That is true but I was looking at driving 6 hours to get a good job done. Its up to you but from everything I've read the prins system is so so much better. But its your money and I can understand 2 hours away when your car isnt working is hard. But worst case scenario it will still work on petrol.
Stand alone I think not sure what's best?
PC is better as you have more control plus if you have a spare pc its cheaper but standalone is eaiser as then its on all the time without having to worry. My personal experience in standalone was it was inferior to a pc based system but was technically easier to set up.
With cameras you want the biggest sensor size you can and IR or night mode. You will be most likely using BNC camera and cables but you get the normal video/phono type aswell.