[ducktapeguy]

Anybody have any experience with a home security cameras. Or know of any good websites, forums, or even books to learn about them? I'm looking at installing a few around the house as added protection against vandals and thieves. We've had some problems with taggers every once in a while, I know cameras won't do anything to stop them but I'm afraid they might get a little more bold and try and break in.

There are so many options out there, it's hard to know where to begin. I'm not looking for a high end industrial type system, but not something cheap. I've seen some pre-packaged systems at Fry's for $400-$2000, but I'm not sure what the difference is.

What I'm looking at is this:

1) 3-4 outdoor cameras. Short-Medium range. The property isn't that big, so 10-50 ft is probably the distance it would have to cover

2) Workable in low light, or have IR illuminators with decent resolution. Some of the areas I want to cover are pretty dark.

3) B&W is fine, unless there's a good reason to go color

4) DVR recording, preferably motion activated. I'm not even sure if I need a monitor, as it wouldn't be used for active monitoring, more for recording only.

For anyone that has a system installed, what kind do you have, are you satisfied or what would you have done differently?