The holiday season is usually a notorious time for home intrusions and with a security camera system in place you'll at least have better peace of mind.



In this article, we'll offer some buying tips and suggestions in purchasing a home security camera system. Technology has increased tremendously just in the last five years alone and today you have many choices. From wireless to internet to the more expensive cabled systems, security cameras are part and parcel of our everyday lives.

Buying Tips

Before you rush out and purchase the first system you see advertised in an ad consider these tips before buying:

- How much coverage do you need and do you require both inside an outside coverage? It's easy to over-capitalize and you want to avoid spending unnecessary dollars.

- Look at the layout of your home and identify the "blind" spots. These are the areas an intruder can pass through unnoticed or undetected. They are the areas burglars look for when entering a property.

- The same applies to the inside layout of your home. There will be areas where someone may sneak in undetected.

- When you find a system you're interested in ask for a demo. What you want to inspect is the clarity of the picture, particularly the monitor. You need to decide on color or black and white. To be honest, color is the best option and now even more so considering they've come down in price and become a lot more affordable.

- Choosing a monitor is personal choice. Most people will simply use their computer screens or televisions however, these are not always the best options for clarity reasons. It's no big deal though and choosing a monitor will obviously depend on your overall budget.

- If you can, recording is essential simply because if a crime is committed, it's more than likely it would have been caught on camera. VCR is still around but today, digital video recorders(DVR) are slowly becoming king.

The one thing to remember is to not go overboard with a home security camera. The "blind" spots we mentioned earlier could easily be taken care of by extra lighting. Start by covering the main areas of concern and then when your budget allows, increase your coverage.