4/8 Channel NVR Setup - Lots of Questions!

yesman

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Ok so I am starting from scratch here so bare with me as I've been researching only long enough to get myself in trouble. I am building a pretty low-budget system for my home and plan to have probably no more than 4 cameras (initially 1-2) but would like to future proof the system so that I can upgrade certain components as tech improves (4k cameras etc.)

A few years ago I had the Logitech Alert system with outdoor IP camera and - yes - it crapped out on my like most other people that bought on of those. Back then I was using Vitamin D on an old macbook pro and I loved it's motion tracking technology so I'm pretty excited about maybe using Sighthound with this new system. I've also noted the devout appreciation for Blue Iris on this forum as well.

How the NVR / Computer? / Cameras / Software all come together is still a little confusing to me. This is the setup I've identified to fit my budget (500-700).

NVR: Amcrest 5 Megapixel HD POE NVR 8CH Security Camera System (NV4108E) $170 (w/ 10% discount for signing up for their newsletter)
Hard Drive: WD Purple 4TB Surveillence Hard Drive: 1 to 8-bay: 3.5-inch, SATA 6 Gb/s, Intellipower, 64MB Cache WD40PURX $160
Camera 1: Dahua IPC-HFW4300S 3MP Eco-Savvy Weatherproof Hi Def IP Security Camera 3.6mm $100
Outdoor Rated Ethernet: 25 FT Cat6 Black Outdoor/Direct Burial Ethernet Patch Cable - $13
Used MacBook Pro

I was originally thinking that I could install Sighthound on the NVR itself but its a Linux box and therefore that doesn't work. Is it possible that I can use this NVR to handle all the actual recording and just configure my old macbook to run the motion capture event software thus lightening the CPU load? I could forget Sighthound and go with Blue Iris on this setup without having to rely on an old computer, correct? Has anybody even heard of Amcrest? I don't see them mentioned in this forum so that worries me. I'd appreciate all feedback on this system as I'm not feeling super confident that I'm approaching this the best way.
 
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fenderman

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Welcome to the forum. Amcrest is simply rebranding dahua NVR's. Both blue iris and sighthound are going to require modern powerful pc's.
 

ruppmeister

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Either way you go, NVR or DVR (Blue Iris/Sighthound), is up to you. The NVR is going to give you the ability to record 24/7 or based on motion just like a DVR. It will mostly come down to how versatile the system needs to be for you and how much you are looking to spend. As @fenderman has already pointed out using a DVR is going to require more horsepower. The general recommendation if you don't already have the modern computer to run a DVR is to get a system from Dell Outlets using the discounts that come and go regularly posted to their Twitter page (@DellOutlet). This should get you into a modern i5 for around $300 when the deal is good. You have to decide which way you want to go though.

Also, you might look at turret style cameras over the bullet style as they are generally better for outside use due to the IR being next to the lens vs surrounding the lens.

One last thing is that if you choose to go down the route of DVR you will want to get a PoE switch to power the camera as opposed to the NVR which gives you PoE onboard.
 
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