Some Questions Before Purchase

[krooz]

I've been using a computer based USB security camera in the house for some time. It works good most of the time but I'm wanting to upgrade to a full indoor/outdoor surveillance HDCVI system - Amcrest units are the ones I keep coming back to - but I have a few questions....

- I'm looking at going with the 8CH 720P vs the 1080P.... trying to save some money, so for a home based unit 720P should be sufficient?
- What's the range of flexibility for the bullets and dome cameras - can I get a 90 degree angle with either one?
- Where's everyone placing the DVR? I'm thinking it should be hidden but needing access with a mouse and cabled to the router that doesn't seem practical?
- Does the system reboot if there's a power loss or do I need a UPS? (We lose power quite frequently but usually only few a few seconds)
- I assume motion detection can be set individually for each camera? (probably only set it for a couple of the indoor cameras)

I probably have more questions but that's all I can think of right now.... thanks for any advice!

Krooz

[bigdawg86]

- I'm looking at going with the 8CH 720P vs the 1080P.... trying to save some money, so for a home based unit 720P should be sufficient?
Depends on what you are trying to accomplish, but I personally enjoy my 1080 system as it seems a little more future proof.
- What's the range of flexibility for the bullets and dome cameras - can I get a 90 degree angle with either one?
I believe they are listed at 75° field of view. In terms of actually camera pointing, they both are about the same in terms of where you can aim them.

- Where's everyone placing the DVR? I'm thinking it should be hidden but needing access with a mouse and cabled to the router that doesn't seem practical?I ran my camera cables to exit the wall behind my entertainment center. The DVR is by my cable box, roku, AVI receiver, and plugs into my flat screen. I didn't want to have a separate screen somewhere. Running it to my home TV works great.
- Does the system reboot if there's a power loss or do I need a UPS? (We lose power quite frequently but usually only few a few seconds)
Reboots
- I assume motion detection can be set individually for each camera? (probably only set it for a couple of the indoor cameras)
Yes it can be set individually, and up to 4 zones per camera

[bennor]

I'm looking at going with the 8CH 720P vs the 1080P.... trying to save some money, so for a home based unit 720P should be sufficient?

For some 720p will be sufficient for others it won't. It all depends on what your trying to capture with the cameras. If your trying to capture license plate cameras on a car out on a road then unless you place the camera out by the road you won't get a clear image of the plate. With the 720p HDCVI cameras they are good for capturing cleaer images of people/items within 15 to 20 feet or so of the camera. Remember they're 1 megapixel cameras. Night vision is the same way.

- What's the range of flexibility for the bullets and dome cameras - can I get a 90 degree angle with either one?

The cameras generally (per Amcrest's product pages) have a 75 degree viewing angle. If your wondering about mounting the cameras the domes might give a bit more flexibility since once the bullet cams are mounted you loose some flexibility on how the camera can be repositioned without removing the mounting from the wall/ceiling.

One can read the camera user manuals for more information:
http://amcrest.com/fileuploader/downloa ... 724655.pdf

- Where's everyone placing the DVR? I'm thinking it should be hidden but needing access with a mouse and cabled to the router that doesn't seem practical?

Some mount the DVR with their TV/audio/visual/media equipment to pipe the display to their TV. Others hide the DVR in remote places to try and prevent the thief from stealing it if the location gets broken into.

- Does the system reboot if there's a power loss or do I need a UPS? (We lose power quite frequently but usually only few a few seconds)

Yes the system will reboot (provided the power switch is left in the on position) upon power loss. A UPS is a good idea as, obviously, the system won't record without being on backup power during a power loss.

I assume motion detection can be set individually for each camera? (probably only set it for a couple of the indoor cameras)

Yes motion detection can be set individually for each camera. It will take much experimenting with motion detection to filter out unwanted alerts.

[krooz]

Thanks for the responses. After studying where I could actually mount my cameras I decided to go with a 4 camera system (5 would be nice though!) since some of the areas I was thinking wouldn't do me much good and then there's the cost savings too. Of course, I want 2 bullets and 2 domes and those sets are on back order! Everything on hold now til they're restocked.....

Krooz