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Dedicated DVRs vs PC BASED DVRs

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I want some feedback from installers who have experience which is better...I know the pros and cons of both but which one will be around longer, or will they both stay alive in the market, for different users.

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PC based will be around longer from a perspective of upgrading. A standalone is limited in upgrades and most likely will be replaced with newer technology by means of total replacement. PC based can be upgraded anytime and in my opinion is more cost effective.

 

But, standalones still have one thing over PC based. You can't operate them to death............

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there is nothing a "good" non-pc based can't do that a pc can do. If the embedded unit uses reprogrammable DSP's then it can be virtually upgraded. The sole difference is the number of channels of support on a single chasis. Although on a PC-Based once u get past 16-channels if you use high resolution recording you run into problems with transfer rate on the hard drive as well as limitations on the PCI bus.

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Real time High Res recording on 16 channels. Whether the stand alones can do it or not, unless they are XP embedded they arent doing it yet .. they need to though .. im waiting

 

2 other things a "good" PC based system has over most non PC stand alones, is multiple user configurations, and higher quality evidence sharing.

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Wash, be carefull this is a evry loaded question and can have much debate and prolly will.

 

I disagree that standalones are as easy to upgrade, I agree that people think they can not be upgraded when they can, but only the software can be upgraded, for example if compression chips change, you can very easily change a simple PCI card in your PC but you can not do this for a standalone.

 

Standalone's are much more stable and they (on average) have slower frame rates and less features, however there are "Real Tim" versions out there, but in essence they are really just stripped down PC's.

 

As far as good software goes, they are both fairly stable since embedded XP, but my simple rule of thumb is:

 

A) If the install is a long way away, it is a standalone without question!!

b) If the person shows any sign of being a compute know it all, it is a standalone once again.

C) If I need to really impress the person it is going to be a PC

d) If I know they will want to upgrade later then again it will be a PC.

 

Standalones give you less headaches but PC's are MUCH easier to sell!

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I havent found any non pc based OS stand alones yet, with 480fps in 720x480 ...

 

i like that list

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The two top selling DVRs among all DVRs both PC Based and embedded are DM and Kalatel, both of which are embedded. DM's sales alone probably equals the entire PC based DVR market.

 

I think the market place has decided which is being accepted best.

 

This not to say that either DM or Kalatel is better than a good PC based but I think the vast number of dealers are fed up with the poor quality of most PC based systems out there. Even Pelco, Intellex and other big name brands have had terrible quality control problems.

 

I lost two customers because of poor Kodicom quality control, one of the biggest PC based brands around. Both customers got so fed up with the failures that they kicked Kodicom and me out. After that I dropped the line and went to embedded since I can't afford to keep losing quality customers.

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Geo has been very good since i started using it, and you remember i used Kalatel for a few years and lived by them - i still sell them, depends on the job.

 

I just got to the point where people wanted Real Time High Quality, and Higher quality evidence sharing, which is where PC based(windowz) still rules. Not too mention the pain trying to upgrade the HDDs on the Kalatel, now GE models, if on the rare occasion they do fail. Though it was a DSR2000 I was dealing with and the DVMRe's are easier to upgrade.

 

Anyway, main reason i use PC based now, is for high quality evidence sharing, real time recording, and self upgradable, which is important down here in the Bahamas.

 

But ofcourse i strip down the OS as much as possible to make it clean and stable, and so far so good, not one problem to date. I have however seen problems with a colleague and some cheaper brand cards he bought, so it depends which card you buy, the software that comes with it, the hardware you use, and just as important, how you tweak the OS. Obviously it is not a plug and play system for the person setting it up, like a Stand alone system would be.

 

Rory

Edited by Guest

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Well I can’t let this go unanswered. We sell Kodicom’s PC DVRs and embedded DVRs. There are applications for both. Our XOS operating system will solve many of the problems people have with “PCâ€

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