In Car DVR Black box for £1.19

[Innes]

I've been looking at in-car DVR's for awhile now but in the meantime had been using my Nokia phone to record my driving. I really wanted to overlay the speed using GPS but there was nothing available.

I really like the look of RoadHawk as well because it has google map overlay as well as GPS but I cant afford £200!

I recently purchased an iPhone 3GS and there IS an app that acts just like RoadHawk for £1.19!! its called DashCam and is available from the Apple App Store. http://www.stedwardenterprises.com/ You also need a SatNav Cradle (got mine off ebay for £5 inc iphone charger)

The main screen displays the video (obviously) a google map overlay, GPS Speed, Average Speed and time the trip started and finished.

See below screen grabs from this mornings drive to work:

LANDSCAPE MODE


PORTRAIT MODE:


In the settings menu you can select what quality video you would like.

Under highest Quality you can record up to 2 hours in one go but it takes up to 3,240mb
Medium quality 2hours takes 720mb
Lowest Quality 2 hours takes 120mb

I keep it on medium quality as there really isn't that much between highest and lowest. All of the above include audio.

There is a share button which allows you to load the video to:
Facebook
Youtube
Email
Export to your Photo Album.

These options do not include all the overlay information (map, GPS speed etc). its just the video clip.

Here is a 30 second sample clip I took to demonstrate:

http://s1020.photobucket.com/albums/...romDashcam.mp4

Right, now the downsides.
Its not as good as StreetHawk and you have to manually start and stop your recordings but for £1.19 its a great step in the right direction.

The iphone (3GS anyway) drains its battery. I found it lost about 1% Batter for every 1m20s recording. That doesnt bother me too much as my phone sits in a charging cradle at home and again at work plus I got a charger with the sat nav cradle. The iPhone 4 is supposed to be alot kinder on its battery.


So what do you think guys?

(PS to do screen grabs from your iPhone press and hold the Home button then press the power button once (dont hold down power button as this will reset the phone to factory default). you will hear a camera noise and the screen will flash. Its then saved in your photo library)

[Penfold101]

That's quite impressive actually - I reckon I'll still go with the roadhawk next month as it'll save having to mess around with everything all the time and will simply start recording every time I turn the ignition on...

If you've got an iphone and a cradle already sorted it's definintely a no brainer - good find mate...

[callum]

just purchasedit too it looks mint ill try it out soon excellent i got the i phone 4 so it works on that too people

[Das]

And for those of use with Andriod phones there's a free one called Daily Roads Voyager available from The Market Place.

http://www.dailyroads.com/

[Innes]

As you'll be shooting video from your sat nav cradle I suggest that you rest up against something to stop vibration whilst on the move.

My cradles arm is quite long and it bounced about quite a bit with the phone on the end of it so I moved it lower and rested a corner of the cradle agaisnt the dash where it begins to go up to form the housing for the dials.

[Innes]

Anyone else tried this yet?

[the-wizard]

I do this all the time with my bog standard old phone!, plonk it on a duster against the window sometimes with a small piece of blue tack but not very often, i find it just sits there just fine!, good pic & records for as long as i want.

[mattster87]

im gonna download this in the next few days and try it out - but do you ever drive with your window open? id be worried about someone snatching it from where you have it in your photos.

[Innes]

No I don't during the winter. I am concious of that but not worried about it at the moment. Will have to reconsider it's position in summer but if the phones isn't rested against something the video is to shaky. I may see if I can get a shorter cradle arm and move it further up the screen and by the mirror.

[Innes]

Thought i'd post this video clip of me speeding. It show just how fast my Vectra is.

http://s1020.photobucket.com/albums/...WorkFFx2-1.mp4