Greetings from Northeast PA! I started off with a potential $3k Lorex system and ended up on this wonderful site looking at NVR's. After lurking for a while, I believe I have set on a BI build (ordered the Optiplex 5040 i7-6700 from ebay). I like to tinker with things and I'm thinking BI will give me the best option over an NVR or Zonerunner. I've tried Zonerunner and MotionEye running on a Raspberry PI w/ a USB cam, but I would definitely be on my own with those. My wife is very much on board, and I really need things to work and be easy for her to use. I looked at the NVR options from Hik and Dahua and I just didn't get the feeling she could use the mobile app. Plus, I've read about weird firmware issues causing email problems, and little to no support from the vendors. At least it seems there is a cult following of Blue Iris here on the forum, so if I need help I can get it somewhere. I am really hesitant to run a Windows system as I use linux for anything that I need to be reliable. Hopefully I have not made a mistake!
I also started off thinking I could cover my house at the 4 corners with a 2.8mm camera and be able to see everything. I've learned from posts on the forum that while I can see that someone is there, I won't be able to see their features enough or read license plates. After all, that is why you have surveillance, right? I guess when your only experience with it is what you see on the TV and in movies, you need to "reset" your expectations.
At this point, I'm really struggling with where to start. I don't know if I should focus down on a vendor and make their offerings fit my needs, or focus on my needs and make them fit a vendor? I'll probably need 8 cameras, with 4 or 6mm focusing on points of ingress/egress, and maybe a 2.8mm on the back yard to "keep an eye on the kids". Should I get one of each and play around with them on BI, setting them up in different places before I buy everything I think I need? I would love to keep this down to $2000-2500.
BTW - site mods - you should really look into making some "sticky's" in a few of the forums to help out the newbies. I belong to other sites where those are invaluable to get people started and cut down on the basic questions.
Thanks!
I also started off thinking I could cover my house at the 4 corners with a 2.8mm camera and be able to see everything. I've learned from posts on the forum that while I can see that someone is there, I won't be able to see their features enough or read license plates. After all, that is why you have surveillance, right? I guess when your only experience with it is what you see on the TV and in movies, you need to "reset" your expectations.
At this point, I'm really struggling with where to start. I don't know if I should focus down on a vendor and make their offerings fit my needs, or focus on my needs and make them fit a vendor? I'll probably need 8 cameras, with 4 or 6mm focusing on points of ingress/egress, and maybe a 2.8mm on the back yard to "keep an eye on the kids". Should I get one of each and play around with them on BI, setting them up in different places before I buy everything I think I need? I would love to keep this down to $2000-2500.
BTW - site mods - you should really look into making some "sticky's" in a few of the forums to help out the newbies. I belong to other sites where those are invaluable to get people started and cut down on the basic questions.
Thanks!
