Subscriber Discussion

Suggestion For Low Cost NVR / HD Analog DVR?

KJ
Kenny Johnson
May 12, 2016

Hello, we have using some pre-built (chinese Dahua) NVRs and HD Analog DVRs for a while now...

We are looking for something that is a little better quality hardware.
Trying to keep from having hardware issues before the 1 year warranty is up.

We need to keep the price reasonably low though... Dahua one's price for a 16 channel is low... under $500

3k for 16 cams would price most of our small biz customers out...

1k for the whole nvr would be workable

Any suggestions?

I looked at Orchid and was not a big fan...

Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
May 12, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

What hardware issues have you been having? We have used many Dahua products over many years and have had very few issues. I can't remember having a DVR or NVR go bad. I've had a few with too small of a PSU, but that was an easy fix. I've had hard drives fail (mostly Seagate) from time to time.

Without knowing your pains, I cannot recommend a solution.

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KJ
Kenny Johnson
May 12, 2016

NVRs that get too hot and burn up a LOT of hard drives. WD surveillance and Seagate surveillance

NVRs that have serious recording flaws and wont play back correctly. No help from the supplier!

NVRs with fans that go out and they overheat and die.

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Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
May 12, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

I don't think we've had a single WD Purple drive failure to date. I do know that I've seen multiple Seagates die. I've never been a fan of Seagate since the 7200.11 fiasco. They have been known to ship production drives with beta firmware that allowed the drive to be booted 500 times, then die. Thousands (Millions??) of people were affected. You only knew about the issue after it was too late.

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KJ
Kenny Johnson
May 12, 2016

Oh, also its almost impossible to get their cameras anymore. Our supplier is changing to a different product all together...

Firmware issues where the NVR will not update the time on each camera

etc, etc.

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Avatar
Jon Dillabaugh
May 12, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

While I don't share all of the same experiences with you, I have had some fans die too. That is just the nature of sleeve bearing fans. I usually just find some good ball bearing fans for replacement. In the PC world, this is commonplace, so I just roll with the punches.

As far as the flaws about recording, that I don't think I've heard before. Not doubting you, but just wondering if it may have been a config issue? The biggest flaws we experience are due to their crappy software, with the exception of their excellent mobile apps. PSS, Smart PSS, Config Tool, etc. all have their own major issues.

One recent example is the newest Config Tool 4.0 looks much different from their past versions of the tool. We found that using this tool to set the IP address on IP cams has a flaw. Even when setting a static IP, it leaves the radio bullet for DHCP/Static set for DHCP when viewed by the web interface.

We also have one 3MP IP cam that insists on enabling motion detection on the camera (we use server side motion) and keeps locking up the camera. We keep disabling the motion, but it keeps getting enabled all by itself. Gremlins!

Another big annoyance is retrieving footage from any of their recorders. If you are using motion recording in addition to general recording, the exported video will be cut up into multiple clips, depending on if it was general recording or motion recording. There isn't a way to stitch these files together in their software.

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U
Undisclosed #1
May 12, 2016

There is some stuff with better warranties (e.g. OpenEye three years). Also have you looked at Ganz or Samsung? Can't speak to the quality though.

JH
John Honovich
May 12, 2016
IPVM

1, does OpenEye support HD analog? I do not see it on their website.

Samsung is rolling out HD analog and worth considering, though worth noting their format (AHD) is incompatible with existing Dahua (CVI).

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Jon Dillabaugh
May 12, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

I also forgot to ask this before, but why do your Dahua DVRs only have a one-year warranty? I'm pretty sure most dealers offer a two-year warranty.

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DW
David Westberry
May 13, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Just throwing this out because we have a successful relationship with and they have been good to work with.

LTS

http://www.ltsecurityinc.com/

They OEM Hikvision, Dahua and Brovision. We use their Hik line. Prices are reasonable and warranty on the Hik line is 3 years. They also use WD Purple for their HDDs. Knock on wood, we have yet to have a bad recorder in the last several years.

U
Undisclosed #2
May 14, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Bro OEMs Hik, no?

MI
Matt Ion
May 14, 2016

We've had good reliability in general with both Hik and Dahua. Been using Hik more these days because it's cheaper (both NVRs and cameras), and easier to source locally (ADI carries a bit of Dahua under the Storm brand, but has a far wider selection of Hik), but I much prefer the web interface, thick client, and mobile apps Dahua has vs. Hik's.

I've noticed that Dahua's AHD stuff is going pretty cheap though, only slightly more than regular analog and substantially less than their IP offerings...

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John Bazyk
May 17, 2016
Command Corporation • IPVMU Certified

You could look at Digital Watchdog. We have not used their VMaxx IP Plus NVRs, but they seem stable. The new DW app they've got one for the apple tv too which is nice. DW also has a new A1 analog HD DVR that supports TVI.

dw
dean woodyatt
Aug 31, 2016

has the pattern changed nowadays for low cost NVR's,

what are people using for a cheapy 4 channel? - Hik, Dahua, univision? any others?,

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Jon Dillabaugh
Aug 31, 2016
Pro Focus LLC

I haven't sold a 4CH DVR in years. The cost delta between a 4CH, 8CH, and 16CH are so small, it's worth it to upgrade to a larger unit.

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Christopher Uiterwyk
Aug 31, 2016
IPConfigure

"Looked at Orchid" on the RaspberryPi or ? What didn't you like about it?

Regards -Chris

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U
Undisclosed #2
Aug 31, 2016
IPVMU Certified

"Looked at Orchid" on the RaspberryPi or?

Is that the best place to look at it?

Avatar
Tyler Blake
Sep 01, 2016
BCI Integrated Solutions

For cheapy 4ch just go with Hik. That would be my recommendation if you want to keep cost low and switch from Dahua. Half of the brands you buy anyway are just rebranded Hikua so might as well just get one without paying the relabel markup.

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