Re: PC Based DVR

["alarman" <nospam@xxxxxxxx>]

Bob La Londe wrote:
> I've not sold any.  I've been sticking with DM, but I lose a lot of
> business to the PC based systems.  I have installed a few for clients
> who purchased units themselves, but had no clue how to set them up. My
> experience has been that they are not that stable.  Atleast not
> Windows based units.  If you put in a seven day auto reboot they work
> better, and some like Pelco's units have it as part of their setup. (I
> guess I have sold a windows PC based DVR afterall.  Forgot about
> those.)
> Still.  It seems to me that unless the customer can be trained to
> check the unit regularly they run a very high risk of finding their
> recorder locked up when they really need to review some video.  What
> do you do to prevent this?
> Are Linux based machines any better?
>
> How about building your own.  I'm sure some of you guys do that. What do
> you use for a PC so that you have a really good machine to
> stick your card(s) in?
>
> I've only played with a couple cards stuck in my own PC type
> applications, and I was not totally thrilled with the performance.
>
> With cheap PC based recorders it seems like the logical thing to do
> would be to install two units for redundant recording, but when
> people see "cheap" its awfully hard to get them to step back up and
> spend a little more money to make up for the "cheap" part.

I have used nothing but PC based DVR's. I like 'em. They are easy for
customers to use, and I have had very few problems. It seems like the
problems I have had are things that might fail on any electronic device.
Some windoze issues, but not many.

I buy the card based on number of cameras, framerate, etc. I get to control
the quality of the computer and its components. The card works very well,
and does everything I could ever want. Granted, I don't have experience with
stand-alones, but based on what I've seen and heard from others, they are
not bullet proof either.

--
js

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum