New Home System Design Recommendations Needed

[highspeedphysics 0]

CCTV

 

I would like to replace my Lorex 8 camera dvr system with a better networkable DVR, 1 PTZ camera,

5 Color Dome Cameras and 2 reg color cameras.

 

What are the advantages of a PC based DVR vs. a stand alone?

Anyone dealt with 123cctv before and their PTZs?

 

Does anyone have recommendations as far as vendors and models???

*8/16 channel stand alone network dvr with 240/480 FPS < $1000

*Good Outdoor PTZ dome cameras on a budget < $700

*Budget Color Dome Cameras with and without varifocal lenses up to <$200 each?

*2 reg. box cameras facing back to back installed to a housing unit to monitor North and South positions along side or above the PTZ camera.

[vin2install 0]

Advantages of a PC based DVR is that you can use a mouse. That's about it.

[RickA 0]

Some of the standalone dvr's can be menu operable with a mouse and quite a few also have remote's.

[CollinR 0]

Advantages of a PC based DVR is that you can use a mouse. That's about it.

 

Cheaper, multi-megapixel support, cheap and readily available hard drives and power supplies. Thats enough there for me and my customers.

 

Oh yeah and in 5-10 years you can redo them partially or fully with very little cost. Heck you can get buyers remorse and fix it for less then a grand. You can't upgrade much of anything on a dedicated unit, now that they are not all RTOS the reliablity of them is loosing ground. The price of consumer PC gear with x10 the capacity is dropping like mad, quality server parts follow quickly behind. The current thoughts of an dedicated DVR need to be seriously re-evaluated. You will start seeing more and more dedicated units running PC form factor motherboards and utilizing web interfaces rather then local displays. Hopefully changing the chassis to deal with more adverse conditions and possibly concealment as PC based systems enjoy now.

[mr.surveillance 0]

Disadvantages of a PC based unit;

Your neighbor or friend trys to watch internet porn on it

Your Kids play video games on it

Your cat eats the mouse.

 

I think you need to allocate more funds for your system.

 

Get a 16 channel DVR so you can expand later.

 

You are on the right track to have 2 fixed cameras next to your PTZ.

 

Do you really need a PTZ?

[rory 0]

coming from the Bahamas where warranty is void the minute it hits the airplane on the way over here ..

 

PC is easier the maintain for us .. something goes wrong we can go right down to a local PC store here and buy a replacement part, and fix it ourselves.

 

Also you typically get more features and in the case of the Bahamas where we pay no duty on PC but 45% on Standalones, it is definitely much more bang for buck. This is one reason I switched from using Stand alones a couple years ago (other than for the budget jobs as you just cant macth the price of some 4 channel cheap DVRs). Also the PC based gives you higher quality and more flexible evidence sharing. The client should know the basics of using a Computer though, otherwise if they never want to touch the thing then just sell them a stand alone, or sell them when they need something done to it.

[Smit9352 0]

I've used both and I seem to keep going back to Standalone Dvr's. I like the fact that the units do not run WinBlows and are very stable as long as setup correctly. Tho a lot of the Dvr's do have certain limitations that limit you that a pc does not. Concerning the mouse thing, a bunch of dvr's now have the ability to run a mouse so this isn't really a benefit over Standalones.

 

Does anyone have recommendations as far as vendors and models?

*8/16 channel stand alone network dvr with 240/480 FPS < $1000

 

*Good Outdoor PTZ dome cameras on a budget < $700 What specs are you looking for on these units other than Outdoor PTZ?

 

*Budget Color Dome Cameras with and without varifocal lenses up to <$200 each? 2.8-12 Good? 2g49's are a dome we sell low light and great camera all around.

 

*2 reg. box cameras facing back to back installed to a housing unit to monitor North and South positions along side or above the PTZ camera.

What lens on these units and do we need extremely low lighting cameras (low lux?) or do you need just regular box cams?

 

Fun Fun!

[robca 0]

As a person who installed a decent home monitoring system (9 cameras) based on a Divis DVR card, I came to the conclusion that the answer to "standalone vs PC" heavily depends on your familiarity with PCs.

 

I custom built a PC exclusively for DVR use, sourcing the most cost effective components (and recycling an old case), with special focus on stability (Intel motherboard, with integrated video) and reliability (good power supply). Then I installed the cleanest Windows installation, no extra drivers, no other application. The PC is used only for DVR, like a standalone DVR would be (bit unfair to compare a standalone DVR with a PC used for web browsing and game playing, when it comes to stability ). If you know how to manage your PC (and how to remove all the un-needed components), a dedicated PC is as stable as the DVR software running in it (and I found the Divis DVR software to be rock solid).

 

If all of the above is true for you, a PC-based solution is superior to a standalone, and cheaper in the long run. My whole PC cost me ~$350, using online dealers and good timing, and I can easily add disks, backup and customize, etc. My PC has been running non-stop since December 2006, when a windstorm knocked off power, to September 2007, and I have managed it remotely from Boston (the house is in Seattle), when I relocated there for work. I added the DynDNS updater, and locked down the PC, behind a firewall. The remote client is awesome and if Ineed more access, I can always remotely connect to the system using the remote desktop client, and do anything

 

If, on the other hand, you are not a computer guy, probably a standalone is more likely to provide reliable service. For me, PC-based solutions are vastly superior, easier to customize and manage, and more secure (there's nothing inherently secure about standalone devices, you rely on the security developed by the OEM, and in my experience that's not very good, as it's not their main focus... at least on a PC you have inspection tools and ways to secure them that are well understood, even if PCs tend to be a bigger target due to how common they are. But as long as you lock it down and don't browse the net from it, a PC is very secure)

[rory 0]

Please note, no sales or advertising of any kind is allowed in the public forum. Any such posts will be deleted. This forum is not for sales of product. Thanks.

[CollinR 0]

As a person who installed a decent home monitoring system (9 cameras) based on a Divis DVR card, I came to the conclusion that the answer to "standalone vs PC" heavily depends on your familiarity with PCs.

 

I custom built a PC exclusively for DVR use, sourcing the most cost effective components (and recycling an old case), with special focus on stability (Intel motherboard, with integrated video) and reliability (good power supply). Then I installed the cleanest Windows installation, no extra drivers, no other application. The PC is used only for DVR, like a standalone DVR would be (bit unfair to compare a standalone DVR with a PC used for web browsing and game playing, when it comes to stability ). If you know how to manage your PC (and how to remove all the un-needed components), a dedicated PC is as stable as the DVR software running in it (and I found the Divis DVR software to be rock solid).

 

If all of the above is true for you, a PC-based solution is superior to a standalone, and cheaper in the long run. My whole PC cost me ~$350, using online dealers and good timing, and I can easily add disks, backup and customize, etc. My PC has been running non-stop since December 2006, when a windstorm knocked off power, to September 2007, and I have managed it remotely from Boston (the house is in Seattle), when I relocated there for work. I added the DynDNS updater, and locked down the PC, behind a firewall. The remote client is awesome and if Ineed more access, I can always remotely connect to the system using the remote desktop client, and do anything

 

If, on the other hand, you are not a computer guy, probably a standalone is more likely to provide reliable service. For me, PC-based solutions are vastly superior, easier to customize and manage, and more secure (there's nothing inherently secure about standalone devices, you rely on the security developed by the OEM, and in my experience that's not very good, as it's not their main focus... at least on a PC you have inspection tools and ways to secure them that are well understood, even if PCs tend to be a bigger target due to how common they are. But as long as you lock it down and don't browse the net from it, a PC is very secure)

 

Agreed.

 

If you let your customers loose with Windows you will have troubles, luckily I observed this quickly and only supply headless DVRs. Which also means no mouse to get eaten!