Best deal on Cameras

[RykoPro]

This looks like a very good deal from Sams club

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=391433&pCatg=11678

Has anyone tried these or can I get an IP addressable system for even less? This is for my home, so 4 cameras are plenty, but night vision would be nice..... Looking for comments and suggestions.
Thanks,
Mark

 

[mac]

Can't tell if it's a good deal or not. Doesn't say what , if any, hard drive comes with it. Some cheap units have none, all they do is view, not record. Does it have the feature of only recording when motion is detected. Can parts of the views be marked so as not to detect motion. This is important if a camera sees part of a street or blowing trees. Monitor? Varifocal lens? Night vision? Battery backup? Lockable hard drive? These are all nice features to have. Also, very important, who does tech support? Some lady named Alice in Pakistan? There are good deals out there, you just have to know what it is you want, and then ask if this has it.

 

[RykoPro]

You have to scroll down for the specs. it has a 160 gig hard drive, records up to 6 months of video.

 

[MEP001]

It's a decent price for a mediocre system. One issue I have with it is the record resolution which is poor. You won't get anything clear with it, such as facial detail.

 

[JustClean]

My experience with CCTV:
Bought some cheap crap from Ebay, half of it was okay, rest went into the bin, bought some better crap that also went into the bin, went for an expensive card and that works okay.

I still paid less than a professional company would charge me but I also have no support (except for the card). My advise is: If you have no idea get a pro. If you think you can do it yourself talk to as many people as you can about their system and listen to their experience. There is a lot of rubbish on the market!

My system:
Geovision GV-1480 computer card, 500GB HD, 4GB RAM
15 cheap cameras plus 1 expensive number plate camera
separate 26" monitor

 

[Clintearl]

Check out CCTV Factory

I used this company and was very happy. Installed myself. I sent them a diagram of my wash and they helped me setup a system. Weo other people used them and were happy. Much cheaper and a quiality system.

 

[Red Baron]

Been there done that. I bought an el cheapo Netrome 4 camera system that was identical to a system they sold at Sam's. That was about 2 months ago and 1 of the cameras has already called it a day.

A few weeks ago I bought a WDR camera to replace the cheapie that went bad -- bought it from Allen Spears at www.carwashcameras.com and I can't say enough about ther service. Their Jennifer handles orders and stupid question with respect and effeciency. Instructions were straight forward enough that even I could install it. I did notice that one of the cable ends was different than my cable so I ran all over Lubbock to find an adapter/wire. Radioshack didn't have it so they sent me to an electronics store who did have it. When I got back to the car wash and looked in the box, Allen had already sent the adapter I needed -- just needed to look for it.

Invest a little more money and do it right the first time.

 

[MEP001]

Instructions were straight forward enough that even I could install it.

Were you holding the instructions upside-down?

 

[washnvac]

I agree with Red Baron. www.carwashcameras.com is the best deal going for the money. I am getting ready to replace all my GE Storepros with their stuff. They just recently lowered pricing with a new DVR system. Tech support is the best I have ever seen (Jennifer). On another note, I used to deal with Adtek Security out of Jacksonville, FL. Does anyone know what happen to them? About a year ago, the phone went disconnected and their website was gone. Just curious?

 

[RykoPro]

I agree with Red Baron. www.carwashcameras.com is the best deal going for the money. I am getting ready to replace all my GE Storepros with their stuff. They just recently lowered pricing with a new DVR system. Tech support is the best I have ever seen (Jennifer). On another note, I used to deal with Adtek Security out of Jacksonville, FL. Does anyone know what happen to them? About a year ago, the phone went disconnected and their website was gone. Just curious?

I do not see any prices on this site. This is for the house so I would like to keep the cost low. I check the resolution of the Sams DVR and the say this is about the same as youtube. I am not sure how this would be too low of a resolution for home use? I just want to keep an eye on the house and the property line while I am away. I am going to call Sams for more info and see how their customer service is.

 

[MEP001]

I've seen the Sam's DVR set up and in operation at one club before customers managed to destroy it. The resolution is pretty good, a lot better than a YouTube video, in fact I'd say equivalent to a standard VHS tape. It also has internet access, which you can view "anywhere," but I don't know whether or not it requires a computer with a specific software installed to do it.

I'm not very familiar with IP cameras, but from what I understand they require no hardware on-site and the video (both live and recorded) can be viewed on any device that can connect to a specific IP address, such as a palm pilot or a cell phone with internet access.

I'd probably go with a simple PC card and mid-range cameras for such a task.

 

[Red Baron]

I do not see any prices on this site. This is for the house so I would like to keep the cost low. I check the resolution of the Sams DVR and the say this is about the same as youtube. I am not sure how this would be too low of a resolution for home use? I just want to keep an eye on the house and the property line while I am away. I am going to call Sams for more info and see how their customer service is.

Sam's CS is nonexistent in our town. I called their manager some months ago and told him: "I just wanted you to know that I stood in your electronics ailse with a check in my hand trying to spend $500 on a camera system. Three employees did their best to avoid eye contact so as not to have to deal with me. Twice another of your employees paged someone to help me, to no avail. I've decided that you don't want my $500 as much as I'd like you to want it, so I'm going elsewhere." He gave me the standard halfhearted apology.

 

[RykoPro]

Thankfully the support actually comes from the manufacture. I agree that Sam's club has terrible customer service in the store. I think I will try this system:

http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=364641&pCatg=11678

It has good reveiws and should have the capabilities I need.

 

[MEP001]

In-store support at various stores is very dependent on area and individual management. The Sam's I go to had trouble finding something I was trying to buy, and they were apologizing all over themselves, and it at least seemed genuine. I've been to a Sam's where I tried to ask an employee who was walking by a question about something, and without even breaking stride he just said "I don't know." Same with Home Depots in my area - at some you can't get help to save your life and the cashiers have a bad attitude, others have great employees.

 

[raisetheprice]

I have 2 netrome systems. One has been flawless, the other has given me remote viewing problems, but I finally got those corrected. Not the greatest money can buy but if installed indoors and at lower heights, the face recognition would be much better. That lower cost dvr system from carwashcameras sounds like a great deal. I would have went with that and still might someday.

 

[RykoPro]

I bought the SVAT cameras from sam's club online. They sent the cameras to the house and my wife had to refuse delivery because the box was crushed! I called Sam's and complained so they gave me 90.00 off the price! So now I have 500.00 bucks into a 4 camera system (5 if you count the fake one) and it works great. I can control everything over the internet, including playback. The support was great from SVAT and I was told will continue for as long as we own the camera's.