DVR with PoE or separate PoE/PoE+ switch

[26vLHz]

My current NVR (NVR5216-16P-I) does have good analytics for most home users.
It does the job! Live view, recordings, IVS recordings and mobile alerts.
and these days the really basic Lorex (Dahua OEM) have some analytics on the cameras and the NVR supports linking them together.


I got this NVR for the price of a 12Tb Skyhawk HDD... and it included two 6TB Skyhawks with it lol. I scored well on that deal (it was a demo unit at a cctv company).
Brand new, this NVR is well over $2,000 NZ.
At retail price, I would have just gone with a VMS. You can build a magnificent VMS machine for $1,000 and it would have far more powerful analytics.

Not to say that NVR's don't have their place:
If you are the average user who want's an 'all-in-one' unit and doesn't mind that 'what you get, is all that you will get'. Then an NVR is fine for you.

A VMS is ideally the ultimate solution, but it does take some tinkering beyond the average person's ability.
Heck, there are people who are so un-tech-savy that they settle for Ring.
So an NVR is a technical level between those two (IMO).


The power of Blue Iris (and other VMS's like Milesight) is that it is flexible, It can be updated, there can be plugins (e.g. text messaging) and it accepts many brands/generic cameras.
Best part of a VMS is that the amount of analytics done is only limited by the power of the computer it runs on. That usually means upgrading a component in the computer when needed. Far more flexible and upgradeable.


So absolutely correct response you got 26vLHz.
Choose your level.
Cost factor between the two my vary, but a VMS is probably cheaper in the long run (in terms of upgradability and used business PC's are cheap).

^my 2 cents worth of opinion.

i see. i've had a dvr/nvr with the analog cams. it is ok but as far as flexability, forget it. updates, forget that too. it is stuck in ancient history.

so l like the idea of a VMS <=1k. though i'll have to research the forums for some example builds and costs. and compare that to a good NVR. thanks for the reply and help.

 

[wittaj]

When I was looking at replacing an existing NVR, once I realized that not all NVRs are created equal (the bandwidth it can process is a huge limiting factor), and once I priced out a good one, it was cheaper to buy a refurbished computer than an NVR.

Many of us buy refurbished computers that are business class computers that have come off lease. The one I bought I kid you not I could not tell that it was a refurbished unit - not a speck of dust or dents or scratches on it. It appeared to me like everything was replaced and I would assume just the motherboard with the intel processor is what was from the original unit. I went with the lowest end processor on the WIKI list as it was the cheapest and it runs my system fine. Could probably get going for $200 or so. A real NVR will cost more than that.

A member here a couple months ago found a refurbished 4th generation for less than $150USD that came with Win10 PRO, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB drive. You won't find a capable NVR cheaper than that...