Video Home Surveillance

[kat-21]

Can anyone comment on this home surveillance system?

"Zmodo Surveillance System with DVR and 4 Weatherproof IR Cameras" ... its listed on woot dot com today for $149. I'm not sure I understand why it states, comes with a DVR but not a hard drive. Doesn't a DVR record images?

A similar system is listed on Amazon with a 500GB hard drive for $219 and a monitor.

Are either of these systems, or any other system, able to be installed by someone other than a professional?

Thanks for any advice provided.

[walnuthill]

I purchased a similar (if not identical) system on Amazon last month. It came with 4 indoor/outdoor cameras and a 500GB "standalone" DVR. My understanding was that the standalone DVR could be hooked up to the cameras and record, and then you could take the DVD out and review the footage on your computer or DVD player. Not so. The "standalone" DVR was just a harddrive, so I would have had to hook it up to a computer to record anything...just not worth the time or effort for me because I'm not tech-savvy enough to figure out all that stuff. I ended up going with a wireless 2-camera system instead (Logitech Alert, I think it's called). I am very pleased with it. It records only when motion-activated, and you can set up specific motion zones, so that it won't record (for instance) cars passing by, but will record people walking up to your door. I'm sure you could also set it up to record constantly, though I haven't tried that. I can also watch live from anywhere online, for free. It's more expensive than a comparable CCTV system, but I think it was worth the price.

[ArcticSplash]

I had my system professionally installed. It has an NVR instead of a DVR so it was way pricier. Also had electrician in my house bolting the weatherproof cameras and running the CAT-6 cabling with the power-over-ethernet stuff, and the cameras have knife-resistant conduit making it difficult to disable the cameras from outside. Battery UPS on the system so it's still powered long after the power goes out.

The NVR system is what I preferred because I want to see my cameras from anywhere. When I'm on the other side of the planet for work sometimes it's reassuring I can check up on the house from remote. Security system is also set up the same way--remotely. Can arm and disarm it from anywhere there's Internet available.

I love being able to pull my cameras up on my phone. Quick way to check to see if there's an open parking spot, whether the taxi has pulled up yet to the house, the take-out guy has turned up, etc. Can also go through the video footage remotely. Has a bank of 12 drive slots and I increased the storage to 9TB, which is now one year's worth of footage for multiple cameras.


The only thing I haven't done yet that I still need to do is to bury the NVR device in a shroud and bolt it to the basement wall so it can't be disabled and stolen, and I haven't yet worked out an offsite backup for the video feed yet in case of a fire/total-loss. Probably a project for the summer.