looking to buy generic dvr card

[j4str]

I'm looking at buying a cheap generic pci 4 channel dvr card. I can find all kinds of cards for under $30, but all i can find is people saying that they can't get their card to work.

stuff like this
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/301877-dvr-pci-card?
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/290542-Trying-to-Identify-DVR-Card-Help
http://nch.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=7631
as well as on amazon all the cheap ones only have reviews of people saying they can't get them to work

The first two links i posted were both from here, and it had responses from people that seemed to have knowledge on the subject. I want to buy a card that i know i can get correct drivers for and get to work properly. What would be my best option for a cheap card?

[usually_quiet]

What qualifies as cheap? This one is 1/3 the price of some others, although it isn't generic, got good reviews, has drivers for XP, Vista and Windows 7.

http://www.amazon.com/Avermedia-Digital-Surveillance-System-NV3000/dp/B0009HQC42
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=81-127-001&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&P...kTab=true&Page
http://www.averusa.com/surveillance/productdetail.aspx?id=100

[j4str]

im sure thats a very good card and would probably make life a lot easier, but i was hoping i could get one of the $30 cards to work. They all sound promising, but people say the cheap ones don't come with drivers. Will any of these cards work?

http://www.laikeet.com/catalog/product_info.php?language=en&currency=USD&products_id=520
http://www.notebooknerds.com/4-Channel-DVR-PCI-Surveillance-Video-Capture-Card_p_13106.html
http://www.tronniks.com/products/Digital-Video-Recorder-%28DVR%29-Capture-Card-%28PCI%29.html
http://www.emixt.com/4-channel-dvr-pci-surveillance-video-capture-card-dc8104.html

[usually_quiet]

im sure thats a very good card and would probably make life a lot easier, but i was hoping i could get one of the $30 cards to work. They all sound promising, but people say the cheap ones don't come with drivers. Will any of these cards work?

http://www.laikeet.com/catalog/product_info.php?language=en&currency=USD&products_id=520
http://www.notebooknerds.com/4-Channel-DVR-PCI-Surveillance-Video-Capture-Card_p_13106.html
http://www.tronniks.com/products/Digital-Video-Recorder-%28DVR%29-Capture-Card-%28PCI%29.html
http://www.emixt.com/4-channel-dvr-pci-surveillance-video-capture-card-dc8104.html

It might be good to know what OS you are planning to use, and the model for your CPU. It is very likely you will only be able to use the drivers that come on the CD included with the card and possibly only the software that comes with the card as well.

[j4str]

its going to be a dedicated computer that i have laying around collecting dust. Its a pentium 4 1.7ghz and 256 mb ram. It currently has xp with service pack 2 installed, but i don't mind changing OS

[classfour]

While I run Hauppauge cards now - because of the onboard MPEG2 encoding (taking it to DVD) and minimal required resources: The Avermedia cards that I've had it the past were good cards and had excellent captures.

I wouldn't recommend some of the cheaper cards, and would look closely at the reviews and the compatibility with your machine.

[j4str]

While I run Hauppauge cards now - because of the onboard MPEG2 encoding (taking it to DVD) and minimal required resource

like this one?
http://www.provantage.com/hauppauge-188~7HAUP13N.htm

[usually_quiet]

its going to be a dedicated computer that i have laying around collecting dust. Its a pentium 4 1.7ghz and 256 mb ram. It currently has xp with service pack 2 installed, but i don't mind changing OS

All the cheap cards you linked to are supposed to include XP drivers on the CD except this one http://www.emixt.com/4-channel-dvr-pci-surveillance-video-capture-card-dc8104.html, which doesn't mention a CD being in the box.

All will rely on software encoding at those prices, the one I mentioned included. (Video encoder chips aren't cheap.) I'm a bit doubtful about a single core CPU being able to keep up with encoding video from 4 cameras at full resolution. You'll need to start with the lowest resolution and work up from there. Windows XP is your best option with that CPU. Vista and Windows 7 are best used with a dual core (or better) CPU.

I'm inclined to believe that in general you only get what you pay for, and 90% of the time things are sold at low prices for a reason. It's hard to tell much about these cards based on the specs. You may end up throwing away $20 or $30.

I'm not sure if classfour is talking about a TV capture card or security camera DVR card. The Hauppauge card you linked to was mostly used for video conferencing, though I suppose it might work for monitoring security cameras. Microsoft NetMeeting was the software supplied with the card, and I am not sure what would be used instead for security purposes.

[j4str]

the original card you mentioned had very high system requirments. The cheap cards seem to have lower system requirements, but you say they would be higher? I can add more ram, since i have some laying around, and i opened up the pc and it has spare slots, But i can't really get a faster processor, since it would take major upgrades. Although maybe i should look at what the fastest cpu the motherboard can handle.

the computer is a compaq evo d500. 1.7 ghz


here is a thread i found from google
https://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447626+12940291...readId=1108258

will that 100 card work in this computer?

[usually_quiet]

Once you said that you had a 1.7 GHz P4 CPU, I stopped thinking of the AverMedia card as an option. What I meant by "you get what you pay for", is that there is a good chance these generic cards and their software will be a disappointment no matter what PC you install them in.

The AverMedia card's system requirements aren't really all that high-end by modern standards. It relies on software encoding, like the generic ones do, but the card and the software provided with it do more, so system requirements are higher. The problem is you want to use a system from 2002 for this project, and it is now 2011.

To be honest, I think that upgrading the CPU will be a waste of money. I looked at http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/10946_div/10946_div.HTML which lists a 2.2 GHz P4 with a FSB of 400 as one of the optional CPUs, but one of the posters in the thread you linked to said P4 CPUs over 1.9 GHz didn't work for him, even after updating the BIOS.

The specs aren't very informative for any of the generic DVR cards and I didn't see an online manual for any of them. I didn't find many reviews either. You'll be buying without much to go on. There's really no way to tell if any are actually good products and can do what you want installed in a old PC. Just keep your expectations low and be prepared for the possibility you have thrown away your money.

I found the maker for two of the generic cards.
http://www.tronniks.com/products/Digital-Video-Recorder-(DVR)-Capture-Card-(PCI).html appears to be the same as this http://win-star.com/product/productshow.php?RootCAT=R08&CatID=134&ID=425

http://www.notebooknerds.com/4-Channel-DVR-PCI-Surveillance-Video-Capture-Card_p_13106.html appears to be the same as this http://win-star.com/product/productshow.php?RootCAT=R08&CatID=134&ID=441 Read the review on Amazon here http://www.amazon.com/4-Channel-Surveillance-Video-Capture-Card/dp/B000Z4ARJK

[j4str]

Once you said that you had a 1.7 GHz P4 CPU, I stopped thinking of the AverMedia card as an option. What I meant by "you get what you pay for", is that there is a good chance these generic cards and their software will be a disappointment no matter what PC you install them in.

The AverMedia card's system requirements aren't really all that high-end by modern standards. It relies on software encoding, like the generic ones do, but the card and the software provided with it do more, so system requirements are higher. The problem is you want to use a system from 2002 for this project, and it is now 2011.

To be honest, I think that upgrading the CPU will be a waste of money. I looked at http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/10946_div/10946_div.HTML which lists a 2.2 GHz P4 with a FSB of 400 as one of the optional CPUs, but one of the posters in the thread you linked to said P4 CPUs over 1.9 GHz didn't work for him, even after updating the BIOS.

The specs aren't very informative for any of the generic DVR cards and I didn't see an online manual for any of them. I didn't find many reviews either. You'll be buying without much to go on. There's really no way to tell if any are actually good products and can do what you want installed in a old PC. Just keep your expectations low and be prepared for the possibility you have thrown away your money.

I found the maker for two of the generic cards.
http://www.tronniks.com/products/Digital-Video-Recorder-(DVR)-Capture-Card-(PCI).html appears to be the same as this http://win-star.com/product/productshow.php?RootCAT=R08&CatID=134&ID=425

http://www.notebooknerds.com/4-Channel-DVR-PCI-Surveillance-Video-Capture-Card_p_13106.html appears to be the same as this http://win-star.com/product/productshow.php?RootCAT=R08&CatID=134&ID=441 Read the review on Amazon here http://www.amazon.com/4-Channel-Surveillance-Video-Capture-Card/dp/B000Z4ARJK

I appreciate your help. I had a similar thread on a camera forum and pretty much all they have to say is, "buy an nv300 and get a newer computer, otherwise quite asking questions." Do you know of any cards that have specs that will work with that pc? (that also have manufacturer support) I can't find a card that i don't consider a complete gamble

[usually_quiet]

I appreciate your help. I had a similar thread on a camera forum and pretty much all they have to say is, "buy an nv300 and get a newer computer, otherwise quite asking questions." Do you know of any cards that have specs that will work with that pc? (that also have manufacturer support) I can't find a card that i don't consider a complete gamble

Sorry, I don't know of any. That PC is from 9 years ago, and your best bet would be to look for something of about the same vintage. However, it is often hard to find anything that old unless you already know what makes and models to look for amongst used items sold on eBay.

[j4str]

ya, i had originally thought that a capture setup wasn't all that cpu intensive. I've come to find out that it is. Im thinking i might just have to go with a stand alone dvr

[usually_quiet]

ya, i had originally thought that a capture setup wasn't all that cpu intensive. I've come to find out that it is. Im thinking i might just have to go with a stand alone dvr

Capture isn't CPU intensive if hardware on the card encodes, but cards capable of doing that costs hundreds of dollars more than you want to spend, and the drivers and software to use with them might still demand a newer system.

Find a stand alone DVR, but make sure video can easily be exported, in case someday you need to do that. Based on what I have seen here lately, sometimes that is difficult. The cheap ones often come with crappy software to use on a PC for downloading/converting the video.

[PuzZLeR]

To comment on CPU resources...

Using a Hauppauge 1950 USB (which has a stand-alone MPEG-2 encoder) with Beyond TV, and with Beyond TV minimized to system tray ("Exit The Beyond TV ViewScape"), it uses roughly 2%-5% resources on my 2-core - almost nothing.

I even encode to DivX, H.264, and run other apps at the same time, while it captures without a problem.

It's not a "card", but easy to install, reliable and solid as my recommendation.

I'd also recommend the ATI 600, which is also just as excellent, but needs more resources to run.

[usually_quiet]

To comment on CPU resources...

Using a Hauppauge 1950 USB (which has a stand-alone MPEG-2 encoder) with Beyond TV, and with Beyond TV minimized to system tray ("Exit The Beyond TV ViewScape"), it uses roughly 2%-5% resources on my 2-core - almost nothing.

I even encode to DivX, H.264, and run other apps at the same time, while it captures without a problem.

It's not a "card", but easy to install, reliable and solid as my recommendation.

I'd also recommend the ATI 600, which is also just as excellent, but needs more resources to run.

I don't think that will work well for monitoring/recording video from 4 security cameras at once. ...and I'll the OP only has a single core 1.7 GHz P4 CPU in the PC he plans to use.

[j4str]

I don't think that will work well for monitoring/recording video from 4 security cameras at once. ...and I'll the OP only has a single core 1.7 GHz P4 CPU in the PC he plans to use.

correct and correct