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August 12, 2013
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I am new to this forum and standalone DVRs. Working through the directions in the manual for the 16 channel Elite search/backup I found that backup did not recognize a thumb drive in the front USB port. Placing the same thumb drive in the rear USB port it was recognized and accepted a trial backup which plays on the computer with the "player" program from the CD included with the DVR (have not been able to get "snapshot" to work yet to obtain stills I can print)
Why doesn't the front USB port recognize the thumb drive? Is this a defect, setting I am unaware of, or normal?
March 27, 2013
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Dear customer,
Can I have the full model number of the unit???
August 12, 2013
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Model ELO16480
March 27, 2013
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OK , this DVR have 2 USB ports in the front plate Only one is attached to the board. This is because our Full size DVRs use the same faceplate and the main boards of each DVR depending of the model allows you to use 1 or 2 USBs. The EL model only supports one and the LT series and above it supports 2 USB connections in the main board.
Thanks
August 12, 2013
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The 16 channel Elite Series H.264 is advertised on the SCK website as a full size DVR (2U) It is also described as having 2 front USB ports under the "Description". The sales person told me the difference between the Elite and Ultimate series was the frame rate resulting from the dual processor. What sense does a non-functioning USB port make? Again, the description on the website states 2 front USB ports. 
March 27, 2013
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Sorry for the misinformation, I guess there most be a typo in the site. Please let me know what would you want me to do in order to correct this issue besides fixing the description in the site.?
March 9, 2013
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The issue here is that the faceplates are shared between many models. The front faceplate is the same for the Ultimate Series as it is for the Elite series. So the extra USB port is there for use by the Ultimate Series. The main board on the Ultimate series has the extra USB port to plug it into. The Elite does not. The crazy thing is our Elite Series and Ultimate Series have been this way since dual core came out about 1 plus years ago so this issue has been there since that time. We have sold several thousand of these since that time and it is the first time anyone noticed that we have the description wrong. Thanks for letting us know. We will fix the description.
As for your situation, we can arrange an RMA for you to return the DVR if you would like and we can issue you a 100% refund plus refund you for shipping. Please let us know if you would like to do so. We are sorry for the error in the description.
August 12, 2013
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Can the rear USB port recognize a USB hub with multiple USB devices? e.g. an external drive and a backup flash drive? If so, how many USB devices on a hub?
Having to move the DVR to connect a flash drive each time an incident copy or specific time backup is needed is not only inconvenient but also hard on the DVR and cable connectors.
Depending on the answers I may need to upgrade to the LT series.
I would also like to note that while the website states hard drives are installed at cost the Seagate Barracuda I found installed at $189 commonly retails for $100. (Best Buy, Micro Center).
Thank you for your responses.
March 9, 2013
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It will depend on the device and the amount of power needed, but in most cases, yes. Also, you can use a USB extender to extend the rear USB to the front.
By the way, most of our customers download video through the network which is much easier to do. Why not try that?
Also, there is no where on our website that we state that we sell hard drives at cost. We install around 500 hard drives a month and we provide support and warranty service for the drives we sell. We are a For Profit organization after all.
August 12, 2013
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Say I was using a self powered 4 port hub. Will the Elite series DVR recognize three external HDDs and a flash drive? I need a yes or no before I spend more money.
As to the cost of SCK installing hard drives, I quote from the fourth paragraph of the description of the Elite 16 channel DVR page: "all you pay for is the cost of the hard drive(s) and/or the burner and we install them for Free!".
Details, details!
I previously operated my cameras on PC cards. I have multiple 2TB external drives from that which I would like to eventually use with this DVR.
.I am not familiar with downloading video through the network. I have the DVR connected to a wireless router and to the computer's Ethernet port, but not to the internet. While I am studying the manual I have not run across that process yet. Can you point me in the correct direction?
Jesus Ragusa earlier asked what I would like to do to correct the incorrections on the website (USB port and HDD cost). While I don't need the high frame rate (my PC cards only did 30fps at 640x480 so 7fps at D1 is a great improvement) am I going to continue to find issues which point me towards the Ultimate 16 channel? If so, I would propose a swap.
March 9, 2013
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The external hard drives need to connect using the E-SATA port if you plan on recording to them.
As for paying the cost of the hard drive, I think you have misunderstood our intention with this statement. We are not selling hard drives for zero profit. We sell the hard drives individually in the storage section of our website, or as an accessory for our recorders. If you purchase them as an accessory when you purchase a recorder from us, we install them for free. You can also purchase our hard drives individually and install them yourself. We do not charge additionally for the installation. There is nothing we sell on our website that is sold for Zero profit. I believe we provide the best products and service for the money,but we must make profit.
As for connecting through the network, it would be much easier for us to assist you with this by telephone. Any computer inside your network, or outside your network can connect to the DVR remotely and can download video. Inside the network is always better because there is more bandwidth available. Most of our customers do all operations of the DVR through the network and do not even have a monitor connected. I think you will find it much easier to operate that way. There is so much you can do with this unit. You will be amazed once you learn it all. We also have hundreds of helpful video tutorials on our website. I recommend you check them out too.
The major difference between the Ultimate and the Elite series is the frame rate at D1 resolution and the amount of internal storage you can have. Otherwise, the two units are very similar.
August 12, 2013
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I didn't sign onto this forum to complain, but to get information. I cannot, however, accept what you are saying Brad, without pointing out how deceptive the SCK website is, in spite of your explanations.
The website says the Elite 16 channel DVR has 2 front USB ports. But you inform me that only one of those USB ports actually functions.
The website says hard disk drives are sold "at cost". When any retailer, such as the SCK website, states they are selling "at cost" the universal meaning is the retailer is selling the product at the cost they paid for it. You can create a new meaning for your purposes but that is a deception since you are actually selling them at about 100% markup over cost.
Now in your last response you tell me I cannot use the USB port on the rear (or front) of the machine for recording video. The description of the DVR repeatedly states that HDDs can be connected to the USB port(s). Nothing is said of their not being capable of recording video. This is another deception.
The DVR does seem to be functioning well in the short time I have had it. The website however, does not accurately describe the DVR's features or the charges for adding HDD's.
I have invested many hours in adapting my camera connections to this DVR. I have invested many hours learning how this DVR functions (and doesn't function) and programming it to my computer and network. I have spent more hours communicating over this website and trying to make considered responses. I do not feel I have received what I paid for or have been dealt with honestly. I do not however wish to discard the investment I have made.
March 9, 2013
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I am really sorry you are unhappy with the way we do business. We have never had anyone accuse us of being deceptive before. In the 7 years we have been in business, we have never had a complaint made against us or an accusation that we deceived them. I can only say that I disagree completely with your point of view, however I do respect your opinion. You did point out an error in our description of the DVR regarding the 2 front USB ports. We will make that correction and we are very sorry for the error.
As for the hard drives being sold "at cost", we do not say we sell the hard drives at cost. Here is the exact excerpt:
"The unit is also big enough to support an internal DVD burner. We'll install both for you if you like, all you pay for is the cost of the hard drive(s) and/or the burner and we install them for Free! (Note: If you choose to have the internal DVD burner installed, it reduces the available space for internal hard drives to two.)"
Note that we never said we are selling the hard drive "at cost". If we said we sold the hard drives "At Cost" I would have agreed with you, but there was never an intent to deceive here. It is a simple statement, the price of the hard drive and/or burner includes free installation. I guess we will have to agree to disagree with the meaning of this statement.
As for connecting hard drives to the USB port, there are two functions that can be served with external hard drives. One function is for the use of downloading or backing up video. Recording video for backup or to download recorded video can be done through the USB port. The bandwidth of USB ports does not support real time recording of high resolution video. This is done using the E-SATA port on the DVR. Our support team would be very happy to help you set this up. That is what we are here for. Again, there is no deception here. This is a complex and sophisticated DVR. A brief description of the unit is only a summary of the features. The manual is 174 pages and it explains all the features in much more detail.
I am glad that the DVR is functioning well. I think you will find that most of our customers are very happy with both our products and our support. Just read through some of the other posts and hopefully you will see that we take great care of our customers and that we do business ethically.
August 12, 2013
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No complaints in 7 years? Extrordinary!
You do get to the heart of the description of the expense of having HDDs installed: price vs cost. When a retailer says 'price' he is referring to what the customer will be charged. When a retailer says 'cost' they are referring to what the retailer paid. If the website said 'all you pay for is the PRICE of the hard drive(s) . . . .' it would be much more accurate. As it is the website makes it sound as though the customer is getting an incentive to buy the DVR with the HDDs installed when in fact the markup over normal retail is near 100%.
As to USB 2.0 not having the bandwidth to carry the DVR's video I have trouble making sense that USB 2.0's 480 mbps can't handle the bandwidth when my router's wireless 72 mbps carries it just fine and my computer's 100 mbps ethernet port has no trouble with the bandwidth from the DVR. So as a non-expert what reason would I have to suspect that the USB port(S) could not carry the DVR's output? Are they only USB 1.0? What speed are the DVR's USB port(s) capable of?
I have a few hundred dollars worth of USB 2.0 hard drives I expected to be able to use with the DVR which you now tell me I can not use. You don't expect me to be upset?
The website spends enough time extolling the USB ports that an explication of their capabilities and the true number of them would use very little space.
Micro Center said they don't carry eSATA drives at the store, only converter stands ($50) to use SATA or USB 2.0 HDDs on eSATA ports.
March 9, 2013
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I will be more careful with my word choices.
- In 7 years we have never had a customer complain that we were deceptive. That is just not the way we do business.
- We will change the word "Cost" to the word"Price". There was certainly no intent to make the customer believe they pay our wholesale cost for the hard drives, and no one has ever pointed this out to us before this, but still every customer's opinion counts so I will have this edited.
- We will edit the description of the use of USB drives to explain the USB port is used for video backup recording. The E-SATA port is used for extending the live video storage.
- I think this will cover everything. If you still feel deceived or wish to return anything you purchased from us, I will have an RMA issued and you will receive a 100% refund.
I can only say I am sorry you are unhappy and have done the best I can to resolve your issues.
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