Surveillance System in apt building recommendations?

W

WStokes

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 26, 2009
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A friend of mine is looking to install a few cameras into the hallways of their apartment building. They dont need anything crazy high tech but just something to keep people in the right and be able to pull some footage if necessary. I dont know much about the options available but I did find this system through costco. It looks like it will do the job at a reasonable price, plus costco has an amazing return policy but he would be willing to invest a little more in a higher quality system that he wouldnt have to worry about. It looks to be expandable to 8 cameras but he said he should be fine with 4 cameras.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...ierPath=90607*4802*4803*&topnav=#BVRRWidgetID

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
If he wants basic, then that will fit the bill. Right off the bat you'll want to set each cam to record at the higher resolution (D1 - 704x480) otherwise you get ZERO detail at any range. Slower frame rate but MUCH better clarity. You can also slow the frame rate even further to save even more space as well. Depending on the user's desires, I'd say 1-2FPS would be the best balance of recording and space savings. Also make sure the cams are set to only record on motion and the 500gb drive will store a whole lot more especially given the expected traffic of a hallway. Get him to define what his retention desires are before you buy it and set it up. If he expects to be able to store a years worth of footage, buy a bigger HDD first.
 
Thanks for the quick response Nate, ill make sure he sets it at the higher res. I suggested this one to him before I posted on here and he thought 500gb was more than enough. I think he will probably need like a months worth of footage max. Its more of a deterrent than anything, only if something happens will he pull the footage and he will know within a couple days of anything happening; vandalism, theft, etc.

The main thing he was worried about is having to deal with problems that may arise from the quality of the system. He would rather spend another $200 up front and not have to deal with replacing the cameras later or some kind of issue with the DVR. Personally I think this looks like a pretty good system, if anyone has any experience with Q-See, good or bad, id love to hear it. If I don't find any real horror stories on this system I think he's gonna go with it.

Thanks
 
It'll probably be decent enough for his use. The big thing for the cheaper systems like this is that they use standard camera connections (BNC) as opposed to modular jacks which integrate both power and data into a single jack and are harder to add/replace cameras with. And like you mentioned in the 1st post, there's 4 empty channels for expansion, and basic cams are CHEAP. Their only connections are Coax and 2 conductors for power. The single best thing he can do with a system like this to maximise it's lifespan is to make sure it has plenty of airspace around it and is not going to be like on a floor collecting dust. If he has to, have him put up a good sized shelf specifically for this to keep it up out of the way. The intergrated appliance type units are normally somewhat sensitive to overheating and given the fact that it's a $300 set with 4 cams, the manufacturing quality won't be stellar, ya know?
 
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I talked a customer out of getting a 500 dollar Costco system...instead I sold them a 4 channel Everfocus DVR, 3 cameras, and a power supply. The quality is going to be far better than any package system.
 
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