Any thoughts on Lorex LHD818 vs Samsung SDS-P5102 packages?

So I know the system I want to have down the road (8 3MP cameras and 1 solid PTZ), but that is not in my budget right now. For right now I am looking at something from Costco.

I saw three interesting systems yesterday: Lorex LHD818 (has FLIR Could feature), LH8916 (was on sale), and Samsung SDS-P5102 (looked the slickest and had extra two cameras). Considering one lower end PTZ costs more than either of those three, that sounds like a good solution for right now.

What are your thoughts on all three?

These first and last are coax systems, if that's the way you're going in the future. The middle PN didn't come up, and the last one looks like it's analog.

If you want to go with a standard IP system with network cables in the future, you'd have to re-cable, and I'd end up replacing analog cams completely if it were me.

I'd recommend going for fewer IP cams of better quality, then adding additional cams as you can afford them.

Running coax and cat6 at the same time is not harder than running just one wire. I'v run miles of cables in my offices.

Considering just 3 IP HiKvision cameras (absolute minimum I need) will run me more than say LHD818, and that is before I get either two extra licenses for Synology or buy Nettop for NVR, this kind of package is something I don't think is bad to consider.

Plan, at least in my mind, since even coax system isn't much different from capability of IP one (except for encoding being done on NVR, not camera), in about 2 years I could add an all IP system and use it in addition to this one. Plus aren't there NVRs that can both do coax and IP cameras?

And since both coax and cat6 would be at each location, I figure upgrade process would not be as bad.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

If you want to leave the existing system up and put in a newer system around them, that should be no problem.

If you want to add to these systems in the future, you'll be limited to other coax gear, either analog or digital over coax, and you'll have to research each of them to find out if other cameras will be compatible or if you'll have to use gear from the same manufacturer.

I wouldn't bother with analog, personally, but many people still run it because it's inexpensive. Whether that makes sense is an individual decision. If I were constrained by price, I'd go for the 720p system, but I'd want to read some reviews on it first.

First understand that this is totally analog and the 720 is misleading as that TVL, but actually recording is 960H (fancy number that means 480P widescreen).

So IP is likely out of the question for you, so let me recommend something that is crazy cheap, uses obsolete coax but is truly 720P (for live view and recording). This technology is HDCVI. I would never install it anywhere since I'm an network camera bigot, but here's the link to the sale Costco is having on it for $499 - http://www.costco.com/Q-See-8-Channel-720p-HD-Security-System-with-2TB-HDD-and-8-720p-Cameras.product.100104432.html

Lol! So it is! That's the first 720p analog system I've seen.

Yes, avoid analog in general.

I went off to Costco after reading this thread. The Samsung looked... good, better color rendition, but I couldn't read the prices strung on the wires (like they do) 20 feet away. The Lorex... crystal clear. It appears that most of the issues with Lorex are customer service centric. I believe Lorex was bought out by DigiMerge and that may be causing issues. Regardless, perhaps the set-up at Costco was not optimized for the displays or cameras. I was just surprised as I assumed...that the Samsung would be superior.