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Looking at cheap dvr's

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i've been trying to do my research on cheap dvr's. Id like to stay away from direct from china type ebay ones because i want to be able to get some support if it isn't working correctly. A few low end models ive found

 

avs atom-4

http://www.avsipcctv.com/products/dvr/standalone/atom-4

 

Found this in a "sale" brochure sent to a guy i work with. It says its on sale for 199 from 400. I havn't been able to find them for sale on the internet at all.

 

* 4 Channel (BNC)

* H.264 Codec

* 120 fps Display, 120 fps Recording @ CIF

* Mouse Control

* Includes 500GB HDD (Customizable)

* 1 HDD Bay

* Supports up to 2TB (SATA)

* Triplex Function

* Simultaneous Record / Playback / Network

* Auto Port Forwarding by uPNP

* Audio Play Synchronized with Video

* Multi-Hour Panorama Search

* Archive with USB Device or via Network

* Emergency Internal HDD Archive Support

* Selectable Border Colors

* S.M.A.R.T. Alarm (Auto-Monitoring of HDD status)

* Compact size for covert applications

* 2 3/8" X 11 1/4" X 9 1/4" 4Kgs

 

 

 

another option, in this thread

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=23393&p=139980&hilit=atom+dvr#p139980

rory recommends a 4 channel recorder for $130 without a hard drive. A dahua, but i can't find anything only about them.

 

any other recommendations or advise?

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That DVR you posted records in low resolution CIF only.

The Atom in my post refers to the Intel Atom CPU not a DVR.

That $130 is more like over $200 retail.

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That DVR you posted records in low resolution CIF only.

The Atom in my post refers to the Intel Atom CPU not a DVR.

That $130 is more like over $200 retail.

 

 

right, thats how i found your post was searching for atom dvr. But your post said dahau standalone dvr. I found no references to the avs atom dvr on this website (or any other website, other than the manufacturer) Would the dahau be a better dvr? What resolution is low resolution. I can't find any resolution specs anywhere.

 

 

What i want from a dvr:

record 4 cameras for at least a week (could be motion only)

have enough clarity to be able to identify what im looking at (doesn't have to be perfect)

id like to be able to remotely view cameras from the web, but its not an absolute must

I plan to use a vga monitor

 

i don't need any other fancy features, but id like to keep the price at less than 200

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See my post about the QR414 I recently reviewed, its a very basic DVR but gets the job done for the budget consumer, has D1 recording, net viewing capabilties, etc:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23787&p=142635&hilit=qr414#p142635

 

Feel free to PM me if you are interested in purchasing, I am thinking about carrying these full time and I have a few here to sell for a decent price, below your budget. Just be sure to get some good cameras to go with it, I dont recommend the Q-see cameras, but some of their DVR's are fairly decent if you are needing basic recording capabilities, this one is an example.

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Dont know which DVR you were referring to but I assume you were talking about the Atom because the Q-see records in D1

 

But with that being said, I would bet that it would be extremely hard to tell the difference between 4CIF and D1. I would go on to say that its probably not noticeable to the human eye at all. The only reason I say this is I wouldnt kick a good DVR to the curb if it recorded in 4CIF.

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4CIF is just cropped D1 as 8 pixels on either side are sometimes not used anyway.

Some manufacturers call 4CIF D1 anyway, guess it just sounds better.

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See my post about the QR414 I recently reviewed, its a very basic DVR but gets the job done for the budget consumer, has D1 recording, net viewing capabilties, etc:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=23787&p=142635&hilit=qr414#p142635

 

Feel free to PM me if you are interested in purchasing, I am thinking about carrying these full time and I have a few here to sell for a decent price, below your budget. Just be sure to get some good cameras to go with it, I dont recommend the Q-see cameras, but some of their DVR's are fairly decent if you are needing basic recording capabilities, this one is an example.

 

 

I tried looking them up and i found people saying they didn't have a VGA port. This true?

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Your right, no VGA port, guess they left that out to keep the cost down.

 

It does have a BNC out and it comes with a RCA/BNC adapter to plug into a TV. If you really wanted to plug it into a computer monitor, you could always buy an RCA to VGA converter on eBay for $20-30, but my recommendation would be just to use a 13"-24" tube tv as that seems to look best on Analog cameras anyways. It will look better on a tube tv than it will on an LCD computer monitor or LCD TV. The only advantage to using an LCD TV or computer monitor is they are slimmer and take up less space.

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Your right, no VGA port, guess they left that out to keep the cost down.

 

It does have a BNC out and it comes with a RCA/BNC adapter to plug into a TV. If you really wanted to plug it into a computer monitor, you could always buy an RCA to VGA converter on eBay for $20-30, but my recommendation would be just to use a 13"-24" tube tv as that seems to look best on Analog cameras anyways. It will look better on a tube tv than it will on an LCD computer monitor or LCD TV. The only advantage to using an LCD TV or computer monitor is they are slimmer and take up less space.

 

i was wanting to use a tube monitor, but i have a 19" tube tv that would probably work just fine.

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i think ive decided i want to go with an 8 channel dvr. Can anyone recommend a cheap no frills unit that works as it should?

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Cheap DVRs...

Well, I just ordered one from China - a company called Bessky. Prices were VERY cheap but shipping was high. I should receive in the next week or so and I'll post a short review.

 

In the meantime, the one I have in my home is the aposonic R22 - it is an 8 channel. Definitely a Chinese model, but they have distributors here in the US that provide tech support. I bought it because I wanted full remote setup (via browser) and access from my android phone. There are others that do that, but this one was pretty flawless. The place I bought it actually offered a setup service - I let them log into my home computer and they took over and set the whole thing up for me. I don't recall exactly but I think I paid about $250 from some outfit in Houston - I would have to look it up if you wanted to find them.

 

BC

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Did you get a dvr yet? I have a ge 4 camera cs unit slightly used for $500, all paper work and wave reader disk.

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I have had a few problems with my cheap DVR, it doesdn't pay to save too much because it appears that

the old saying "you get what you pay for". I can't even stand the VGA monitor ion top of it unless I want

to hum God Save The Queen all the time. I had to make a shroud in 1/2'" ply to place over the DVR and

support the monitor without humming or bending the case

 

Mine is as light as a feather and it repeatedly vibrates, and the BNC inputs are so close together that if I

didn't already have a pr of needle nose pliers to twist the BNC I most certainly would have had to do so.

 

Until today, I have only used two cameras out of the four my DVR will support. I was testing another

camera which I am soon to install and my DVR started flickering that channel, but it wasn't the camera

I had attached to that channel but one of the existing cameras? It has a three year warranty, but if it's

going to spend most of the time getting repaired then I'd have been better spending more on a sturdier one.

 

Spend a few more $ £ etc, you'll have fewer issues and it will probably record better. You may not realize

it now but buy cheap and these warnings will ring in your ears.....

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