pinchecat wrote:will the management of my apartment complex get mad if i punch holes in the ceiling to run the wires through the walls? (Y/N)

Only if they know about it. Patch what needs patching when you leave. No harm; no foul.

anyone know if this thing is useful when it gets stolen?

edit: not finding anything useful online for being able to get whats captured off the device. hope no one steals the whole thing. nomsain.

n3kfh wrote:Nope. Try this link to the same model.
http://www.zmodo.com/8-channel-h-264-real-time-surveillance-security-dvr-6.html

I corrected the original link in my first post (you're right, wrong DVR), and this is the closest thing I can find to the kit now--correct me if I'm wrong this time:

http://www.zmodo.com/complete-security-kits/8-channel-dvr-system/zmodo-8ch-cctv-security-outdoor-ir-camera-dvr-system-500gb.html

This is gonna be great for sleepovers!!

Re. iSight cameras as surveillance. I bought this app for $5: http://skjm.com/icam/. (Also seems to be on android)

Unless I come back and amend my recommendation it's doing what it is supposed to do and letting me watch four isights at once and pushing alerts on movement to my iPwn. If you already have the computers and cameras it seems like a better deal. ;-) of course, the first thing the thieves will take are the computers! So maybe install a burglar alarm with monitoring if you are really concerned about thieves. IMHO, home surveillance is really just for watching the dog from the coffee shop. ;-)

scottyz6 wrote:This is gonna be great for sleepovers!!

Sex, Lies, and DVR!... Gone Wild!! :-D

Could you get higher quality video by only using 4 or 6 cameras by using this DVR instead of the 8 that come with it?

I bought a security system a few months ago but you really need security cameras to compliment them. I don't want to spend too much on cameras but I would say these are a must. In recent weeks, there have been several break-ins around my neighborhood. Really considering...

Refer to the thread on the 4 camera Zmodo system from a previous woot for good evaluations of the motion sensitivity, and system setup trouble shooting (including supported iPhone/blackberry/Android apps)

http://www.woot.com/Forums/ViewPost.aspx?PostID=4522247

....
You're killing me Woot. I don't need a second surveillance system, yet here you are tempting me.

Does anyone know if this unit includes a fan for the case?

Extremeeric from the previous woot discussion posted some fantastic thermal images of the unit with the case on and off, and it raised some heat collection concerns for some of the wooters...

domthewop wrote:Is this the same system, or different?

http://www.amazon.com/ZMODO-Surveillance-Outdoor-Camera-System/dp/B004Y3VKYO

It's the same unit but different package as that one only has 4 cameras.

I'm not an electrician, but the power supply to the camera concerns me a little. Usually 8 cameras and up there is a power distribution box. Just saying.... I still might buy it.

showcaller wrote:Wow. Sounds like my kind of neighborhood! any idea how many square feet the homes are and how much they are going for?

His house is about 2,000 sq ft and he's getting ready to default on his mortgage and bug out because he's the only one left who actually has a legal mortgage. Everyone else is a squatter.

pinchecat wrote:If someone kicks in his front door in the middle of the night they'll automatically be standing between your friend and his Mossberg. If he doesn't move it to the bedroom he's gonnna be the one getting "boomed" on.

He keeps a loaded .38 police special on his nightstand.

Screw it....I bought a PS3 today and it needs to be played. I can't wait on a reply so I just bought one.... The dvr is worth at least $200 with a hard drive. Stop thinking and buy.

Forget all this BS. Money can be spent on the arts, to enlighten the mind and those you know. If it comes down to this sort of surveillance, life is degraded. I'm listening to music on a $1500 computer, but if somebody wishes to use violence or thievery to obtain what I have, then I hope they enjoy it in the same way I do. Does anybody understand? Love your brother!

I have returned several of these exact cameras due to the IR leds stop working in groups until it is black at night. Done shipping them back, I am looking for a different brand of cameras.

Or cheaper and better? They'll never find the DVR. http://www.it-echo.com/2010/01/30/meridian-pont-simulated-battery-operated-security-camera-sc-12-2082.html

nastyducky wrote:He keeps a loaded .38 police special on his nightstand.

Ah, so they can just shoot each other then. Brilliant.
Does he also have some ribbon and tape around to put a bow around the whole thing when the officers show up to investigate the scene?

tphili17 wrote:Let's say I buy these to prevent people breaking in my house and stealing stuff.
1) The thief can steal the DVR unit itself. Any way these can stream to an offsite storage system?
2) Assuming I captured video of the thief, how well does the video hold up in court? Does this imprint a timestamp, or have any measures to prevent alteration of video or identify when video might have been altered? (Things I imagine a defense attorney might use to counter the evidential weight of the video.)

In Miami-Dade County Florida the police don't even care for a copy of the video. If the bad guys don't walk right up to the camera and spin it around they just knock it off the wall. The only thing these things are good for is if you know the person that is on the video.

Make sure not to cross the streams, I mean feeds!

Quentin2 wrote:Forget all this BS. Money can be spent on the arts, to enlighten the mind and those you know. If it comes down to this sort of surveillance, life is degraded. I'm listening to music on a $1500 computer, but if somebody wishes to use violence or thievery to obtain what I have, then I hope they enjoy it in the same way I do. Does anybody understand? Love your brother!

Can I have your stuff? I swear I'll enjoy the hell out of it and pass it on when I'm done.

Do they cameras record only video? What about audio? Or do I need a different camera for recording audio and video?

Or: http://www.hughessecuritysolutions.net/Fake_Security_Cameras_From_Hughes_Security_Solutions_s/4.htm

you have been WARNED!!!

DO NOT BUY!!!

These cameras are no good. I have them in my restaurant.
I bought them for $300 from newegg but the performance is no good. The quality is no good, they are soo sensitive to day light or electrical light. You dont see any image. My cherry color chairs show grey on the tv. How? I have no idea.

Don't buy

Are these good for ghost hunting?

iyinus wrote:you have been WARNED!!!

DO NOT BUY!!!

These cameras are no good. I have them in my restaurant.
I bought them for $300 from newegg but the performance is no good. The quality is no good, they are soo sensitive to day light or electrical light. You dont see any image. My cherry color chairs show grey on the tv. How? I have no idea.

Don't buy

Because the cameras are infrared sensitive (no IR filter) they are sensitive to a wider range of light, which tends to result in some loss of colors. My yard appears gray instead of green in daylight without an IR filter.

CrazyLemming wrote:Ah, so they can just shoot each other then. Brilliant.....

I'm a dead shot so there will be no shooting at each other; one shot, the violent offender that initiated this crime on my innocent family and myself will ot be around to harm any other innocent victim.

Brilliant? Yes, much more than your Liberal mindset. Tell me, how would you defend yourself when a crook invades your home...politely ask them to leave? Now that's brilliant!

Eight cameras....overkill for my condo.

Here is some info on surveillance from Wikipedia

I bought the 4 channel kit the last time. The cameras are not very good. There is no fan to keep the hard drive cool. And Zmodo's customer service sucks. I've sent 2 emails because the power supply failed after an hour of use and no response.

DO NOT BUY

russela wrote:Thinking about it. Got some bored punks in the neighborhood ringing my doorbell at all hours. Either this or the Mossberg?

Hanging a "GOT SIG?" bumper sticker, on or visually near the door, can be an amazingly effective suggestion, to convince said individuals to find another property to pester. Adding a couple of these cameras, set up to intersect, covering one anothers' peripheral, would also help capture their discussion re "Oh Geez! What's a Sig? Do we want to find out?.....Maybe we should go bug that old lady, down the street."

hoddicka wrote:Hanging a "GOT SIG?" bumper sticker, on or visually near the door, can be an amazingly effective suggestion, to convince said individuals to find another property to pester. Adding a couple of these cameras, set up to intersect, covering one anothers' peripheral, would also help capture their discussion re "Oh Geez! What's a Sig? Do we want to find out?.....Maybe we should go bug that old lady, down the street."

I have found that if I put a couple of those "bullet hole stickers" on the inside of my windows so it looks like I am shooting outward and a couple empty shotgun shells around the doorstep and people infer the meaning of SIg. A ribbon of tattered yellow police tape hanging off the doornob does not hurt either.
Regards,
d

Quentin2 wrote:Forget all this BS. Money can be spent on the arts, to enlighten the mind and those you know.

An excellent idea! Buy three, place the cameras all over the interior of your home, and make your own reality tv show!

ThatPoshGirl wrote:Are these good for ghost hunting?

That's EXACTLY what I just bought them for.

I don't know about a time-stamp, but I am a defense attorney. I think I'd have a hard time persuading a judge or a jury that each frame with the perp's face in it might have been Photoshopped, or that the defendant should be exonerated because the DA failed to prove that the defendant broke in on Wednesday rather than last Saturday, for example. If that's my defendant's defense, I start talking plea deal.

If anyone does have a break-in, I'd suggest getting the security unit in the hands of the police asap, because they have "chain of custody" procedures that will help in court.

tphili17 wrote:Let's say I buy these to prevent people breaking in my house and stealing stuff.
1) The thief can steal the DVR unit itself. Any way these can stream to an offsite storage system?
2) Assuming I captured video of the thief, how well does the video hold up in court? Does this imprint a timestamp, or have any measures to prevent alteration of video or identify when video might have been altered? (Things I imagine a defense attorney might use to counter the evidential weight of the video.)

This is the same model as the 4 camera system, just with another 4 cameras added to the hi3515rbc-100 chip. I still have not hooked up a JTAG to these units to crack the Telnet passwords... Anyone else done this yet?

Kingu wrote:I've used this in a retail setting. First and foremost, if you plan on using it to discourage more than petty shoplifting, it's not going to be effective.

So, you're saying I won't be able to use this to prevent, say, my car from getting stolen? Is there something magic about the value of the item being stolen that prevents the cameras from working? Seriously...I don't think I've seen a more poooonyic statement online in a long time.

I know what you are thinking . . . can this be used to film your "bedroom adventures" from multiple angles? The answer, of course, is yes.

BamBam0099 wrote:I'm a dead shot so there will be no shooting at each other; one shot, the violent offender that initiated this crime on my innocent family and myself will ot be around to harm any other innocent victim.

Brilliant? Yes, much more than your Liberal mindset. Tell me, how would you defend yourself when a crook invades your home...politely ask them to leave? Now that's brilliant!

Really? A dead shot in the middle of the night when woken up unexpectedly in little to no light? I'm no "dead shot" but a fair shot. Maybe that's why the first time the alarm went off in the middle of the night, I felt completely scrambled and not fit to hit a side of a barn with my Mossberg I keep next to my bed.

Looks to me the other poster was questioning the positioning of weapons rather than having weapons at all. I'd keep the shotgun closer to me in the bedroom than the other way around. I actually have a .38 in a false drawer by the front door. And what's this liberal knee-jerk response? It makes you sound some kind of crazy hypersensitive gun nut.