CCTV - which to buy?

BWZN93

Hi there!

So im looking to purchase a CCTV system for my home, I would like 2 cameras (one for the front and one for the back of the house) with a decent hard drive. Ive found two options on the internet that appear to fit th bill, but I don't really know the differences between the various spec’s to make an informed choice about what is best. I have approx £250 to spend on this purchase.

AT the front of the house, i have a garden of approx 4m and then there is the path and the road beyond that. This camera will be angled across from the corner of the house to get the biggest view across the property to cover the driveway and approaching the door/side of the house. At the back, the garden is approx 25m long, and the start of the garden shed/summerhouse is at approx 20m so this camera will also be on the corner of the house and angled to show the side access and across the garden and shed. Nothing particularly has happened in the street (a drunk driver smashed up some cars just before we moved in however, and we get a lot of traffic due to the school up the road and a local football ground), its a fairly good neighbourhood but we have only lived there for a couple of months and are renovating the house so there is a lot of people coming and going at times. Additionally, both my husband and I work irregular schedules and this is for peace of mind.

The two options I have found thus far are:
https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/lorex-1080p-4-channel-1tb-dvr-and-2-camera-cctv-kit-a15xt

And https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/swann-4channel-tvi-dvr-2camera-3mp-pir-cctv-kit-swdvk-447802-uk/version.asp#/maindesc

My limited understanding suggests the swann option from laptopsdirect has the better camera quality but im not sure. I also wonder if anyone has any recommendations for other units; once ive picked something i will most likely wait for a week or two incase a black friday deal comes up on the unit.

If anyone can give me a hand understanding this and picking a system that will work best for the money id be most grateful!

Thanks

Frozen_up_north

I have a Swann IP based system with 4M pixel cameras. They (like all similar systems) are poor during dark nights, initially they appear impressive, but the camera shutter speed drops down and movements appear as a blurry image making identification of an individual almost impossible. They will show that trespassers were around but that’s all. During daylight the image quality is very impressive. The movement detection works well, both day and night.

The claimed infrared range isn’t achieved in practice, you will get perhaps 30 or 40 feet in total darkness, slightly more with bright streetlights.

You need to buy junction boxes, the suggested method is to tape over the RJ45 plug/socket... less than £2 will get you a weather resistant box from Screwfix. The supplied network cable isn’t suitable for outdoor runs, consider buying proper outdoor grade cable if it will be exposed to sun/rain. You have to fit large RJ45 sockets through the wall, it needs a large and long drill bit to go through a cavity wall.

You will need to be able to reach the cameras without ladders, using a paint brush on a stick if necessary, or reachable from an upper window. In warm weather spiders will be drawn to the cameras on a daily basis with associated de-webbing.

Consider adding a UPS to avoid glitches in the mains supply upsetting the system, a 400 to 700 VA unit by APC will set you back less than £100 and works well.

The Swann recorder box is very noisy in use (mainly fan noise), choose the installation location with that in mind.

forgotmyname

Just because a camera has a higher pixel count does not equal better quality.

Years ago i bought a 2MP Fuji 2800 camera, excellent quality coming up from the VGA camera it replaced. When 4MP cameras came out i thought double the quality.. WRONG!!! The 4MP polaroid was utter junk. It was awful. I gave it away at xmas.

£250.. Get yourself a (upto) 16 channel recorder off ebay (same product that maplins sells for much more).
Then get some 2nd hand panasonic security camera's. The quality will far exceed the cheap cams that come with those kits.