Milestone Arcus on ReadyNAS vs. Blue Iris on PC?

[XrayDoc88]

I own a ReadyNAS 628X.  I was hoping to start a discussion about the pros and cons of two different solutions to video surveillance monitoring.  I have no actual experience using either of these two options.  I'd love to hear anyone's experiences using one or both of these products.  I'm most interested in how well each solution actually works.  Cost differences certainly exist, but this isn't my greatest concern.  I'll start with a few observations from research alone.

Milestone Arcus

Pros:  Commercial product may be better.  Supports mutliple camera brands.  Some reports suggest the interface is better.  No cost for the NAS program.

Cons:  Have to pay a hefty licensing fee to Netgear for each camera that's only good for 5 years.  Fees are approximately $200 for four cameras.  Is a NAS powerful enough to really run the program well?

Blue Iris

Pros:  Lots of people use it and like it.  Supports multiple camera brands.  No camera licensing fees.  You can just buy the program once if you don't need support or updates.

Cons:  Initial program costs $60 for more than one camera.  Must continue to pay that yearly if you want program updates or any technical support.  Requires a pretty powerful dedicated computer to run well.  Interface on remote computers may not be as good.

What experience or advice can others report?  Thanks!

[Sandshark]

I had to pay a less than full price fee to upgrade from Blue Iris 3.x to 4.x, but have never paid another dime for upgrades or support.  I've never even considered changing to something that runs on one of my NASes, especially at those prices.  I do have BI set up to use one to offload older captures.  BI and my 6 cameras (2 outdoor at the doors and 4 inside) gave me the evidence I needed to send a thief to prison for 39 months.  Once his lawyer saw the video, he plead no contest.

[StephenB]

One additional con of Milestone Arcus is that Netgear unfortunately will sometimes drop their added services.  ReadyNAS Surveillance was one example.  So there is some risk that Milestone Arcus won't have staying power.