system recommendation

[playstationdork 0]

I’m new to home surveillance and would love any advice from anyone on the board. My objective is to have exterior security cameras on my house with 3 in the front and one in the back. Initially, I will start with one on the front and then continue to grow the system over time.

 

I think I want to use POE as I have one unused Ethernet run to where the first camera is located. I would also like to use one of my always on PCs to monitor the cameras. I have a Win10 machine and a Mac but would prefer to use the Win10 machine as it is only used as a server; computer restarts are at a minimum. I also have a basic license for Vitamin D so I would need to upgrade to pro if I had all 4 cameras running and if I wanted to use vitamin D.

 

I also plan on buying a 16 port Linksys poe+ switch as it fits into my cabinet nicely.

 

I am looking for a system that will be able to monitor and send alerts that is robust and I won’t have a lot of issues with. I am also looking for the ability to pan tilt zoom from each of the cameras.

 

These are the questions that I have:

1. Is it a bad idea to use a computer rather than a DVR for surveillance?

2. If it’s a good idea to use a computer, is the vitamin d software a good choice or is there a better one to use?

3. What is a good brand/model of dome cameras to use? Would like to be under $200 per camera if possible. I don't know if that is a reasonable price expectation so go easy on me.

4. I may need to get a wide angle camera for the front door area. It’s about a 10 ft. ceiling and would like to keep an eye on UPS/FedEx packages.

 

Thanks in advance!

mike