Given some recent events, I decided to get a camera system. For the low price of $700 found at Costco.com (at the time of this writing), I feel I have had good enough results with the Q-see QSD6209 9 channel DVR System. As far as functionality, this thing is far from professional but is good enough for a one day project for any DIY’er.
First the good:
- Price - $700 for a 9 camera DVR system is a great price
- Bigger Hard Drive - I called Q-see to see if I could upgrade the standard 250GB drive and they said yes. I popped open the box and swapped the SATA drive with a 500GB with no problem. Once the system booted, it formatted the drive and I was ready to go. The person from Q-see did tell me the max was 500GB so I am not sure about anything higher.
- Long 60 foot cables (I actually had to pick up 3 50 foot extensions which was easy and cheap.
- VGA, BNC, RCA USB, or web for viewing the video.
- Home alarm system hook up.
- Availability to upgrade to motion sensors.
- Night Vision camera.
- Color cameras
Now the bad:
- The web interface is horrible and most people wont use it. Their software is not signed by Microsoft so it wont install from the web interface unless you turn off your Active X security controls. Just take care of that Q-See!
- Did seem to freeze or at the remote was not responsive at one time
Honestly, it is a great price to deter theft and catch some punks doing pranks in the act. Other people might want to consult a professional but for the DIY person, this kit is perfect.
You can pick up yours at Costco.com