My older Analogue system with good quality 700 TVL cameras, much better cameras than the poor quality ones shown here in the OP...




^^^^ that is full size once clicked.

My 3MP ran in 1080p Hikvision camera from the same position...



If you click on the HD image do not forget to click on it again when open to reveal its full size.


only last week I reported two youths caught on my CCTV breaking into vehicles and stealing stuff. Just waiting for the police to collect the stills and video from me now. Unlike the old analogue system these images have more chance of being useful to them as the analogue material was pretty bad when trying to capture stills for facial recognition etc.

The camera used.....
Hikvision DS-2CD2332-I

The above is a dome type camera.

The equivalent bullet type would be...
Hikvision DS-2CD2232-I5

NVR used.....
Hikvision DS-7608NI-SE/P

Both the above were bought and imported from Aliexpress.

Rubbish cameras.
There is no point in buying a system to protect your home or business, that when required, you wouldn't be able to see the perpetrators due to rubbish quality recording.

Not even good as a starter kit, completely cold from me.

Everything Maplin sells is complete tosh!!

Was very impressed with your photos and efforts on this site. Need CCTV of a decent quality. Am lost as to which Hikvision to buy (am looking for 2 outdoor and 1 indoor) apart from have been told to get bullet / or turret for outdoors. Also have read about WD surveillance hard drives - would this work with Hikvision. Would appreciate if you could let me know what you have as maybe hopefully I can buy the same and set up. Thank you in advance. Lynne

After reading all the helpful advise and much time deliberating, I have decided to vote this deal hot!
thanks op for the time taken to post this budget cctv kit for a budget price.

Ouch that must have been painful...! My back passage is strictly a one way passage, no entry allowed...!

Hello fellow hot dealers, does anyone know how good this system is?

hum, whats the difference between dvr, dvr1 and nvr?

for night vision, what specs should i look out for? i keep seeing flux measurements and either 1/3 or 1/4 cmos. seriously someone should do a guide for newbies as what to look out for and avoid in respect of home cctv

Hey mate. Your cctv pics on the thread looks awesome.

Do you know which seller you bought them from on aliexpress I'm thinking of the same setup. Any links?

Also in terms of the cameras do you know what size lens you went for? Options are 4mm/6mm/12mm. I'm confused :-(

Cheers in advance. Imran

If the DVR has an external power supply, have you checked that's not the fault? I've had three fail on the commercial CCTV systems I look after and the regulated 12V PSU's were all good UK makes, plus a couple more from the LCD monitors, plus two or three more that we were able to open up and repair, and a few from the cameras. They probably last us a couple of years on average, although I've had fewer failures since buying higher current ones.

If you test the PSU, rather than try a replacement, it needs to be done on load, off-load they can appear to be working - I usually use a 12V MR16 halogen bulb plus a multimeter to test the psus we fixed.

+1. If you bought it in the UK then it should have a 2-yr warranty. Deal with Maplin rather than Swann and if you put it on your credit card contact them if Maplin initially say go away.

Do you know what's gone? I suspect it's the DVR... might be worth just replacing that if the cameras are ok. You know which model etc you have?

take it in to maplin provided you signed up for the extra six month cover that Swann give?

I would contact swan , sale of goods act , fit for purpose etc

I got the 'Swan' package for £240 win 2 camera's from Maplins. Had it just over 12 months now and the DVR has packed in. Need a new kit....won't be Swan this time though!

Thanks! I'm not desperate. We've just had a bit of anti social in and around the area lately and I'd like to capture video night and day around the house, just in case.

I agree Hikvision are totally the best for the money.

Holy cow that is some awesome quality. I once had a CCTV back in 1999 using a VHS lol, black and white.
Would I need to buy a mount for that DS-2CD2332-I?

I've been looking for a reasonably priced IP camera for the game end of our house.

Picked up the £49 camera at Aldi found a few issues with it but it was good enough just to keep an eye on our car park.

Negatives for me were very poor field of view 4:3 format.

Also the Wi-Fi signal was fine at the front or back of the house but would not work at all through the gable end.

The supplied software also could not see the camera but pointing a browser to the IP address worked fine without any trouble.

Bit disappointing really as it would have been perfectly OK for my requirements.

The camera mounts on the 2 cameras that come with that look rubbish, and the sensors are 1/4" cmos. The system posted by the op looks better to me.

960H is basically 420TVL. The Hikvision cameras we are talking about cost more than this entire system for one camera.

Anything under 300 is going to be pretty basic and rubbish IMO. A better option would be a 2 camera system if you are on a budget.

+1 for DS-2CD2332-I and DS-2CD2232-I5

Good info VimesUK

Thank you very much. Checking them out now. John.

Hi. Is something like this any good?
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=111257537115&alt=web

will keep an eye on this thread for other deals

Yawn.... last month out neighbour had is van pinched... I almost witnessed it as I actually saw the perks walk down the street, without the CCTV he would have had no idea wher the van went (works van), helped piece it together, same for if any locals run into your motor.. owt really, does save a lot of guessing! I we moved 2moro the 1st thing I'd fit was CCTV... good, bad or useless :smiley:

The camera used.....
Hikvision DS-2CD2332-I

The above is a dome type camera.

The equivalent bullet type would be...
Hikvision DS-2CD2232-I5

NVR used.....
Hikvision DS-7608NI-SE/P

Both the above were bought and imported from Aliexpress.

Best to put the DVR/NVR out of sight.

Not sure about DVRs (probably can) but on the NVRs you can set it up to e-mail stills on motion. I have set mine up to e-mail a gmail account i specifically setup just for that.

Also one of my new cameras records to a SD card if it loses connection to the recorder.

All of this costs £££s though. Pay for what you get I suppose. Farnell have a CCTV sale on but £480 for a 1MP and £780 for 2MP. Still too expensive.

Hi, can you say what the model numbers are for the camera and the recorder that you are using, please? It would be very helpful to me. Many thanks. John.

Unless your feed records somewhere like the cloud security cameras can be a waste of time.......I know someone who had a break in & the thieves stole the security camera recorder !!

Cold for me as cameras are not that great I am old school I use pen and paper

lol - so would I.

Although I will not share it I have got a video file prepared for the police showing two youths breaking into a car and then noticing my cameras. Not only did they carry on doing the crime but one lifted up his hood to stare directly at the camera and the other just peeped up now and again.

My older Analogue system with good quality 700 TVL cameras, much better cameras than the poor quality ones shown here in the OP...




^^^^ that is full size once clicked.

My 3MP ran in 1080p Hikvision camera from the same position...



If you click on the HD image do not forget to click on it again when open to reveal its full size.


only last week I reported two youths caught on my CCTV breaking into vehicles and stealing stuff. Just waiting for the police to collect the stills and video from me now. Unlike the old analogue system these images have more chance of being useful to them as the analogue material was pretty bad when trying to capture stills for facial recognition etc.

Mate, if they do that I'd pay twice the price! :wink:

Hi Foxy,

I've got a IP 2MP system but paid a lot for it. I'm looking for a cheaper system for my elderly parents. I'm waiting for an IP system which is sub 300 for 4 cameras or sub 250 for 2 cameras for 1MP.... or around 450/300 for 2MP 4/2 camera. Maplin want double that easy :-( but you can go in there and see the quality difference between 420TVL analog and 720p IP digital.

They do come on offer now and then, so I'm waiting! Otherwise I'd suggest something sorry. I'll post a deal when I find one!

Totally agree. The police at the neighbourhood watch the other day said that most poor quality CCTV pictures couldn't be used in court even if they know who it is. It will allow them to go and arrest them i suppose.

People can put hoods up etc but if I was them, it'd be easier to target someone somewhere else.

For those wanting to know the difference in quality... here's a video. (Not mine btw)

https://youtu.be/1GsvStzDIGo

P.S. Some 1/4" ones aren't too bad. I've seen some 720p ones which were pretty decent but I think the housing is important then.

The DVR appears to be a reasonable spec. The cameras have Sharp CCD's though, which are not great, they don't mention the size, which makes me think they could be the inferior 1/4" sized ones too, which are not great in poor light. At least they are CCD and not cmos though.

I think I'd be looking at a budget IP systems.


Does seeing a camera really put a thief off, I've provided CCTV used to prosecute a thief who sat down at a crowded table directly below two cameras and rummaged through someone's bags to steal their valuables. I'd expect a thief seeing one of these cameras outside a house to pull his hood down over his head and climb up and point the camera at the sky, or to rip out the wires.

Can everyone read the whole comment before ranting on about how good a thief they are or flaming everyone else?

Simple facts:

1) This system is poor quality
2) Spending money on better locks, alarm, securing back garden etc is a better investment with regards preventing burglary
3) CCTV is a deterrent. Nothing will stop someone who really wants to get in. You are only trying to get them to go after an easier target. This system with open doors makes your house an easy target! I'm talking about security and deterrents in general.

Phone up your insurance company and tell them you have this 420TVL system and see what discount they offer. Then tell them you have 3-star Kite marked Anti-bump and Anti-snap locks installed (which are about £40 each). Guess which one they will give you a bigger discount for?

My recommendation is to sort locks out first, then prevent burglars getting around the back, then alarm and CCTV.

From what I can see with this deal pretty much everybody that knows anything about cameras is saying this is fairly pants! Any suggestions therefore for a good starter kit to include Night Vision? Obviously it would also have to be a MEGA deal! :-)

Wow my comment was deleted, do nuns run this site?

I highly doubt a savvy criminal will be looking to burgle any house that puts these up anyway.
For a regular homeowner these are well worth getting to put off any chancer

I have this exact system which I installed 18 months ago and is of average quality.However my son a computer whiz took about a week for us to set up to view over the internet.My newer Swann system was set up in 2 minutes with a simple email.If you want to remote view give it a miss.

No... I'm saying spending money on a crap system instead of other areas of security (such as better locks) is increasing your risk of being burgled.

Read this: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2869784/Is-worth-installing-dummy-alarm-fake-CCTV-camera-outside-home.html

View from a reformed burglar.

"Insurer Direct Line doesn't advise fitting a dummy alarm or camera, saying most burglars can spot a fake one."

Next time read the whole comment please. I was suggesting spending money on other security. And everyone else below seems to agree.

Unless the people who are captured on this rubbish piece of kit resemble characters from Minecraft I would invest in some dummy cameras and security lighting. Then spend some time evaluating whether or not you need CCTV protection and if so give consideration to some Hikvision IP cameras and a NVR.

I am just waiting for delivery of another recently ordered IP camera to compliment the ones I have already.


Analogue CCTV kits like these do not allow you to capture meaningful and useful images. Although I do like the CCD capturing ability (for night use) of analogue type cameras the cmos based HD type are so much better, especially when fitted with additional lighting, if needed.

You do not get a CCTV system worth having for £80.
Even the 4TB WD Purple drive I fitted to my NVR cost more than this entire system.

Cold - Sorry OP

Don't agree that any camera is better than no camera. Because:

1) Can cause false sense of security
2) Savvy criminals know that these ones are rubbish... and take advantage of (1)

Would much rather spend £100 on anti-snap and anti-bump cylinder locks and ensure entrances to house and rear gardens are secure.

And the only better cams you can add to these are more Analog ones... not Digital IP Network cameras.

Save up for minimum 1 megapixel.

Good value

Commentpmsl@ a micra doing 0-60 in 2 seconds!

Rubbish cameras.
There is no point in buying a system to protect your home or business, that when required, you wouldn't be able to see the perpetrators due to rubbish quality recording.

Not even good as a starter kit, completely cold from me.

no good even if cameras are upgraded later

Not the best camaras but 8ch and add HDD or better cams later... good starter kit :smiley: