Do any of you guys have a good, cost effective recommendation for security cameras? I am moving my office and would like to put a camera on the outside of the building to monitor the rear yard where the equipment will be. I was thinking the cheapest way to go would be to get one of those motion activated cameras and feed it to my pc.

Any thoughts and/or model numbers?

IP cameras are expensive compared to other cameras. The advantage is they have a built-in web server so all you have to do is type an IP address into your browser (or create a shortcut on your desktop) and you will be connected. Good for one camera. The "motion activated" part, multiple cameras and recording gets more complicated and more money with additional software.

-Hal

The motion part is easy. It is done totally in software. The program looks at the picture from frame to frame and records when it sees a significant number of pixels change.
I have an old W9x card and the software I got for about $50 that does all this stuff from GranTec. It has 4 RCA ports for composite video inputs from the cameras. I have 2 cabled with RG6 and one RF connected.
The real money is in getting good cameras in the first place if you want "evidence grade" pictures of the bad guys. My cameras are all pretty cheap but I can tell the difference between possums and raccoons when it trips.

Thanks guys. Hal, what kind of cameras do I want? What would I call it, and ethernet camera. I'd like the kind I feed with a Cat5 so I only have to route the cable to a patch panel and from there it gets me into the office. Any models or brands?

Just what you said it was, a network camera or IP camera. Panasonic, Axis are a couple off the top of my head.

-Hal

Videology is another place that has IP cameras.
Disclosure: I used to work there, but the boss let me go... But I won't hold that against them in this case. I don't have a vested interest there anyway now..

We are in the process of installing our first IP camera system in a clothing factory. Customer supplied all the equipment. They chose "Axis" brand, 3 ptz domes, and 2 outdoor. Never heard of this brand, and it seems like a cheap quality camera. Easy install though. Just hook up a cat5 and find a local source for 110V to plug in the transformer to power the camera. The IT guy takes care of the rest. Easy money job. Wish all my installs were like this.

I haven't installed any yet, but the the Sony Ipela line of IP cameras are nice.

You may be able to use inexpensive USB cameras, depending on how far you intend to mount them from your PC.

I keep plugging a vendor here called ADI. It is only because they have always been of great value to my business, I do not have any other financial links to them or stock in the company. They have what you need, and will help you figure out what you need to do this right.

I was talking to a security guy and he said that Costco or Sam's had some kits that he considered really nice. I think he said one set up was for $500 with four cameras and a dvd recorder and plenty of cable. He said they also had another set up for $1000 that I believe the difference was in the quality of the dvd recorder or something. Anyway just thought I'd pass that along.