On Tue, 31 Jul 2012 08:54:05 -0700, Smitty Two wrote:

In article ,
Dean Hoffman " wrote:

On 7/29/12 7:27 PM, Smitty Two wrote:
Asking for recommendations for a video camera/recorder system for home
security. Costco sells several "Q-See" brand packages, but I'm a little
skeptical about the quality, based on the price. I'd rather buy 2 or 3
high quality cameras than 16 mediocre ones. (OTOH I'm not much
interested in ****ing away money unnecessarily.)

More or less open to any suggestions about specific brands to buy or
avoid, or suggestions on other aspects of the overall system that I
should be paying attention to.

Burglar alarm is monitored, and sheriffs DO respond quickly, but I'd
still like to get clear images of anyone who decides to do a smash and
grab when no one is home. Have no idea how many pixels that would
require, or other camera specs. I've seen too many TV shows of liquor
store robberies where the security footage falls way short of providing
clear images of the perps.


I ended up with a Clover (Wisecomm) brand. It works ok but isn't
all that clear. I can recognize me walking across a yard. It has a
recording card, and a 7" monitor. Two cameras.
I learned a couple things. "Wireless" isn't. The cameras and the
dvr/monitor need 120 vac. Wireless means the cameras don't need to be
directly wired to the receiver. I thought briefly about using some sort
of solar setup with an inverter. Summer is a busy time for me so I
didn't pursue that thought. It was easier to wire up some 120 vac.
The other is the cameras aren't meant to be out in the open. I think
the term is "weather resistant". That means they're meant to be under
an overhang or otherwise protected from direct rainfall.
My intention was to buy the Svat brand. They were on backorder so I
passed on those. Another one I looked at seriously was called Defender.
Look at the ones on Amazon. There is a lot of commentary about the
ones sold there.
It looks like a couple companies build several versions/brands. The
pictures and descriptions seem very similar.

Thanks, I have spent some time on Amazon and as usual am frustrated by
their ****-poor attempt at creating a useful "sort and select"
algorithm. McMaster Carr gets an A in e-commerce, Digikey gets a B, and
everyone else on the planet gets an F.

I'd take Amazon's revenues.

I appreciate the brand-specific suggestions.