Dashcam
 

Another thing I am looking at is dashcam.. etc

any suggestions?

I got cheap one off ebay!

FineVu CR-500HD $396.00 off Amazon. I think another member on the forum uses this. I plan on buying one for myself.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Finevu-CR-500HD-Vehicle-Recorder-1920x1080p/dp/B00AIBEBZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367865714&sr=8-1&keywords=finevu+cr-500hd"]Amazon.com: Finevu NEW CR-500HD 16gb Full Hd Record Car Vehicle Black Box Recorder Camera Racing 1920x1080p@30fps w/SONY CMOS Sensor: Car Electronics[/ame]

Blackvue dr400g-HD II - quite a popular choice but not without it's flaws. Bought and installed one recently and here's my take on it.

Pros:
-Easy to install. Can rotate lense 360 degrees (vertically).
-Easy to use software
-Very handy (install and forget). Can turn off all lights/voice prompts for stealth.
-Small size means more stealth
-Cheap (relatively)
-Nice field of view
-At normal compression can record for about 4-5hrs before writing over older recordings (16gb, 7-8hrs if high compression)

Cons:
-G sensors are very sensitive (high G's cause it to record "events", which have to be manually deleted as they can't be overwritten by newer recordings).
-Quality is alright but don't expect to pick out all numberplates while car is in motion
-I've found the bitrate of recording is 7.5mbps (normal compression) compared to 10mbps of season 1 dr400g. Blackvue did this to reduce heat but quality is lowered is as well.
-Parking mode requires constant juice (highly recommended to install the power magic pro to avoid draining battery)
-Does get a bit hot but no problems from it yet

I'm on my second dashcam (I upgraded recently). There are tons of them out there, but here's the two I had:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/2-5-inch-Vehicle-Recorder-Dashboard-Camcorder/dp/B0053DDNW6"]Amazon.com: 2.5-inch HD Car LED IR Vehicle DVR Road Dash Video Camera Recorder Traffic Dashboard Camcorder - LCD 270 degrees whirl: Car Electronics[/ame]

Pros: Cheap
Cons: Cheap

It's cheap and it's a dashcam. It's clunky but it also has an LCD Screen. Menu navigation is stupid, but I only used it once to set it up. Video is so-so... not great resolution but you will be able to see the license plate of the car in front of you. Basically great for video evidence if you're ever in a crash. You also need to buy an SD card (or use an old one like I did). Worth it? Every dollar.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/BlackVue-DR500GW-HD-Recorder-Tracking-Included/dp/B00B4E9764/"]Amazon.com: BlackVue Wi-Fi New DR500GW-HD, Car Black Box/Car DVR Recorder, Built-in Wi-Fi, Full HD (1080p@30fps), G Sensor, GPS Tracking, 16GB SD Card Included: Patio, Lawn & Garden[/ame]

Note: This is the 500, not the 400. Biggest change are new vents (400 had heat issues)

Pros: Too many to list... small, 1080P@30fps, WiFi, GPS, 3 axis Accelerometer, Android/iPhone app, optional parking mode accessory (+$40), Voice Commands, comes with 16gb microsd card, card reader, comes with program on SD card for easy viewing

Cons: Expensive (but it may end up saving you money in the long run)

I've had this for a couple weeks, but so far it's been working great. I've bought the parking mode and am going to install it soon. Android app works great on my Galaxy Nexus and the videos are awesome. Everything about this dashcam is awesome! It'll mark videos as normal, event, parking and also see your GPS location, speed, and XYZ accelerometer data. Expensive? Yes, very! But it may end up saving your butt.

Quality's so good in fact that I'm considering using this for AutoX (However, I still need to figure out how to stitch videos together)

I'm currently doing a small project with this one.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/2-5-inch-Vehicle-Recorder-Dashboard-Camcorder/dp/B0053DDNW6/"]Amazon.com: 2.5-inch HD Car LED IR Vehicle DVR Road Dash Video Camera Recorder Traffic Dashboard Camcorder - LCD 270 degrees whirl: Car Electronics[/ame]

It will be on 24/7 and completely hidden. Will post a write-up on it!

+1 for the BlackVue DR500GW-HD. Pretty good quality + the GPS and accelerometer functionality. Still need to purchase the PowerMagic Pro for the parking mode though.

Only 2 things I don't like about it since buying it back in January:
1) Gotta format the micro SD card that comes with it before using the dashcam - antivirus flagged a virus on it when I first plugged the new card into my PC (it comes with its own compact micro SD card reader that I keep clipped to my keychain)
2) Have to turn down the accelerometer sensitivity to be able to get longer than 1 minute clips around curves and such. Maximum recorded clip time is 3 minutes and the BlackVue viewer software won't export multiple clips at once even though it plays back the clips in sequence with proper stitching.

I have this as well and its great. i used to have DR300 and liked it too

I'm in the same boat and didn't want to drop 200-300 on a blackvue.

I am considering this one ($107 shipped): http://dashcamtalk.com/livue-lb100/
No GPS but has functions like shock recording, parking mode, self shutoff, great night vision for price but most importantly its small and discrete.

i have the blackvue dr400-hdii (looong name -_-) and the power magic pro to manage the battery drain. worked well so far. if you keep an eye out on massdrop.com youll sometimes catch these at a huge discounted price. mine plus the power magic was ~$225

Pro: pretty good quality so far. and if you follow instructions, pretty easy install. easy to switch out memory cards if you want to make sure a video wont get overridden.
con: gets really hot when operating for a long time. i usually cut the power and pull the power cord from it when it is parked in my garage.

If you have the money id say get the dr500-hdwifi. that wifi should let you save any vids you want onto your phone when the event happens.

A little sample from my cam:

[ame]http://youtu.be/efaVcwWY-bM[/ame]

Does this camera allow you to output the GPS & accelerometer data into a separate file you could use for something else ... like race analysis software?

I don't use any race analysis software, however the gps/accelerometer data is stored as a separate file from the video. The Blackvue software just displays them synced together. I haven't looked at the separate file but i'm sure with some scripting you can convert it to something you can use for other software

Any chance you could upload one somewhere for me to get my hands on one?

Thanks,
Bruce