Re: DVR Recommendations

["Just Looking" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Have you seen or installed any of these units before? If you did I don't
think you would be lumping them together like that.

Okay, I'll help you out a little.

> Dedicated Micros
Higher end price wise. Good solid product over the years. Although it's not
a big company, DM has a world wide footprint. DM uses its own OS, that is
good and bad. DM is not field restorable (they won't provide you a with a CD
or access to an image to use to restore the drive). Must be returned to
factory when hard drive fails. Most products to date have been a combination
of old style mux with DVR. Product has advantages when used with staff with
little training (push button and see image). DM is not for IP camera and
Megapixel yet. Even with limited access control integration, it's not the
best choice for enterprise applications.

> GE (Kalatel) DVMRe or Store Safe - utilizing the wavereader software.
Poor reliability. One way or another you'll learn who your local GE rep is
if you own a bunch of these. You'll get to know the warranty status as well
as the repair status of each unit as well. Same problems as DM with hard
drive failures (and they will fail). Expensive for what you get. Rube
Goldberg screwball PTZ controls when using more than one unit. Uses wavelet
compression (about the oldest style) so poor use of retention resources. No
direct tech support for returning product (only through distribution unless
you're direct with GE - you would not be posting this here if you were).
Soon to be discontinued I suspect. Not for IP camera and Megapixel.

> Honeywell Fusion
High price, lots of feature add ons. Supports some video analytics. Can't
trust anything with Rapid Eye on the same products for sale page. Has some
POS integration features and works with Honeywell access gear.

> Surveillx
Are you talking about the Toshiba Surveillix?
Never seen one. But I have seen a Serval Cat in a zoo. Getting too close to
either may yield similar results. Japanese manufacturers, by serving their
own market, seem to have different ideas about what is important to build in
a DVR. Sometimes it doesn't translate well into a good product for a US
market.

> Digital Watchdog - utilizing the remote watchdog software
I've worked on them and pulled a lot of them out. Never sold one. Not much
special about them in my opinion. Although PC based there are few PC
advantages. Small company.

> MACE
Never heard of it, other than the kind cops like to spray on drunks.

> DigiOP
Lower end of the DVR pricing scale. Older units had weird software,
especially for record on motion settings and viewing live video. The new
style is Dell-in-a-Box with a grabber card. They work okay. Easy to set up.
If you like Dell boxes (ease of repair options) and you don't want to spend
a lot, you'll probably like this box.  Not into IP camera and Megapixel.
Small company.

> Hunt eDVR
Never heard of it either.







"Miles Fawcett" <miles202@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:758c088e-490c-4cfc-b159-cc9f7db42a16@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> I would love to get people recommendations for CCTV/DVR products. What
> of the following list do you feel are the strongest products?
>
> DVRs
>
> Dedicated Micros
> GE (Kalatel) DVMRe or Store Safe - utilizing the wavereader software
> Honeywell Fusion
> Surveillx
> Digital Watchdog - utilizing the remote watchdog software
> MACE
> DigiOP
> Hunt eDVR
>
> Thanks,
> Miles
>
> Urban Alarm | Washington DC | www.urbanalarm.com