Just curious hc - if there's no recording box, where do the recordings get stored??
I recently fitted a 4 camera system to our house ..... if I can do it, trust me anyone can. The biggest pain was drilling a hole through the wall for the camera cables to go through (I cheated - I got a friend to drill the hole).
A few tips when you're looking:
make sure the DVR box has a hard drive included (1 TB should be enough, depending on how many cameras you want). Some deals seem quite cheap, but if they come without a hard drive, it'll prob work out more expensive.
plus, make sure you get good quality cameras. Nothing more frustrating than watching poor quality CCTV footage. My cameras are 1500 TVL, so make sure you go for a minimum of 1500 TVL.
I can also watch the cameras via the internet .... handy to spy on the missus lol .....
I paid approx £135 off Ebay and that was for everything - 4 cameras, DVR (+ 1TB hard drive), plus all the cables, leads, plugs etc.