Trying to decide which route to take. Home Security. Lorex vs all else

[vtwinjunkie]

Hey all. Total newb here to home security and this is my first post.

I have some basic IT background and have a general understanding of network technologies although I am far from a guru.

I have been seeing that a local distributor of Lorex products has had some very good deals lately (currently it is an 8 channel NVR with 2TB of space and (4) 4mp HD cameras:
What's Included:

• 8-Channel 4K-Capable HD NVR with Security-Grade 2TB HDD (LNK71082T)
• 4 4MP Super HD Indoor/Outdoor Cameras (LKB343B)
• 4 100ft (30m) CAT5e Extension Cables
• HDMI Cable
• Ethernet Cable
• Power Cord (for NVR)
• Mouse
• Remote Control
• Quick Setup Guides

all for $500

I was leaning towards this route based on price, what is included (product, app, support, etc)

However...

I already have a very nice 2TB mac mini at the house that I could use to load Blue iris, a 5gb external drive that I can use for backups or partition for additional storage , purchase a small POE switch fairly cheap and a few hikvision cameras online and set it all up myself for much much cheaper, correct? That seems like the cheaper option but since I have no real life experience besides what I have read here I wanted to hear others experience on it.

Any help or experience that you all could provide would be great!

Thank you

 

[mat200]

Hey all. Total newb here to home security and this is my first post.

I have some basic IT background and have a general understanding of network technologies although I am far from a guru.

I have been seeing that a local distributor of Lorex products has had some very good deals lately (currently it is an 8 channel NVR with 2TB of space and (4) 4mp HD cameras:
What's Included:

• 8-Channel 4K-Capable HD NVR with Security-Grade 2TB HDD (LNK71082T)
• 4 4MP Super HD Indoor/Outdoor Cameras (LKB343B)
• 4 100ft (30m) CAT5e Extension Cables
• HDMI Cable
• Ethernet Cable
• Power Cord (for NVR)
• Mouse
• Remote Control
• Quick Setup Guides

all for $500

I was leaning towards this route based on price, what is included (product, app, support, etc)

However...

I already have a very nice 2TB mac mini at the house that I could use to load Blue iris, a 5gb external drive that I can use for backups or partition for additional storage , purchase a small POE switch fairly cheap and a few hikvision cameras online and set it all up myself for much much cheaper, correct? That seems like the cheaper option but since I have no real life experience besides what I have read here I wanted to hear others experience on it.

Any help or experience that you all could provide would be great!

Thank you

Hi vtwinjunkie,

Suggest you do not just look at the price point, but what you need or want to accomplish with your security cameras.
( example, do you park your cars on your driveway? on the street? in the alley? .. worried about package thieves? .. or just want to watch your dogs.. )

A lot of us here really like the Dahua OEM starlight cameras for low light performance, and thus I recommend you add that to your considerations.

Lorex disables the Dahua IVS features, so while their kit maybe Dahua OEM some of the features have been stripped out. This may not make a difference to some, and others who are using Blue Iris will have BI handle those features.

If you are considering Lorex, I would also add the $800 kit from Costco as something to consider, we have a thread on that here:
FYI - Some local Costco B&M have a Lorex / Dahua OEM 4K 6x camera kit and 8 port NVR for $800

There were some other deals for Lorex kits in the BF-cyberweek and through the end of Dec which have expired.

The nice thing about the Lorex NVRs is that you can add a couple of the Dahua OEM starlights to them ( should also work with the kit you are currently looking at imho )

For more on the starlight models please see the notes below:


It's easy to get swamped with information here, so I wanted to share some notes with you

Please check out @giomania 's notes:
Dahua Starlight Varifocal Turret (IPC-HDW5231R-Z)

I have also made notes which are a summary of a lot of the reading I've been doing here,:
Looking for some advice and direction!

Have fun joining us here.

 

[vtwinjunkie]

I was actually looking at that kit but I shit the bed on ordering in time! haha.

I am not in a huge rush so I may actually wait until another sale comes to play. I think the 800 deal you referenced actually had a $200 rebate or something of the sort as well! which would have made it a stellar deal.

Thanks for the great info! I will def have some reading to do now!

 

[mat200]

I was actually looking at that kit but I shit the bed on ordering in time! haha.

I am not in a huge rush so I may actually wait until another sale comes to play. I think the 800 deal you referenced actually had a $200 rebate or something of the sort as well! which would have made it a stellar deal.

Thanks for the great info! I will def have some reading to do now!

Hi Vt

I had not heard of a rebate on that - please let me know if you find more info on that, that would be a killer deal. As is, people are making money flipping that kit on ebay right now.

 

[mordzy]

Hey all. Total newb here to home security and this is my first post.

I have some basic IT background and have a general understanding of network technologies although I am far from a guru.

I have been seeing that a local distributor of Lorex products has had some very good deals lately (currently it is an 8 channel NVR with 2TB of space and (4) 4mp HD cameras:
What's Included:

• 8-Channel 4K-Capable HD NVR with Security-Grade 2TB HDD (LNK71082T)
• 4 4MP Super HD Indoor/Outdoor Cameras (LKB343B)
• 4 100ft (30m) CAT5e Extension Cables
• HDMI Cable
• Ethernet Cable
• Power Cord (for NVR)
• Mouse
• Remote Control
• Quick Setup Guides

all for $500

I was leaning towards this route based on price, what is included (product, app, support, etc)

However...

I already have a very nice 2TB mac mini at the house that I could use to load Blue iris, a 5gb external drive that I can use for backups or partition for additional storage , purchase a small POE switch fairly cheap and a few hikvision cameras online and set it all up myself for much much cheaper, correct? That seems like the cheaper option but since I have no real life experience besides what I have read here I wanted to hear others experience on it.

Any help or experience that you all could provide would be great!

Thank you

Hi, I came across your post following a google search for the Lorex cameras I’d seen at Costco in England.

I’ve been looking at ubiquiti g3 and g3 pro amongst nest Swann and arlo systems.

It’s not that it’s confusing in terms of quoted spec. But rather software functions. I’m not keen on a subscription and like you have a mini Mac (core i5 16gb 2tb) id bootcamped to windows and installed ubiquiti’s nvr. I work in IT so have a expert grasp of hardware software and networking so IP based stuff is a natural want.

The ‘home’ solitons such as nest and the netgear arlo stuff have odd usb-c type power cords rather than poe which was a bit of a turn off though feature wise seem far in advance of anything else.

I’d be interested in what you decided in the end and why. How’s it working for you and would you change etc.