Home surveillance system....

[Bikerscum]

Night b4 last my 09 Vibe got broken into in my driveway. Broken isn't the right term... apparently I was stupid enough to leave it unlocked. No damage to the car, the perp took my sat radio & some stuff from the console.... probably So now I'm wanting to see what's going on out there. Wouldn't have stopped the theft while I slept, but maybe I could get the punk on tape. Anyone have experience/recommendations with outdoor surveillance systems? I'd like to keep the system under $500 if possible, 4 cameras minimum, actual real night video, use my PC as the dvr. Oh, and wireless would be nice. lol I've seen the X10 6 camera system for $279 shipped. Is it the junk it looks like? Thanks for any help! John

[oriden]

logitech makes an execclent system with high quality video night and day.we installed them at work around the shop and the front gate.the only thing is with this type of purchase you get what you pay for!

[Bikerscum]

Well, I ordered the system from Costco.com. DVR, 8 cameras, night vision, etc. ($700 marked down to $400) Internet monitoring, hell... I-Phone monitoring.. it seems to pretty much have it all. It's true you get what you pay for, and I don't expect to be called in by CSI to provide evidence, but I think It'll work for me. One thing I learned thru Net research is that you need 2 cameras for each location.... one wide angle to see what's going on, & one zoom to see who's doing it. The 8 cameras in the Costco system are just that... 4 pairs of wide/zoom. Worst case... Costco has a NO questions asked return policy. I'll post again when I get it, & get it all set up. John

[Caretaker]

thanks John. I for one will be waiting for your write up and am very interested in purchasing the same.

[northvibe]

ive been looking for a system for my dad... the problem is cheaper cameras w/ "night vision" only use ir led's and they dont go too far. So I need to do some research...

[oriden]

costco doesnt carry that in my area !we would be intrested in putting some farther down the landfill site covering the cell's and to watch over some of our equipment as some one has broken in to the loader and the excavator.

[Water boy]

Quick local story.In a downtown housing area a lot of the homes were getting broken into. One guy just knows it is a matter of time for "his turn" so he installed a bunch of cameras. Sure enough he got his A/V equipment stolen. All of his cameras caught them in the act.The only problem was that cameras were mounted high and the only description he could give the police was that the 3 persons wore hoodies.Gotta get their face to do any good.Anyway... tryhttp://vitamindinc.com/demo.phphttp://www.yawcam.com/

[Bikerscum]

Got the Costco system, played with it for a couple of days, returned it. Pretty bad.... facial recognition was maybe 20 feet daylight, 10 feet night. To make things worse, the LED's around the cameras glow bright red at night.... instant BB gun targets. I'm thinking of ordering the Lorex system they have on sale for $699.... but kinda wonder if I'm just kidding myself at this price point. To their credit.... the lady at Costco asked why I didn't like it, then started counting out 20's on the counter.

[BadBrew]

http://www.x10.com always had cheap surveillance stuff, wireless, night vision, etc... A lot of starter packages.I use their stuff for home control, never bought cameras yet.

[AdmRose]

Gotta be careful with external cameras in a residental area. One poorly aimed camera and suddenly your neighbor is suing you for invasion of privacy.