I have been doing tons of reading on this forum and elsewhere, but was hoping someone would chime in to confirm I am on the right track with my thought and findings. I am looking to put in an NVR with 4-5 cameras and at this point and want to pick one "ecosystem" and stay there. Goals are to be able to use live view to see who is at the door or if anyone is in the driveway, recorded viewing secondary but with motion detection so that we can catch interesting events on camera with local wildlife or (hopefully not) anyone venturing into our yard. Hikvision and Dahua seem to each be good choices and have their proponents so I am sure either would be a good solution. Initially I was leaning heavily towards Hikvision until I started playing with the phone and computer applications.
Hikvision:
-The web interface for the demo systems load well on PC and Mac which is a big plus, but while it looks full featured, it seems to lack the "polish" of Dahua's
-iVMS4200 works on both PC and Mac, did not seem as polished as SmartPSS, but possibly more functinal.
-iVMS4500 on iOS would not connect to any of the demo systems. People in the iOS app store are complaining an update broke it, which is a big concern. I don't carry an Android anymore but the Android store reviews seem to not be reporting this. Maybe this is just an issue with these demo systems but not being able to remote view could be a deal killer. Everyone else seems to say Hikvision hands down has the best mobile app though, so I am presuming/hoping my test experience is not a good example of what to expect.
Dahua:
-The web interface requires plugins to log in (Although there was mention on the NVR52xx thread about a firmware update changing this perhaps? That could be a huge difference maker) and from Windows I could only get into it with Internet Explorer. Forget about getting into it from my Mac. That is a pretty major concern as Macs outnumber PCs in this house. Once into the web interface, it looks more polished and friendly and plenty functional.
-SmartPSS works great on the Mac and PC, looks very polished and seemed possibly faster/more stable than iVMS4200. Might have a few less features than iVMS-4200 but I may just be saying this because iVMS seems more technical in nature.
-iDMSS Lite on iOS seems to work great. The Dahua demo systems don't have recorded playback ability (and I think I'd need to buy the paid app for that anyway - which is fine), but the app loads super quick, feeds load quickly, etc.
I don't see any huge glaring functionality differences between the two web interfaces. I know a guy who works with OEM Hikvision and he says he loves them. I did a network setup for a building using a rebranded Dahua (Q-See) and thought that seemed pretty snazzy, but otherwise have no direct experience with them.
Being a computer guy, the security concerns of backdoors are pushing me towards getting something I can get timely firmware updates to, but I also plan to isolate these on my network and most likely access via VPN anyway. The prices on AE for international version, updatable Hikvision units had me leaning that route. Still generally get the idea that Hikvision is going to release updates more often. Is that the general feeling? Dahua appears to have firmware updates too but my reading indicates that they either did not do this in the past or are not expected to be timely with updates - right?
The NVRs I was eyeing were (with the idea of getting headroom for processing power/camera capacity, also plan to use a separate PoE switch for noise reasons):
Hikvision DS-7616NI-I2 - Last FW update 2/28/2017 per Dahua site
Dahua NVR4216-4KS2 - Last FW update 2/24/2017 per Dahua site
Dahua NVR5216-4KS2 - Last FW update 7/21/2016 per Dahua site
Frankly as I just went to look at the firmware dates I was surprised the 42xx Dahuas were as current as they were, but surprised the 52xx series was not.
I know it may seem backwards as the cameras are probably the most important factor here, but I am hoping to narrow down NVR choice first to narrow down camera choices. My thought is that if this is not easy to use from the UI perspective (web/mobile/software) then we will not get full value/enjoyment from a system, so would love some input there.
Camera-wise (determinate on NVR choice of course as I want to match brands) I figure I am looking at 4MP Hikvision fixed domes or turrets (but leaning domes for easy cleaning) or figuring out if Dahua's 4MP dome or dropping down to the 2MP range for a starlight is worth it (less detail vs better nighttime illumination). I am not against putting in an IR illuminator in areas where needed either. It would appear that generally Hikvision camera options have seemed less expensive vs Dahua, but I admit to not know the Dahua lineup yet to know what to look at.
At this point I find myself leaning towards Dahua but want to make sure I am not missing something here. Would appreciate any feedback anyone might have here. Thanks!
Hikvision:
-The web interface for the demo systems load well on PC and Mac which is a big plus, but while it looks full featured, it seems to lack the "polish" of Dahua's
-iVMS4200 works on both PC and Mac, did not seem as polished as SmartPSS, but possibly more functinal.
-iVMS4500 on iOS would not connect to any of the demo systems. People in the iOS app store are complaining an update broke it, which is a big concern. I don't carry an Android anymore but the Android store reviews seem to not be reporting this. Maybe this is just an issue with these demo systems but not being able to remote view could be a deal killer. Everyone else seems to say Hikvision hands down has the best mobile app though, so I am presuming/hoping my test experience is not a good example of what to expect.
Dahua:
-The web interface requires plugins to log in (Although there was mention on the NVR52xx thread about a firmware update changing this perhaps? That could be a huge difference maker) and from Windows I could only get into it with Internet Explorer. Forget about getting into it from my Mac. That is a pretty major concern as Macs outnumber PCs in this house. Once into the web interface, it looks more polished and friendly and plenty functional.
-SmartPSS works great on the Mac and PC, looks very polished and seemed possibly faster/more stable than iVMS4200. Might have a few less features than iVMS-4200 but I may just be saying this because iVMS seems more technical in nature.
-iDMSS Lite on iOS seems to work great. The Dahua demo systems don't have recorded playback ability (and I think I'd need to buy the paid app for that anyway - which is fine), but the app loads super quick, feeds load quickly, etc.
I don't see any huge glaring functionality differences between the two web interfaces. I know a guy who works with OEM Hikvision and he says he loves them. I did a network setup for a building using a rebranded Dahua (Q-See) and thought that seemed pretty snazzy, but otherwise have no direct experience with them.
Being a computer guy, the security concerns of backdoors are pushing me towards getting something I can get timely firmware updates to, but I also plan to isolate these on my network and most likely access via VPN anyway. The prices on AE for international version, updatable Hikvision units had me leaning that route. Still generally get the idea that Hikvision is going to release updates more often. Is that the general feeling? Dahua appears to have firmware updates too but my reading indicates that they either did not do this in the past or are not expected to be timely with updates - right?
The NVRs I was eyeing were (with the idea of getting headroom for processing power/camera capacity, also plan to use a separate PoE switch for noise reasons):
Hikvision DS-7616NI-I2 - Last FW update 2/28/2017 per Dahua site
Dahua NVR4216-4KS2 - Last FW update 2/24/2017 per Dahua site
Dahua NVR5216-4KS2 - Last FW update 7/21/2016 per Dahua site
Frankly as I just went to look at the firmware dates I was surprised the 42xx Dahuas were as current as they were, but surprised the 52xx series was not.
I know it may seem backwards as the cameras are probably the most important factor here, but I am hoping to narrow down NVR choice first to narrow down camera choices. My thought is that if this is not easy to use from the UI perspective (web/mobile/software) then we will not get full value/enjoyment from a system, so would love some input there.
Camera-wise (determinate on NVR choice of course as I want to match brands) I figure I am looking at 4MP Hikvision fixed domes or turrets (but leaning domes for easy cleaning) or figuring out if Dahua's 4MP dome or dropping down to the 2MP range for a starlight is worth it (less detail vs better nighttime illumination). I am not against putting in an IR illuminator in areas where needed either. It would appear that generally Hikvision camera options have seemed less expensive vs Dahua, but I admit to not know the Dahua lineup yet to know what to look at.
At this point I find myself leaning towards Dahua but want to make sure I am not missing something here. Would appreciate any feedback anyone might have here. Thanks!