NVR -vs- PC-NVR

[Evolution2001]

Hey Everyone...new guy here.
Just dipping my toes into the POE NVR waters.
I am currently testing a few different cameras from various vendors. Of the Amcrest lineup, I have the IP8M-2496EB-40MM and the IP8M-T2499EW-40MM being put their paces. I was trying to get my hands on the IP8M-2597EB-28MM, but it's been OOS for a few weeks now. According to customer service, there's no ETA. Anywho....

So far, I've been fairly impressed with the cameras and the multiple ways to access them.

The PC-NVR software bundled with the free Amcrest Surveillance Pro software seems pretty robust and fairly easy to configure. As a test, I used my laptop with a 960TB SSD as the initial test for recording a single 4K stream over the past 20 hours. It appears to have handled it quite well. I was able to view a recording and export a snippet out to an MP4 file. So my next move is to try recording to a media sever setup on my network with terabytes worth of free space.

So my question is: What benefits would be gained by spending $500-$600 for the NV5216E-8P NVR (+HDDs)? It seems rather superfluous at this point. Am I missing something?

[longedge]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

In addition to my IP cameras, I have an NVR which is completely stand-alone i.e. it's an isolated closed p.o.e. network with no connection either to my LAN or the WAN. I prefer having two independant systems so the only single point of failure is the power supply.

I imagine that the downside to ASP/PC-NVR for some people is that you have to leave your computer on 24/7 although that is what I do and always have both ASP and PC-NVR running. For some people, gamers for instance, it wouldn't be acceptable but if you're able dedicate a spare computer to the task then it's a matter of personal choice as I see it.

[Evolution2001]

Thanks for the "welcome", longedge!

My MediaServer stays on 24/7/365. It's also on a beefy UPS, which serves it well for being an "always on" device as NVRs usually are. It also has my beefiest GPU (Nvidia RTX 2070 Super), so if Blue Iris utilizes GPU processing power and/or CUDA cores, that's an additional benefit.
I've been getting farther and farther from the idea of a standalone NVR like the NV5216E-8P simply because their interfaces are traditionally much more limited in the 'ease of use' department (e.g. lack of keyboard input, exporting video). They are very much streamlined, single-use devices. Anything extra, even just a simple export of a recording, requires a computer or smart phone. So why not just skip the dedicated NVR and use a computer from the jump? Some camera vendors even have such a robust mobile interface that an activity such as 'export video clip' can be done from the mobile app.

So yeah, I guess in my case, since I already have a PC that is on 24/7/365, I can add in a Surveillance-grade HDD ($100, 4TB) and Blue Iris ($60) and still be hundreds less than a standalone box with less functionality.
I certainly understand it's a different value proposition if someone doesn't have a dedicated PC.

Thanks for your input! While your reply is the only one thus far, I don't anticipate many responses offering significantly different viewpoints in favor a standalone NVR.