Home Security DVR Systems, Now Affordable for Homeowners
January 22, 2009 – 8:52 pm
It wasn’t that many years ago that home surveillance cameras were only for the wealthy, and even if you could afford a camera and a recorder, the quality of the technology tended to be… lacking. Today cameras and a complete home security DVR system, while not cheap, are affordable for many homeowners.
A home security DVR is a digital video recorder that stores camera images and sometimes even live video feeds. Think of it as TiVo for your indoor and outdoor cameras.
For less than $500, you can get a system that includes a DVR set and four cameras: Q-see 4CH Dvr with 250GB HDD & 4 Cmos Cameras
If you already have cameras, you can also buy stand-alone DVR systems for less than $200: Q-See QSD004-160 4 Channel Motion Detection DVR with Pre-installed 160GB Hard Drive
Do make sure to read reviews and do your research before making a purchase though. You often get what you pay for when you pick up the really low end (read: cheap) models.
Home Security DVR Hard Drives
Before you buy, make sure you know whether or not the DVR comes with a hard drive. This should be included but sometimes the manufacturers will offer bare bones systems that are inexpensive but require you to purchase a hard drive separately.
Different DVR recorders come with different size hard drives, and you may wonder how much storage space you need.
This depends largely on how you plan to use the camera DVR system. Will you only have the cameras record when motion is detected? You don’t need much space if that is the case. Or will you be recording what’s going on in and around your premises 24/7? You’ll need a much larger DVR hard drive to store continuous footage, especially if you’re away for extended periods at a time.
Typical DVR Features
If you’re simply looking for an effective DVR system that works with your cameras (and you’re not looking to spend a lot of money), then you might not get a lot of features. Some features you might want to look for, though, are:
- A counter — this makes it easier to check what was going on at a certain time during the day or night
- High resolution image quality — in order to save space, some systems don’t allow a high resolution image quality, but if your camera is high resolution and you want to be able to clearly see faces and what not, you may want to go with one that allows a better image quality
- Motion detection — if you choose a DVR with a smaller hard drive, you may want a surveillance system that only starts recording if something happens
- USB transfer compatibility — if you think you’d like to transfer images to your computer for permanent storage, then look for a system that allows for this
- Manual deletion of recordings — some DVRs handle file deletion (they delete old stuff when the drive becomes full) and don’t let you delete manually
- Audio playback — if your cameras can record audio as well as visual, it makes sense to buy a DVR that supports this feature
Even though basic units don’t always have all the bells and whistles (or even simple conveniences), the affordability of home security DVR systems today is great. Where security and surveillance systems like this once set you back thousands of dollars, it’s possible to set up a decent system today for less than $500.
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