Bump…
I’ve decided I want a dashcam. Any updates Rob?
I’ve been looking at this cheapie one, but it seems you get what you pay for- ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Camera-Re … 51aab397c3
Is there a good quality one available for £100 or less?
Cheers 
For slightly over £100 (£116 at current exchange rate) you can get an Itronics ITB-100HD.
I run one of these together with a 32gb SD card and it typically records 2 to 3 days worth of driving (I usually do between 7 and 9 hrs daily driving). I converted mine to use a suction window mount as I change trucks frequently.
They are made and shipped from South Korea but mine only took 3 days using express postage which added about $20 to the cost.
The quality is excellent, see the above link for some example videos.
When I bought mine the seller was on Ebay but since then Itronics have complained about “unofficial” sellers and had them removed, although there are still some available on there. They have since set up an independent shop here.
Discussion forum on this brand of camera here. (Excellent site for all things dash cam).
- I have no interest in promoting the above cam / sites apart from trying to stop people paying over-inflated UK prices for other cams. For example the similar specced Roadhawk HD is £270.
Roadhawk and other “dashcam” products are currently being discussed in other threads. I came across this while doing some interweb searching and I think this is fantastic for under £25 for full HD rather than upscaled. Take a look at the review HERE and watch the video review.
If you fail to be impressed by that then there is something wrong with you. 
I’m ordering one! 
Very impressive for a small camera and im tempted. If only i had an ebay account. Only downside i can see is the lack of time they can record for so on a long drive they an run out of room.
If someone fancies getting two and me purchasing one then drop me a pm
JoeG:
Very impressive for a small camera and im tempted. If only i had an ebay account. Only downside i can see is the lack of time they can record for so on a long drive they an run out of room.
If someone fancies getting two and me purchasing one then drop me a pm
Joe if you read the blurb at the bottom of the link he has provided a couple of updates, one of which is a mod for unlimited recording until your SD card is full up .
Update — 25 March 2011 — New Continuous Recording Firmware
If you do a youtube search for “HD 808” there’s a ton of other footage from them too, some strapping them to RC planes. Bear in mind that YT plays by default in 360p so you need to change to 720p to get the best, but even that won’t be like for like with the raw recording due to YT compression.
I sell these items from my site I will not link unless i get permission from the admins / mods.
Im not looking to make a big profit on these items especially for you guys I would sell at cost price if it was even to cover paypal fee’s etc
I have the Car DVR with 2.5 Inch LCD (Motion Detection, SD)
DVR Spy Camera - Keychain Car Remote Style (4GB, 30FPS)
Digital Video Recorder Spy Camera (Keychain Car Remote Style)
again if you want more info just pm me and again mods feel free to remove if need be.
Paul
MassMediauk:
I sell these items from my site I will not link unless i get permission from the admins / mods.Im not looking to make a big profit on these items especially for you guys I would sell at cost price if it was even to cover paypal fee’s etc
I have the Car DVR with 2.5 Inch LCD (Motion Detection, SD)
DVR Spy Camera - Keychain Car Remote Style (4GB, 30FPS)
Digital Video Recorder Spy Camera (Keychain Car Remote Style)again if you want more info just pm me and again mods feel free to remove if need be.
Paul
Paul is the keychain one you have the 720p h.264 HD model, 1280x720? Many ebay sellers claim that this is the one they sell but they actually send you the 1280x960 which is just 640x480 upscaled.
the ones i have Records video at 640 x 480 (30 FPS) not 720 but just as good
MassMediauk:
the ones i have Records video at 640 x 480 (30 FPS) not 720 but just as good
WADR they are not “just as good” at all. There is plenty of video footage proving this. The resolution isn’t high enough to make out vehicle registrations (for example) at anything more than a cars length away, so basically useless for crash/accident situations where someone cuts you up.
If you can source the h.264 ones as linked in my post prior to yours then I would be interested in purchasing from you if
a) the price is the same as or less than the one linked
b) you can provide evidence of your trading history/ebay account feedback
I will look and see if i can source the 720 keyring version at a price price would always be cheaper for fellow members
MassMediauk:
I will look and see if i can source the 720 keyring version at a price price would always be cheaper for fellow members
now confirmed I am able to get the 720p version DVR Key Chain with Hidden Spy Camera (720p, 30FPS)
I will post more details in the morning its at a reduced cost for 2 days then it goes back up by a few pounds but still cheaper than ebay will post full details tomorrow as i’m going to bed 
MassMediauk:
http://massmedia.cc/eshop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=15 if you wish to purchase and buy the 720p version.
That’s not 720p… 
720p has a resolution of 1280×720 not 720x480
720x480 is DVD quality not HD
This looks good:-
Car DVR with 2.5 Inch LCD (Motion Detection, SD)
massmedia.cc/eshop/index.php?act … oductId=10
£46 
Do you only take scummy paypal or can you process Credit Cards without Paypal? 
Very interesting post Rob! At this sort of money I’m very interested in the kit but i do struggle with the techy stuff! Can you explain for the less gifted what would be needed to record a days driving which might be up to 10 hours? For example, can you delete recordings as you go along? I’m thinking of using it to cover my arse if there’s an incident while on the road so maybe don’t need to retain everything.
ok at the moment I have to put it on hold until further notice I will still have these available again i do not expect to make a profit only to cover any costs hence why I want to pass this on to you will update you again shortly
dinosteveus1:
This looks good:-
Car DVR with 2.5 Inch LCD (Motion Detection, SD)
massmedia.cc/eshop/index.php?act … oductId=10
£46
That’s already been reviewed on the site I linked to if you have a browse through the posts. In fact here’s the review of it (part 1) and part 2 where he compares it with the DVR D011. Note that the HD 720p (the first one) claims to be a HD camera but it isn’t, it’s just 640x480 upscaled. There are several units of the same internal design and spec but just dressed up in a different case. The key fob design that massmedia linked to has the exact same camera and processor. The only difference is the case and obviously the LCD screen. Both the key fob designs and the LCD one you are talking about have motion detection, but you’ll note in the review that you have to be within around 12" of the lens for it to activate, so it’s technically useless for most applications.
Unless you specifically require an LCD screen then the HD 808 key fob camera is far superior because it’s the only one on the market in this price bracket that records in true HD. All the others are just 640x480 upscaled. If you don’t know how that translates in reality, have a look at the bottom of this link where the coach pictures are to give you an idea of the difference in picture quality from a frame capture of true HD vs. upscaled.
If you want to be able to see vehicle registration plates in your footage that the upscaled ones won’t cut it unless the vehicle is within approx 1 car length in front of you. On the true HD version, it doesn’t look much better when you play it back, but you see the difference if you view in full screen 720p on youtube and then pause a frame when a vehicle is about to pass. The still frame is clear enough to make out the reg.
44 Tonne Ton:
Very interesting post Rob! At this sort of money I’m very interested in the kit but i do struggle with the techy stuff! Can you explain for the less gifted what would be needed to record a days driving which might be up to 10 hours? For example, can you delete recordings as you go along? I’m thinking of using it to cover my arse if there’s an incident while on the road so maybe don’t need to retain everything.
Kenny, this camera does not have cycled recording, ie. it doesn’t overwrite itself when the card is full. The max card size it takes is 32 gig and depending on which variant you get (one records at 1000 kbps and the other records at 7000 kbps, but there is no distinguishable difference) you will get around 50 mins recording or 75 mins recording per 4 gig of memory. So a 32 gig card would cover you for somewhere between 6 hrs 40 mins and 10 hours driving. You would then need to either insert a fresh blank card or connect the full card to your computer and transfer the data from it and/or erase it if you want to continue recording.
They advise you to use a decent quality class 4 (or better) micro SD card too for the best quality. Very good price here for a class 6 one, as recommended here.