Powertelecomm

Thanks Tom for the info. I've forwarded your message to our technical staff...

Does anyone have experience with port scanning that Dan is referring to? I sent Dan an email requesting for the software that he used to perform a port scan, but I have not yet heard back from him.

Based on what Dan told me before, it seems almost logical that whenever hackers use port scan to hack into the DVR, DVR shutting down would be preferred for safety reasons. Regardless, I would like to let our engineers take a look at the issue and have them recreate the situation if possible. Any recommendation/feedback would be appreciated.

Hi,

I'm not sure where you bought the unit, but please feel free to send an email to tech@powertelecomm.com for support.

You can also email me with your contact info and I'll have someone give you a call.

sam@powertelecomm.com.

Thanks,

Hi Roger,

Please keep in mind that Anti-Virus programs like McAfee and Symantec software take up lots of CPU power and should not be running on a dedicated PC DVR.

Good luck

If you want just great recording quality, then you should get a DVR with MJPEG or Wavelet compression rather than MPEG4. MPEG4 is good due to small image file size which is preferred for network transmission. Also, MPEG4 also allows you to record more video on the HDD compared to MJPEG or Wavelet but you are sacrificing resolution in return.

If you are planning on using the network feature extensively, then I would recommend an MPEG4 machine. If you are just going to use it every now and then for simple "check ups", then MJPEG or Wavelet machine should do the job at a lesser price.

In terms of Stand Alone (Embedded) vs. PC, it's all based on personal preference. Some people like cold pizzas and some like it hot, but they're both good either way...

IDIS is probably the biggest DVR company in Korea right now. However, they don't sell directly in US because they have an exclusive rep in the States (I can't recall the name right now). I think PACOM sells alot of IDIS DVRs in Australia...

Rory,

I'm not sure which Toshiba laptop model you have, but most Toshiba support questions can be answered thru this link:

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_modSel.jsp

good luck,

A friend of mine is a system integrator and he uses Supermicro for his high-end dual xeon systems. I don't know if their boards offer the specs that you're looking for, but you should check them out...

Good luck.

They are from the same manufacturer. However, even though they list the units to be 8-ch DVRs, I think a 4-CH picture was used on the first link and 16-CH picture on the second link.

It looks like the 773 which is one of their more popular models. It's definitely not the 780 because 780 is their MPEG2 model and a lot more expensive than the 773.

I usually try to keep myself in the dealer section only, but I wanted to briefly mention the benefits of our new DVR "motherboard," JANUS. Its benefits probably don't apply to everyone on this board (except for its cost savings which is usually the most important factor), but it's up to you to decide if the product provides any value for you and your customers:

- Shipping cost savings compared to regular stand-alone DVRs

- Customs duty savings (computer boards have lower tax than DVRs)

- Installers can install the board in any PC case (with a USB port - for remote control IR sensor unit) of his/her choice. Then by putting the company logo on it, you now have your own stand-alone DVR solution.

- The unit could even be wall mounted or custom cases be developed for non-standard applications.

- Most importantly, COST. PM or email me for dealer pricing.

Interestingly enough, this product was the highlight of the show for us, especially for international customers. However, I do understand FredB's point as well...

In case you're wondering about its availability, we're looking at mid May for samples in limited quantities and full production in three months. Thanks.

There is no software fix that I'm aware of for this model. Unfortunately, I don't have a model that fits your needs at this time (although we're scheduled to release a new product line at the upcoming ISC West show which would be perfect for you).

If you are shopping around for a similar model that offers motion triggered recording function, just indicate your budget on your post and I'm sure you'll get at least 5 offers by the weekend. Good luck.

Unfortunately, the AV-780W does not record on camera motion detection. It only uses motion detection for video search, which is a bit odd. I'm not sure why it was made that way (perhaps an internal s/w glitch they couldn't fix?).

Other than that the unit provides good video resolution and because it uses MPEG-2 compression, network video quality is above average also.

I would recommend this model only for customers that need triplex function and use network video extensively. Good luck.

I'm pretty sure that the unit that you have does support dns, but in order to do so you'll need to register and link your dns to a dynamic ip by using one of the free sites such as www.dyndns.org. This should've been explained on your product manual. If it's not, then you should definitely complain to the manufacturer...

FYI - I believe the one you found at Fry's is the non-networkable model, which is usually priced about $150-$200 less than the network models (like the AVC-776W that Rory linked).

I'll give it my last shot...

If you were paying $1000 for a piece of junk by a vendor that sold you a high-end product (supposedly) with cheap internal components, I would agree with you.

However, if you are paying for a quality product under a different name than the actual manufacturer's, I'm not sure what the harm would be (assuming that you don't get ripped off on price). Does this make sense?

kaysadeya,

I understand what you are saying, but I don't think you should take as them trying to deceive you. As any supplier goes, they want to label their own products to differentiate themselves from the competition.

We buy Safeway brand colas and other grocery items, but we know that Safeway doesn't make their own products. We buy GE microwaves, but GE no longer manufactures small appliances. Even though Safeway and GE don't manufacture their own products, we still buy those products because we have faith in the corporate brand.

kaysadeya,

I don't think you should be too concerned about whether you are buying from the manufacturer or not. If you are worried about post-sales technical support, contacting the manufacturer directly could be the worst thing to do since they won't concern themselves with a customer that bought only one unit.

Best thing to do search for a unit that has the features that you're looking for and buy it from a dealer with a good reputation (reasonal prices and good support). Also, remember that when you're dealing with low-end items, there will mostly likely be a horror story or two from these professionals for any product you evaluate. Remeber, they go through many units a month using various equipment and they've seen it all.

Good luck.

Typically, XP systems has a minimum 256MB memory requirement for even standard Windows apps such as Word, Excel or Internet. Once you start running video applications, memory and CPU power become more critical.

My customers that use 16-ch GeoVision cards typically use at least 1GB RAM with high speed P4 or Xeon CPU. I'm not sure if GeoVision cards use software or hardware compression, but I believe software compression based boards tend to be more resource intensive which leads me to believe that GeoVision cards use software-based compression. Can someone confirm?

Can you expand on the problems with the AV Tech 777 unit? We were one of the beta testers for their 777W and so far everything has been good for us. I sold few to our clients and so far the feedback has been great.

If 777 model was really problematic, I can't imagine the manufacturer not fixing those problems and releasing a new version. I'd appreciate your feedback. Thanks.

I'm fairly familiar with Security Camera World. In fact, they are in the process of evaluating some of our products. We actually have one of their 16-ch models with network option (777 model). This DVR is a low cost "no frills" unit that is stable and from a reputable manufacturer. Personally, I've never tested the first model on the site so I can't really comment either way.

Let me know if you are interested and I'll PM or email you with the price. Since you seem to be in SF, you can actually stop by our SJ office and demo it before buying if you'd like.

Well, I think you need to decide on the number of channels first. Since you have 6 cameras already, it make sense to go with 8/9-ch DVR. Then set a budget amount. Without a budget you can end up spending anywhere upto $2000 for a full-featured unit.

Then, make a list of "must have" features such as frame rate, HDD size, remote access function, PTZ control, and other requirements. Based on the info, I could recommend you one of ours or another model that best fits your requirements.

For 4 and 8/9 ch DVRs, I think stand-alone is the way to go in terms of price unless you are looking for a DVR unit with all the bells and whistles such as real-time recording, CD-R, VGA output, multiple HDDs, etc.

If your application is not critical, there are many stand-alone DVRs under $1000 that provide decent frame rate, stability and compression. Good luck.