I've seen a lot of dvr cards for sale on ebay, is it benifitial to build your own pc based dvr or is it too much of a hastle? Has anyone attempted this and if so what are usually the steps?

Have to buy a decent PC, with specs to match the requirements of the card you are using. Average entry level PC for a DVR would cost $600-700 even if you build it yourself and dont buy a prebuilt PC, and gets more expensive as you add larger Hard Drives, faster CPU, and faster Video card, etc.

Once it is built, load OS and tweak, just dont use default OS. Uninstall anything not used, and only install what you will use.

Add the card and install drivers, install DVR Server software, connect cameras and test for a day or 2, and good to go once it doesnt crash :-)

Oh yeah, it is a hassle though ..

and stay away from most of them anyhow, don't go eBay route, there are several users here who can sell you a quality card, yous ask, and you'll get someopne to respond

DO NOT - I REPEAT - DO NOT get any Cards off of Ebay (Unless you can verify one of the sellers are from THIS site) ... SO many things could go wrong .. you could get a DOA card ... Worst of all, NO SUPPORT (Which you WILL need), and more than likely - secondhand software wih NO manuals ... the list goes on & on ...

Buy from these guys here ... and don't be afraid to ask anything!

most of the cards you see on ebay are very very cheap because they are pirated cards from China. I doubt how much tech support you can get from those sellers.

Kim