Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card
by Digital Peripheral Solutions
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List Price: Our Price: $71.99 You Save: $28.00 (28%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card
Customer Review: Excellent home surveillance PCI DVR
Summary: 5 Stars
*** UPDATE 5/4/08: After over 1 year of use, I've made a few updates to the review. Overall, still very happy! Just wanted to add some more useful information and minor updates. ***
I'm currently using 2 QSPDVR04 PCI cards along with 8 various Q-See camears. The maximum is 4 PCI cards (16 channels) per system. The box includes the software, users guide, pci card, and 4 BNC -> RCA adapters (the 4 connectors on the card itself are BNC (video only). The RCA adapters are only used for the low-end camears - which don't normally work that well anyways. Also note that the Q-See hardware and software both appears to be identical to the Swann gear.
I do suggest a much better system than their minimum requirements, especially if you are going to use more than 1 PCI card. In my case, the 2 cards are installed in a Dell Optiplex GX280, P4 2.4Ghz, 2GB of RAM, and 250GB HD. It's a relatively cheap system and has been dedicated as a DVR PC for the cameras. I originally had a slower PIII 1GHz system doing the job, but when I added a 2nd PCI card, that was a little too much for the old Dell. While this is still well above the min sys requirements, it's still a good idea to make use of the "scheduled reboot" feature if you notice things getting sluggish after awhile. This is possibly due to some bugs in the s/w and may be fixed in the future. I always install the latest software from the website - very important.
I'm using the remote web playback/recording software so 4 other computers in the house can monitor the cameras in realtime as well as PC's located outside of the house, via the Internet (may need to make changes to your router). I should also inform you that some of the "advanced" features may require a bit of time to figure out for novice PC users. Especially considering the manual looks as though it was written in another language and then poorly translated into English.
I have a few cameras connected to these cards. (1) QSVC456C camera, (3) QS2350C cameras, (2) QOCDC cameras, and (2) QPSCDCA indoor only cameras. The DVR software is setup to record 24/7 as well as make note of motion detection. This allows me to either playback everything, or just video where motion was detected. But thanks to a 250GB HD, it can record for months without running out of space. The card is only able to capture 7 FPS for each camera (30fps total). This also applies to watching video in realtime. So images will appear "choppy," which is expected for something in this price range. It's honestly not a big issue though.
The recorded image quality is fairly good, at a maximum of 640x480 resolution it works well for home surveillance. Just don't expect to zoom into a licence plate 100 ft away like you see on TV. :) The software also allows you choose several viewing options, such as auto scroll mode that goes through each camera, in full screen, one at a time. Or, display them all at once on the screen in various formats. You have the ability to set recording to schedule, manual, and/or motion detection (the sensitivity is adjustable).
The playback software works very well. Just select a date, then scroll through the time to pick the spot you want to watch. You can watch 1 camera at a time, all of them at once, or pick the ones you want. It's similar to other video editing software that you have likely seen on your PC. The only negative here is that if you want to watch it play back in realtime, the the fastest it will go is 4x. The use of 'motion recording' is recommended due to this over sight. I'm hoping a software update will fix this important "feature."
Pros:
* Very inexpensive DVR PCI Card
* Easy installation
* Basic but very functional software
* Expandable up to 4 PCI cards
* Good video playback/record quality.
* Remote software for Live/Recorded playback via LAN/WAN.
Cons:
* Advanced features may confuse some users
* Manual needs to be re-writting in "English"
* Fast Forward needs to be drastically increased
* 30fps shared between 4 cameras
Bottom line: while there are better dedicated DVR's and PCI DVR's out there - considering the price and functionality of the QSPDVR04, I rate this card at 5 stars, and consider it highly recommended for and home/small business surveillance. Even though I didn't have any issues with the card or software, keep in mind that I am a very technical user. If you don't feel comfortable opening your PC or are a novice user - be sure to read the users guide on the Q-See site before purchase to make sure you know what you're getting into. :)
Customer Review: Good value despite a few hoops to jump through.
Summary: 4 Stars
Overall, this is a great software and hardware combo for creating a home security system. Just don't install the software that came on the disc. Instead, download the latest version from the company web site and use that instead. Once you do that, things go a lot better.
Be warned, that despite it claiming 30 frames per second recording, that's for all four inputs combined. So, if you have 4 cameras hooked up, you can only get around 7-8 frames per second on each. For me, that's fine since I only run at 7 frames per second, anyway. You really don't need much more than that. It saves space and gets the images.
Some nice touches include the ability to print stills as well as set various recording times and modes for each camera. So, you can determine when each camera records and whether it rolls full time or only when it detects motion. The interface is easy to control, though the broken English in the manual requires frequent re-reading to fully understand some of the advanced options. You have three view options: 1 camera full time, multiple cameras at once or a cycle of all cameras on the system.
The playback system for recorded videos is a bit slow to load, though I'm sure part of that is due to the older system I'm running it on (see the next paragraph). It's relatively easy to call up and view video, as well as burn it to recordable media to view elsewhere. The software has a handy calendar function to allow you to pick a date to view. From this area, you can also manually delete files. When hard drive space is running low, the system will automatically delete older videos, so be sure to back up anything you want to keep for your records.
So far, my system has been running well for several months on an old Pentium II system I dug out of the closet that I'm running Windows XP Home on. I've only had one freeze up and a reboot took care of that.
*** EDIT: (March 22, 2010): Regarding the above, I have since replaced the above system with a Pentium 4 system I recently retired from normal computing service. At the same time, I also upgraded to the latest DVR software available from Q-See. Both changes are an improvement. Indeed, the slow transition from recording to playback view were due to the older system I was running. The software now jumps from recording view to playback view in one or two seconds and the interface overall is a bit more polished. The only thing I don't like is they eliminated the "notch" in the playback speed slider that shows normal speed. It's still easy to get it back to that position, but I liked having the indicator show exactly where that center "normal" position is from the last software.***
The card has BNC connectors on it, but you can get an RCA to BNC adapter at any Radio Shack. Most decent security cameras will come with one.
If the camera has controls for it, the software can control panning, tilting and zooming (PTZ). However, unless you have a camera designed for remote control, this function won't do anything for you.
Finally, if you want to monitor a remote location, you can set up the software to allow to log in via the internet when you're away. It offers password protection for both remote viewing and for adjusting settings (including disabling the system) when you're at the system itself.
I gave it 4 stars only because of the snafu with having to download a working version of the software and that I wish you could search forward and back a little faster than what can be done currently. Also, the ability to choose an exact time would be nice rather than fiddling with the slider bar. The hour by hour ticks are nice, but not as handy as they could be. However, the price is certainly right, considering how much a standalone security video deck or DVR costs.
Overall, very good, just a few "gotchas".
Customer Review: It works and it's cheap
Summary: 3 Stars
It works and it's cheap. The card is great. The software is...lacking. It REQUIRES you to be logged on to Windows to record, so there is absolutely no way you can install it as a "Windows Service" on a server machine in the closet (I've even tried running it as a scheduled task and using a "any program as a service" program -- it doesn't work beacause it require a DirectX drawing surface (not available without a screen) to even start up for JUST recording).
So you have to basically run XP or Vista as a makeshift "server" and have it autologon and lock the keyboard so nobody can mess with your machine until the screen locks. It will crash if you lock your computer before the software loads, because you cannot ignore DirectX rendering problems (when you lock your computer, there's no screen for it to render on).
The software was obviously outsourced to some foreign country because the translations are terrible and the UI is different from any other Windows program. The browser plugins/remote viewing software is very basic. Again, the UI is crap. The plugins are NOT signed, so if you have ActiveX signing requirements, you'll have to jump through hurdles to get it to work. The good news is that once it's installed, the remote viewing software works well. Final complaint: it requires 1024x768 or greater viewing area for everything. So it hogs screen space on a low-res monitor, and is microscopic on a high-res monitor. It would be better if it would allow dynamic resizing.
Well, that's a lot of complaining, but it really does work well and is very stable. You can even set it to automatically reboot your computer periodically if you have a very unstable old system. The main DVR program is pretty packed full of features. The password system is very flexible in what user has what rights. It's not bad. I guess for the price, it's a "you get what you pay for" thing, but not necessarily in a bad way. I was expecting a better UI based on the company literature, but what I got was a lousy UI, but a more feature packed software package than I thought. I suppose it depends on what your priorities are.
The latest version of the software on the website says it's Vista compatible, but I didn't take the risk. It was hard enough to get working on XP.
For my next DVR card, I'm going to thoroughly demo the software before buying.
Customer Review: Cost per value is excellent
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't often waste my quality time reviewing products, but I was pretty pleased with this product.
Knowing nothing about setting up a home monitoring system, I latched onto this card as an inexpensive way to experiment. Surprisingly this budget DVR worked well in every way possible. I dedicated a surplus Dell desktop running Windows XP, bought a few wired and wireless cameras, and a four-channel Q-See DVR, and without any notable frustration had it working in minutes. I was so enthused I decided 4 channels wasn't sufficient, so I bought another 4-channel DVR Q-See card, stuck it in the computer, re-installed the software, and amazingly enough, I had 8 channels, all integrated, configured, and working under one GUI, in about 10 minutes. The other reviewers have lucid commentary about the specific features, capabilities, and limitations, so I would read them, but my vote is this card is well-worth the $69. I have not yet got the remote access working, probably a problem with my home network, and I have no idea what the additional port socket plug-in is used for. The manual is really awful, but strangely enough gets the necessary information across despite being Chinese translated into English with a dictionary. When a non-English speaker manages to convey this sort of detail despite lack of fluency, I say give the guy a raise and fire the managers who decline to hire a proofer. I won't predict how the long-term burn-in will come out, but after about 3 weeks of continuous operation this setup hasn't missed a beat. I am relatively confident that should some misfit break into my house I will capture him or her on multiple video views, and that's the real purpose of this system. Highly recommend this card as an entry-level, extendable, feature rich, and (for me at least) easy to install purchase.
Customer Review: Impressive unit
Summary: 5 Stars
I was looking to replace a VHS based time lapse recorder that ceased working and couldn't justify the expense of a digital time lapse recorder even though that is really the only way to go. The Q-See QSPDVR04 unit had a good price as long as I already had the computer. I was surprised at the features on this card. As per the earlier comments the manual is marginal. But if you are semi savvy on computers or have messed around with video equipment the setup is fairly easy. I would not recommend this for a novice, but if you have replaced cards in your computer or have ever worked with software allowing lots of clickable selections and options this might be a good product for you. I managed to set the card up and have it running in about two hours time. ( I am a computer professional) One nice feature that I like is the ability to e-mail a picture of a motion detected breach within a ( or several) user selectable zones. You can opt out of detecting frequently used pathways and alert on a less commonly used pathway. This feature will save me a lot of hard disk space with the motion detection option. Overall I am impressed with this unit for the price. I have only had the card for a few days and it is working nicely.