Recommendation for newbie

techcanuck

n3wb
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Hey guys, this is my first post. Every time I google something it takes me to this forum so I thought I should just make my membership official since this is where all the experts are :)

I'm just getting started and need some help. I bought Blue Iris and currently have a cheap wanscam IP cam in my garage (good enough for that). Looking to set up a DECENT one for the back yard now with POE. I need approximately 90 degree viewing angle. I was going to go with Reolink RLC-420 and got scared off from all the bad posts about it here and amazon so now I'm down to Dahua and Hikvision. My max budget is around $100 US with a bit of wiggle room but from what I can see, I should be able to get a decent Dahua or Hik in that ballpark or even half of that.

I've been on a bit of a goose hunt and every time I find something, I stumble on a complication. I was looking at DOME cameras and then found out TURRETS are better. So now I want a turret.

I was almost set to buy Hik DS-2CD2342WD-I-2.8MM but it's on the expensive side. Then I came across Dahua IPC-HDW4431C, but then realized it's an old model and the new one is IPC-HDW4433C-A. Then, I found out that it wasn't as sharp as others, and I came across IPC-HDW4631C-A.

So looks like IPC-HDW4431C-A might be a good bet but instead of keep on going with my research, I thought I would just ask here in case once again I'm reading old posts.

I don't need overkill. Again, I just want something sharp for my back yard to record 24/7, 90 degree viewing angle (+/- 10%), good night vision and most importantly SHIPS TO CANADA. I also don't think I need to care about firmware upgrades (right?), since I'm using BI in a closed network. I also find it difficult to find places that ship here and when they do, it's an extra $20 taxes and another $20 import fees, which end up almost doubling the price!

Sorry for the long post, that's all. Hopefully I posted in the right forum, if not, admins kindly move the post. Thank you all
 
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techcanuck

n3wb
Joined
Sep 24, 2018
Messages
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Location
Toronto, Canada
Thanks for the doc, great info. Just wondering if you can elaborate on "best to avoid". I understand that firmware can't be upgraded without reverting to Chinese, but are there any other issues? I guess warranty is another. But again, if I'm running Blue Iris in a closed network (I block the camera IP from internet access), security isn't a huge concern and probably don't need any feature upgrades.
 
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