I got my first security camera installed on the front porch and I'm planning on installing 3 more around the house. I've been debating myself on whether to go with a dedicated hardware NVR or a PC + Blue Iris setup.
My first camera was a Foscam (and I'll probably go with Foscam for the others), so if I go with a NVR, I'm looking at http://foscam.us/network-video-recor...m-fn3104h.html. I've played around with the software for it, and it's very basic but does all the essentials.
I've also been playing with the Blue Iris trial and it's fantastic!
The reason I can't decide is because the NVR solution is less than $100, probably more reliable than a dedicated windows machine, and probably consumes less power for an always on machine.
Blue Iris claims to want a pretty decent machine to run well (i5/i7) depending on number of cameras, resolution, etc. It's probably something that neither my Homeseer machine (Celeron) or my home server (Pentium) can handle in addition to their other duties, so I'd probably have to spend at least $500 on another windows PC, and then $60 on the BI software. That and the reliability issues that go along with setting up another dedicated windows pc.
I really like all the features that come with BI, but since I don't have experience with security cameras in the past I'm not sure if any of those features are really a must-have or just a nice-to-have.
Anyone else try out both ways? Which way did you go with and why?
My first camera was a Foscam (and I'll probably go with Foscam for the others), so if I go with a NVR, I'm looking at http://foscam.us/network-video-recor...m-fn3104h.html. I've played around with the software for it, and it's very basic but does all the essentials.
I've also been playing with the Blue Iris trial and it's fantastic!
The reason I can't decide is because the NVR solution is less than $100, probably more reliable than a dedicated windows machine, and probably consumes less power for an always on machine.
Blue Iris claims to want a pretty decent machine to run well (i5/i7) depending on number of cameras, resolution, etc. It's probably something that neither my Homeseer machine (Celeron) or my home server (Pentium) can handle in addition to their other duties, so I'd probably have to spend at least $500 on another windows PC, and then $60 on the BI software. That and the reliability issues that go along with setting up another dedicated windows pc.
I really like all the features that come with BI, but since I don't have experience with security cameras in the past I'm not sure if any of those features are really a must-have or just a nice-to-have.
Anyone else try out both ways? Which way did you go with and why?
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