16 or 24 channel NVR

Currently have 8 Trendnet IP cameras using a PC with SW to monitor.

Looking to switch to dedicated box and more/better cameras.

Want to stay with POE IP because of wiring.

Looking at 16 channel Lorex HD IP NVR and cams ($1500-$3000 on num cams).

Thinking I might want more than 16 cams, so found USG (Urban Security Group) 24 channel HD IP kit for about $2000.

Any recommendations?

Will a Lorex 16 channel truly be limited at 16 channels, or would more cams work with it just not at 1080p?

Is there other systems in this price range that will do the job?

If I'm looking at the same USG package (Amazon), the cameras are garbage. I wouldn't expect much better quality from the NVR but I don't recognize it from the face plate. Nothing there is worth what they're charging.

I'd have to know what's in the Lorex bundle to tell you whether or not it's worth it.

What's your budget for the whole project and what do you still need to purchase?

Lorex bundle like this at Costco:

http://www.costco.com/Lorex-16-Channel-HD-NVR-Security-System-with-3TB-HDD-and-9-1080p-Cameras.product.100153135.html

or similar just searched through Amazon.

Budget...low as possible with o.k. equipment.

Besides the low end trendnet/pc solution I currently have, I have a Ganz DVR system installed by a local security company that was upwards of $15,000.

I can't justify that much, really hoping to keep under $5000.

I haven't bought anything yet. I'm researching to try to find the best bang for my buck.

That's all Dahua stuff in that package. Those domes are decent but only ceiling mountable. I don't have any personal experience with those bullets. It's all a significant improvement over the other system, but I'm not familiar with retail pricing.

I'm not sure why they've opted to include that switch. It's not large enough to support that number of cameras so it's actually an incomplete system.

It looks like the NVR itself has another 8 ports of POE.

Any idea if it is limited to only monitor/record 16 channels?

Could I have other IP cams on the network and still access them...even though the system might not be able to record more than 16 at 1080p?

A 16 channel NVR is only capable of connecting to 16 cameras. It doesn't matter if you lower the settings on your IP cameras, you're still only going to end up with 16 channels at the most.

Thanks Don.

What's out there that can handle 24 or 32 channels?

Maybe I would be better of having 2 - 16 channel systems and setting the monitor/keyboard up with a KVM, since it will be mounted in rack anyways.