Re: What Brand / Model DVRs ??

["Bob La Londe" <none@xxxxxxxxxx>]

"ABLE1" <someone@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:rU1ix.72575$775.30196@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?
>>

> Gee Whiz Bob, not a happy camper??

I do not know if I have solved the problem, but on the 4th call the guy
asked if I had my "ticket number."  Kinda hard to get that when they are not
talking about the problem at all.  Finally on-site I got something that I
didn't get before.  They suggested upgrading the firmware.  Their FTP
upgrade was not working.  Had that been mentioned before I left the office I
would have had a copy of the latest Firmware on a thumbdrive.  Instead I
walked across the street, bought a thumbdrive, used my cellphone and my
laptop to download it directly from their website, and finally upgraded the
firmware.  I don't know if it will fix the problem.  I don't see how unless
their firmware includes a command that says don't stop putting out video.
LOL.  I hope its fixed because I sure don't want to have to call them again.

> I think they all have their issues.

Yes.  Every manufacturer has issues sometimes.  Its how they handle it that
matters (and how often they have issues.)  I have been a very loyal Napco
user for most of my alarm installs now for 16-17 years I think.  Maybe
longer.  They are always one generation behind in development, and they have
had some problems (bad memory on the P1632 a decade or more ago and the
question mark bug in PCD Manager), but they don't give you any shit about
it.  They admit it and they actively work to take care of it.

> I have been using Everfocus for a number of years.

I am gun-shy about Everfocus.  I used several of their cameras (10 or 12) on
a repair and upgrade job a number of years ago.  They started failing after
about a month at a rate of one a week give or take.  They told me to send
them back to the distributor for replacements, and the distributor told me
to take it up with Everfocus.  I took it up with Toshiba instead and they
have all been working for many many years.  It cost me out of pocket, but
the customer was taken care of.

> Just recently (over past 2 years) I have tried FLIR, Hikvision, and may
> try a Nuvico in the future.

I've had reason to call FLIR since they seem to have bought out the remains
of DigiMerge, and I have a customer who is a DigiMerge fan.  Except for the
normal long wait time they seemed to be pretty quick to just tackle the
problem.

> 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.

Certainly it is some.  I now have more to consider.

> 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.

The DM Digital DS2A & DS2P were solid performers.  Very expensive, but
solid. My current rant was about Digital Watchdog however.  DM was just
mentioned for background.

> Good Luck!!

Thanks
Bob


--
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Bob La Londe
The Security Consultant
Licenses ROC103044 & ROC103047

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