65 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent home surveillance PCI DVR
*** 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...
38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
Performs well
This hardware performs well, but for the price it doesn't really provide anything the Swann equivelant does for a few dollars less, they both use the same software vendor. Also, there is a software upgrade available on Q-See's site that makes some essential upgrades, I would recommend installing that right away, as you have to uninstall in order to upgrade, and you lose...
This review is from: Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card (Electronics)
*** 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. :)
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This review is from: Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card (Electronics)
This hardware performs well, but for the price it doesn't really provide anything the Swann equivelant does for a few dollars less, they both use the same software vendor. Also, there is a software upgrade available on Q-See's site that makes some essential upgrades, I would recommend installing that right away, as you have to uninstall in order to upgrade, and you lose any settings you made. Also, no matter how you read the wording, this card (and the Swann) only capture 32 fps divided by the number of camera's you use. If you use 4 camera's you will only get 7 fps on each.
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This review is from: Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card (Electronics)
Let me start by saying that I give this a Five Star rating based on performance-for-price; this product is not without its shortcomings.
I have an Intel motherboard with an Intel CPU and everything works great for me. I am running Windows Vista Ultimate 32-Bit. nVidia nForce chipset and nVidia 8800 GTS Graphics. I had lots of blue-screens when I first installed this card, but after updating the nForce drivers from nVidia's website everything has been great. (I have read that AMD users may have more issues.)
A point that I want to make very clear is about the "30 FPS (frames per second)" of video capture; this card can, in fact, encode 30 frames per second of MPEG video, but it is divided amongst the 4 camera ports. IE: you will get perfectly smooth (movie quality) video with 1 camera, 15 FPS each when using 2 cameras, 10 FPS with 3, and only 7 frames a second per camera with all four ports connected. I am not saying that this is bad. Again, for the price, this is a great card with LOADS of features, but do not expect a four-way split screen with each camera having fluid video.
That being said; I generally like this card a lot. I specialize in computer service and repair for a living, and it took me a little while to get the Web Service running correctly. I followed all of the steps to setup "Remote Viewing", and was able to monitor all four cameras from any PC or laptop on my LAN, but was never able to watch from outside my home. A friend informed me that my ISP (COX Communications) blocks HTTP Port 80 (probably to discourage web-hosting) and once I configured my Q-See software and my Linksys router for Port 70 everything worked just fine. I can now watch my Front Door, Driveway, Backyard, and keep an eye on my pooches from anywhere in the world.
Another surprise was when I tried to log into my IP address from my Windows Mobile cell phone. A message asked me if I wished to install the cab file offered by my IP address and when I accepted it added Pocket Camera to my Start programs. I can now scroll through all of my cameras live on my cell phone. (Yah, my friends think I'm a HUGE Geek, but they agree that THAT is pretty cool.) LOL
The only issue I have at the moment is that the Q-See "SUPERDVR" monitoring program is locked to 1024x768 resolution and cannot be moved around on your screen. I have a dual-monitor setup and would love to be able to drag the camera application to my secondary monitor so I can see motion out of my peripheral vision while working on my main screen. Unfortunately I still have to Alt+Tab back to the program periodically to survey my premises. No biggie, and most people may not be running dual-monitors, but it would be a nice option for those of us who do.
Something that really impressed me was the ability to playback any given period of time, from any of your cameras, then burn it directly to a DVD. This is useful if you need to bring evidence of vandalism to the authorities, or simply if you want to record your dogs running around in the backyard.
I highly recommend this card, and have positive reviews for a few cameras as well. There are DVR cards at Amazon which can capture 30 Frames Per Second for each of four cameras, if you need such a thing, but most of then start ar four or five times the price. I think this is an excellent and easy-to-use investment for any homeowner or small business.
**Update: December 2009** I have now had this card for some time and have been very pleased. The company has now released drivers for 64-Bit operating systems (Vista and Windows 7). I was down for a bit after my upgrade, but their tech support was surprising responsive and assured me that the drivers were on their way. About a week or so after the release of "7" I was shocked to see them on their website. They have also updated the software over time, and I even have an app for my iPod Touch (or iPhone) which allows me to remotely view all my cameras! My friend's think I'm a huge Geek, but we've now busted a punk who took an iPod Nano from my wife's car, and identified a drunk who smashed our mailbox on Thankgiving night. Pretty cool! lol
**Update: June 2010** Got a new phone; Sprint HTC Evo 4G running Android 2.1 and have great picture using a free app from the Android Marketplace called SuperCam. Picks up all my camers fine. Even allows you to capture pics and videos on the phone remotely! I'm liking this card even more now! (I love watching my dogs sleep, or bark at passerby, while I'm away from home). LOL (p.s. I'm only on 3G in my area, not 4G (WiMax), and it still gives good framerates.)
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This review is from: Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card (Electronics)
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.
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This review is from: Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card (Electronics)
This card performed well in my computer with inputs from three Q-See QSC48030 cameras. I was very satisfied with the capabilities of the card and the software but finding out how to utilize the features of the software was as much trial and error as it was obtaining the information from the instruction manual.
Cons: I really did not like the limitation to 1024 x 768 screen resolution. Also, using a remote computer or computer on the LAN, the Remote Desktop will not display the camera video but there is a utility provided within the software that will allow you to view the display remotely. My old software (Webcam Surveyor which does not work with this card) would allow me to use Remote Desktop and to use any screen resolution. This was an advantage to me because I could have the remote desktop running in a window and monitor the cameras while working on something else. With the Q-See software, even if you are working on the computer with the card installed, you can only view the camera video in full screen mode so you can't monitor the cameras while working on anything else.
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This review is from: Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card (Electronics)
I installed this card on a PC with Windows XP, and the set-up was easy, and the accompanying software/drivers had it up and running with no snags. I have connected cameras, and experimented with the system. It seems to work as advertised, however the software and instruction manual are very vague and difficult to follow. I have been figuring out how to set up the software, and I believe that it will do what I want it to, however the user manual is pretty vague, and it difficult to follow. It performs as advertised, however the Q-See QSOCWC night vision cameras that I purchased to go with this are another matter. If you are looking to buy cameras to go with this, stay away from the Q-See QSOCWC weatherproof night vision cameras.
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This review is from: Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card (Electronics)
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.
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This review is from: Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card (Electronics)
the Dvr card performs as advertised, it was a quick and efficient way to connect my multiple low cost security cameras into one remotely managed system. As a plus it has a motion sensitivity email app that lets me know when some one is in my yard when I am away. I received the package quickly and the vendor was reliable, I plan on purchasing more of these cards for my home security system as they are a great value.
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This review is from: Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card (Electronics)
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".
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This review is from: Q-See QSPDVR04 4 Channel Digital Video Recorder PCI Card (Electronics)
I've had this about 6 months. Before I got this system I read the reviews and now I see whats they're saying about the manual. I'm using 2 wired cameras with this and having no problems. First time configuring was trial and error. As others said, manual isnt much help because of translation. I just "Googled" and found answers. I really like how you can view an area, but you can set it up to only record when there's movement in an portion of the screen. For playback, you can manually move the playback bar to any time to view, so fast forward hasnt been an issue. a side note , I tried their wireless camera and it interfered with our wireless network.
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