ZMODO 4-Channel Security System With 4 IR Weatherproof HD Cameras, DVR, Motion Detection & Smartphone Viewing $125

is this a deal?
i've been looking for a security system

Huh... Hard drive not included? Still not a terrible price though. When Amazon had it in stock, it was $209.95 WITH a 500gb hd. So if you have an old 1tb laying around that you scored for $45ish recently, you still come out ahead.

Does anyone know if an external usb powered drive can be used on this one instead of the internal one?

After chatting with ZMODO, i think this is not a good deal unless you were specifically looking for a unit without HD. About the HD, ZMODO take is: "We use and highly recommend the Western Digital AV-GP rated HDD. The AV-GP series HDD is an industrial grade HDD which is designed to work with continuous DVR units. You will need an industrial grade HDD and not a computer grade HDD."
While it's likely that any HD will get a basic job done, IMHO the savings are not such to justify the risk of having a crippled system or a system failing when most needed.
Also despite having the same model number, the unit here seams to have a different look from the one sold by most other retailers. It might be just a frontpanel look, but who knows.

Any sort of low-power, low-heat HDD will work. Think of any 5400 RPM drive or a "Green" drive. These DVRs that have HDDs come with the cheapest OEM HDDs possible.

This is a good deal if because this DVR will record at D1 resolution (720x480). Most DVRs in this price range only do CIF resolution (352x288). I own a Night Owl and while it displays in D1 it only records in CIF, which is disappointing. I plan to replace it with this one.

Thanks for the info Mario. I put in the 2TB Samsung Green Drive I got in 2010. ($60 from Frys, the cheapest type designed for Storage use) It has been in my mother-in-law's house for almost a year. No Problem so far.

Since some of the floods overseas I've heard hard drives are going to be 3x as expensive until the stock is replenished.

For home use a computer grade HDD is fine.

Quote from marioletto : Does anyone know if an external usb powered drive can be used on this one instead of the internal one?

Just pull the hard drive out of the external enclosure. Problem solved.

Noob question....are these cameras wired to the receiver or use wireless? If wired, how long is the provided wiring?

Have never had one but plan to buy one and install it myself. So wanted to check and make sure if this is something you would recommend!

wired, but I do not remember the length. I have this same one from woot last week. I think they are 75 ft, but I could be way off. That is from memory.

decent