window.