Re: PC Based DVR

[Matt Ion <soundy106@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 12/08/2009 7:11 AM, RockyTSquirrel wrote:
> we've had to replace a single PC DVR combo  4 times so far..  (all within
> the first year)
> video card crash and burn,  camera input card crash and burn,  hard drive
> crash and burn,  total software  crash..
> All this from a so called quality vendor in VA..
> If the thing wasn't under warranty,  it would have been in the river by
> now..
>
> (Or customer has 4 of these units  and each one has had something wrong with
> it within the first year of service)
>
> Stand-a-lone  DVR  the only way to go..  (for my money)

And meantime, I've put in a variety of cheap standalone DVRs that have
had all manner of problems with failing drives, locking up, crapped-out
video, spotty controls...

Considering most standalones ARE PCs at the core, running an embedded
OS, the "standalone vs. PC" argument is rather silly.

What it comes down to is: you use cheap hardware, you'll get cheap
results.  You do things with a system that it's not designed for (ie.
employees checking their Hotmail), you'll have problems.  PC-based
(rather, Windows-based) systems are plenty easy to lock down to prevent
people tampering with them; most people just don't bother.