Neighbor wants what I have but that's not going to happen.

Flintstone61

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I don't want to get in the way of Andy's livelihood, but the 5th Generation of Amcrest NVR's are out now, much the same as the Dahua 5216 but probably stripped down a little....
You can order them from Amazon, ebay, Amcrest.com.....
 

Flintstone61

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the 4th generation nvrs are now less money.......
 
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Flintstone61

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Andys cams will work on mine linked above,,,, tried a 5442 and couple other varifocals. the nice thing, is that if you want to import the streams into BI, you can have both Worlds.
 

Flintstone61

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You might be able to save a few dollars on non critical locations with an Amcrest cam.....But if you can get 5442 varifocal turrets outside, if def go that way
 
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noted. I know nothing about what makes one NVR better than another NVR :) Is why I went Blue Iris route and DIY server build.
I'll know more after seeing what budget is. I see that 5 series Armcrest is around $500 for NVR alone (no HD).
 

Flintstone61

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Ja, for that money, Andy is a better deal i bet.......The Condo, only gets a cheaper 4th gen, LOL.....it's only for 2-3 cams.
 

JeffCharger

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My next door neighbor is becoming more aware of vehicle crime increasing in the neighborhood and wants to upgrade his 2 cameras: Ring doorbell and wireless above garage door.
I showed him my setup (Dahua 5442's, 5231's etc) with Blue Iris. He likey.
However, I would not be too keen on explaining to him my setup as it's way down the DIY rabbit hole. So an NVR package would more suitable. Something like set it and forget it.
I know Dahua cameras, but no other brands such as Hikvision or Axxis. I know local contractors who go all in on Hikvision. I know Home Depot & Lowe's (big named corporations) go with Axxis...so I would feel more comfortable telling him to buy a Dahua NVR package.
I've never purchased a NVR package kit. What cameras come with these? Are wireless cameras also an option?
And since it's not a Blue Iris machine...how does the Dahua NVR setup & GUI work? AOK?
haha, you realize that your neighbor is ultimately going to join this group when he starts to go down the rabbit hole....

I think he could start out with an NVR solution, and get motion detection emails etc. If he wanted more than that, he could always add a PC and BI, and pull all NVR camears into BI.
 

wittaj

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Yeah @Holbs I would not recommend he go down the box kit NVR/camera route - they strip too much out and put them on inferior MP/sensor ratios, and the NVRs are limited in bandwidth to 88Mbps and it will just struggle. It will cap bitrate at 4092 for the cameras.

If he goes the NVR route, buy the components separate so that you get the right camera for the right location.

But with that said, when I was looking at replacing an existing NVR, once I realized that not all NVRs are created equal, and once I priced out a good one, it was cheaper to buy a refurbished computer than an NVR.

The Dahua OEM 5XXX series is $320 for an 8 camera version and $370 for the 16 channel. These are rated at 320Mbps (compared to 88Mbps for box kits). And these do not include a HDD.

So for $320 someone can find a very capable refurbished PC and toss BI on it and not be limited to 16 cameras...
 
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Yeah @Holbs I would not recommend he go down the box kit NVR/camera route - they strip too much out and put them on inferior MP/sensor ratios, and the NVRs are limited in bandwidth to 88Mbps and it will just struggle. It will cap bitrate at 4092 for the cameras.

If he goes the NVR route, buy the components separate so that you get the right camera for the right location.

But with that said, when I was looking at replacing an existing NVR, once I realized that not all NVRs are created equal, and once I priced out a good one, it was cheaper to buy a refurbished computer than an NVR.

The Dahua OEM 5XXX series is $320 for an 8 camera version and $370 for the 16 channel. These are rated at 320Mbps (compared to 88Mbps for box kits). And these do not include a HDD.

So for $320 someone can find a very capable refurbished PC and toss BI on it and not be limited to 16 cameras...
Well, he does have Fortnite aged kids so maybe they know about maintaining a computer. I'll have to ask him if he wants my input.
 

wittaj

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Well, he does have Fortnite aged kids so maybe they know about maintaining a computer. I'll have to ask him if he wants my input.
I am sure the kids would love to get a new Fortnite gaming computer and then he turn the existing one into the BI computer. He becomes best dad ever :lmao:
 
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Left Coast Geek

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that gaming computer probably has a 200 watt video board in it, tho... not something you partiicularlyl want running 24/7 in a NVR
 

sebastiantombs

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A gaming card won't draw 200 watts unless it's being used for something. Idling, they draw about 10 watts, if that, and with a moderate load, like DeepStack AI, they draw around 50 watts. Those numbers are based on an NVidia GTX970. Even under max load it draws about 150 watts.
 

Flintstone61

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Just remember, like sebastiontombs said, " you become tech support." there are not as many options on the NVR and less settings to screw up. 1 man, armed with an Optical mouse, can FUBAR BI in three clicks. LOL
 

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while I've not used any of the modern NVRs, I presume they simplify camera setup ? as it is, with the mix of dahua and hikvision cams I have now, the exposure settings for night vision etc are pretty funky, each camera has its own webservice to set them up.
 

wittaj

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A NVR is an underpowered computer and with the Blue Iris computer you turn off Windows updates and the uptime and powerdraw will be comparable to a NVR.

If you are concerned about power consumption, according to my kill-o-watt meter, my computer for BI uses less than my NVR does. In fact, for the true test, I actually still have an old NVR going just for kicks and backup until it dies.

We had a power outage recently and the BI computer lasted the entire outage on backup power and the NVR did not - two separate backup units but the exact same model purchased at same time. You run the computer without the monitor on and BI runs as a service and you don't run anything else on it and the power isn't really as much as you think.

If a neighbor asks for advice and you set him up with an NVR, you will be the tech support LOL, so get him lined up with something you know...I got my neighbor Andy cams that he uses with his Lorex NVR and I am his tech support for that NVR lol.
 

wittaj

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while I've not used any of the modern NVRs, I presume they simplify camera setup ? as it is, with the mix of dahua and hikvision cams I have now, the exposure settings for night vision etc are pretty funky, each camera has its own webservice to set them up.
Nope because with an NVR, you still log into the camera GUI to make those settings. If set in the NVR, they may not hold, especially if the camera and NVR are not the same brand.
 

Arjun

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dang still on the 5xxx series? It’s been over 4 years, when is the 6xxx series Dahua NVR coming out?
 

Flintstone61

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If your not technically proficient, and the BI looks like Neolithic cave scrawling to you, and it's your neighbor, do you want to be over there every other night for 3 months? :) LUCy!? Ju got some Splainin to do!
 
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