I have dahua cameras and a nvr. Looking for easier, better software.

[IceBerg6060]

I have dahua cameras and a Dahua nvr. It is set up but I really don't like the software. What software do you recommend so that I can simply get motion alerts on my phone and see the video on an app on my phone of the motion (and playback, of course)? I was looking at the blue iris software but it seems that I need a computer running all the time with it. Seems like a waste having an NVR already. I am completely new at this so I appreciate your help and suggestions.

 

[wittaj]

An NVR is a low-end computer...

Many of us run an NVR feeding the video into Blue Iris.

I have tried different free software at least the ones I tried all suffered from basically the same issue as the NVR software app and some were even worse. I downloaded the trial of Blue Iris and haven't looked back!

Hopefully someone else can provide a software alternative, but do not discount Blue Iris either.

 

[IceBerg6060]

An NVR is a low-end computer...

Many of us run an NVR feeding the video into Blue Iris.

I have tried different free software at least the ones I tried all suffered from basically the same issue as the NVR software app and some were even worse. I downloaded the trial of Blue Iris and haven't looked back!

Hopefully someone else can provide a software alternative, but do not discount Blue Iris either.

Thanks for replying....So would I still need a dedicated computer running blue irus software with the NVR?

 

[wittaj]

Yes, that is the case. Although the use of substreams has greatly brought down the CPU usage and I am sure many use that computer for light internet browsing, etc. But the recommendation would be to be a standalone computer.

 

[IceBerg6060]

Yes, that is the case. Although the use of substreams has greatly brought down the CPU usage and I am sure many use that computer for light internet browsing, etc. But the recommendation would be to be a standalone computer.

Thank you again. If I may, could you recommend a decent computer for this need? I have all Macs at my home. While I run Parallels I think for this it seems like buying a straight-up Windows computer would be better?

 

[wittaj]

This was the tool I used when I got mine:

Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris

Buy refurbished. Don't build or buy new. The most cost-effective Blue Iris computers are refurbished business-class systems such as "HP EliteDesk" and "Dell OptiPlex". You can usually get a good deal by searching [URL='http://www.ebay.com/']Ebay[/URL] for specific CPU model numbers, and...

ipcamtalk.com

I strongly encourage you to look at ebay/Amazon/MicroCenter or any certified refurbish site and by a used computer.

Many of these used computers are business class computers that have come off lease. The one I bought I kid you not I could not tell that it was a refurbished unit - not a speck of dust or dents or scratches on it. It appeared to me like everything was replaced and I would assume just the motherboard with the intel processor is what was from the original unit. I went with the lowest end processor on this list as it was the cheapest and it runs my system fine.

Going this route was cheaper than buying an NVR that was capable of running all the cameras at the resolutions of the cameras (my new cameras). I still run my old NVR feeding Blue Iris for those cameras.

 

[IceBerg6060]

This was the tool I used when I got mine:

Choosing Hardware for Blue Iris

Buy refurbished. Don't build or buy new. The most cost-effective Blue Iris computers are refurbished business-class systems such as "HP EliteDesk" and "Dell OptiPlex". You can usually get a good deal by searching [URL='http://www.ebay.com/']Ebay[/URL] for specific CPU model numbers, and...

ipcamtalk.com

I strongly encourage you to look at ebay/Amazon/MicroCenter or any certified refurbish site and by a used computer.

Many of these used computers are business class computers that have come off lease. The one I bought I kid you not I could not tell that it was a refurbished unit - not a speck of dust or dents or scratches on it. It appeared to me like everything was replaced and I would assume just the motherboard with the intel processor is what was from the original unit. I went with the lowest end processor on this list as it was the cheapest and it runs my system fine.

Going this route was cheaper than buying an NVR that was capable of running all the cameras at the resolutions of the cameras (my new cameras). I still run my old NVR feeding Blue Iris for those cameras.

Awesome info, thanks I'll check it out.

 

[fenderman]

Thanks for replying....So would I still need a dedicated computer running blue irus software with the NVR?

You will no longer need the NVR, unless you want to run it as an additional backup. As others noted, you can buy an i5-6500 based pc for under 150 bux on ebay.