Re: What Brand / Model DVRs ??

[ABLE1 <someone@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 6/22/2015 5:50 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
> I was a hard corp Dedicated Micros fan for a long time.  Many years.
> Unfortunately they have priced themselves out of the market.  In general
> I had pretty good luck with their units, but the price was just too
> high. When they came out with their ECO units I thought that was a nice
> answer. Slimmed down feature set at only a little over the average price
> for other name brand units being installed.  Sadly they had issues.  I
> had to send units in for repair in relatively short life spans.  Some I
> sent in more than once, because they came back unfixed.  (I know Moore's
> in a separate company, but they are the official repair center for DM.)
>
> I decided to give Digital Watchdog a try.  For the first couple years
> they were great.  Competitive price, decent feature set, and seemed to
> just work. Lately I've had multiple problems with very low usage.  A
> couple months to a year.  When I called tech support today I was hung up
> on three times.  I said please, and thank you and I never raised my
> voice.  I know.  Seems unusual for me.  They seemed to have a chip on
> their shoulder from the moment they answered the phone.  Then they
> proceeded to lecture me on my lack of professionalism even when I asked,
> can we please just address the problem.  A DVR with no video output on
> the HDMI ouput.  Last week video failed.  I had to hard power cycle the
> unit to get video back.  It dropped HDMI video out again on Saturday.
> They finally on the third (or maybe it was the 4th) call gave me a list
> of things to try.  All of which I tried when I was there on Friday.
>
> So, I am off to the customer site to repeat the things I did on Friday,
> and then call them back and say , "ok I tried them again."
>
> When I get back I plan to start shopping.  Any suggestions?
>
>
On 6/22/2015 5:50 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
 > I was a hard corp Dedicated Micros fan for a long time.  Many years.
 > Unfortunately they have priced themselves out of the market.  In
general > I had pretty good luck with their units, but the price was
just too > high. When they came out with their ECO units I thought that
was a nice > answer. Slimmed down feature set at only a little over the
average price > for other name brand units being installed.  Sadly they
had issues.  I > had to send units in for repair in relatively short
life spans.  Some I > sent in more than once, because they came back
unfixed.  (I know Moore's > in a separate company, but they are the
official repair center for DM.)> > I decided to give Digital Watchdog a
try.  For the first couple years > they were great.  Competitive price,
decent feature set, and seemed to > just work. Lately I've had multiple
problems with very low usage.  A > couple months to a year.  When I
called tech support today I was hung up > on three times.  I said
please, and thank you and I never raised my > voice.  I know.  Seems
unusual for me.  They seemed to have a chip on > their shoulder from the
moment they answered the phone.  Then they > proceeded to lecture me on
my lack of professionalism even when I asked, > can we please just
address the problem.  A DVR with no video output on > the HDMI ouput.
Last week video failed.  I had to hard power cycle the > unit to get
video back.  It dropped HDMI video out again on Saturday.  > They
finally on the third (or maybe it was the 4th) call gave me a list > of
things to try.  All of which I tried when I was there on Friday.> > So,
I am off to the customer site to repeat the things I did on Friday, >
and then call them back and say , "ok I tried them again."> > When I get
back I plan to start shopping.  Any suggestions?>
Gee Whiz Bob, not a happy camper??

I think they all have their issues. I have been using Everfocus for a
number of years. Just recently (over past 2 years) I have tried FLIR,
Hikvision, and may try a Nuvico in the future.

The FLIR was with IP cameras. It worked ok. Had some issue at the start
due to the learning curve thingie. The biggest challenge was with the
original spec'd outside dome camera that when mounted would not allow
the lens to tilt up to 90 degrees. Could not get the desired view. Had
to swap out for a bullet cameras.

The latest with the Hikvision was nice with the built in 16 channel PoE
for each IP camera. All came up with little difficulty. Then the
customer called after about 3 weeks with a report that the monitor
showed "No Link" on all cameras for about 2 hours. Talked him through a
power cycle and all came back. Checked the playback remotely and all
cameras were actually recording when the VGA was not displaying cameras.
Called tech support and "she" said that is was not normal and asked if
there was a power issue at the time. I told her that the cameras were
recording and that a power issue should not be the issue. She kept
discussing how am I powering if I am not using the on board PoE. But, I
am using the on board PoE and the cameras were recording at the time
since I watched the customer on the phone talking to me before he did
the power cycle to bring all the cameras back on line. After allowing
"her" to connect remotely and making a big issue out of the slow
connection speed and maybe it contributed to the issue and I again had
to say but the cameras were recording...................... After about
35 minutes of this abuse I left at, when or if it happens again I will
attempt to get more detailed information and hung up. That was last
Monday and have not heard of a problem since.

I am trying to move towards more IP cameras with the 3MP or higher. I am
now officially a Mobotix Dealer. Really cool stuff, and no NVR/DVR to
deal with. Just camera and software. Thought I was going to get a
project about 6 months ago but they decided that they needed to spend
their money on other projects first. Tire kickers!!!

Then there is the new HD stuff on coax that is/has hit the market.
Nuvico makes a HDoCS product that will produce 1080P on coax. As I
understand it you can mix and match analog and HD on the same DVR.
Check it out.
http://www.nuvico.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=92_159

It will be a easy decision if I have a customer on COAX with a dead DVR.

Not sure if any of the above is a help to you or not.
I never used a DM unit.

Good Luck!!

Les