Thread: Low power consumption 24/7 video recorder?

Bump...ok maybe ill lower my expectations a bit.

I dont necessarily need a 24/7 device, but maybe something that draws under 10watts that I can leave recording for 8-10hrs a day while I am at school.

When i had looked into it in the past, I saw some flash bashed DVRs on ebay that weren't horrendously expensive.

What I would look into is something like a spycam. They make some now that use memory cards and write straight to the card. Usually, they're hidden in things like a clock, but you could take the circuitry out and do as you wish with it. Something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Motio...QQcmdZViewItem

This looks promising except for the record length

http://www.4hiddenspycameras.com/podivire2tft.html

Portable Digital Video Recorder 2.4" TFT Monitor (Schedule Recorder & Overwrite)
Rechargeable battery Powers the covert camera direct using the same power and rechargeable battery built inside, stamps date and time, schedule recording system (Time and date) , supports 4GB SD memory card for 3.5hrs of video recording time, 2.4 TFT color monitor, resolution VGA 30fps real time recording, Compression MPEG-4 Format, PC interface (USB2.0) and more.

Specifications:

MINI Mobile Digital Video Recorder
SD/MMC. card slot (support up to 4GB)
date and time stamping
loop overwrite record or continuous record
Extend Interfaceirect supply DC Power 9V output for Camera and Video composite input
Special Power save button (monitor sleep mode)
Display : 2.5" LTPS TFT LCD 960x240,230K
AV recorder resolution : 640x480(VGA) / max 30 fps.
Adapter : 5V DC adapter (USB port) / USB cable
Dimension:95.5mm x 63.5 mm x 21 mm

Schedule record.

3 level of selectable recording timer from 1 minutes to 240 minutes (4 Hrs)

Overwrite.

Settings REC MODE Continuous ( REC loop duration that continuously overwrite records to SD data storage)
Standby

Settings power saving star time 2,5,10 min.

Here's another, a bit pricier, but 4channels and 300+ hours

Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I have been using the wrong search terms on eBay all along. Ill keep looking and see if any of them suit me. I think the only features I really need are automatic write over and low power consumption.

Ok so after a bunch of searching, I found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/DVS-Digital-Vide...QQcmdZViewItem

Very cheap and even includes 2 night vision cameras. Also maintenance free since it automatically loops over old video. Might be difficult to hide the camera in the car though.

Any opinions on why I should not just go ahead and buy this?

Originally Posted by nobb

Ok so after a bunch of searching, I found this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/DVS-Digital-Vide...QQcmdZViewItem

Very cheap and even includes 2 night vision cameras. Also maintenance free since it automatically loops over old video. Might be difficult to hide the camera in the car though.

Any opinions on why I should not just go ahead and buy this?

Certainly cheap, I wonder how good the video quality is. 2GB isn't going to hold a lot.

^Well it appears to be the same as this unit:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/USA-DVR-Camera-Vi...QQcmdZViewItem

Video resolution is 320 x 240 and picture resolution is 640 x 480, so I suspect it would probably be better to use automatic picture mode. Reading the specs on similar looking units on eBay, apparently the device can record 4380 videos. Each video is 10s, so doing the calculations, it means the device can store 12 hours of video. That should be more than enough because it only records when in motion.