2.5" Screen HD 720P Car DVR Driving Recorder With IR 10-LED Night Vision/Cycling Recording/AV OUT

• Uses 500W HD camera lens.
• Night vision function.
• Automatically records once the engine starts.
• When the memory is full, it will automatically cover the previous files

The folks at Alldaymall contacted me shortly after I had ordered this product:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00919ZNQM/ref=oh_details_o06_s00_i00

telling me they had just sold out of that particular camera, and asked if they could substitute an alternative. I figured something like this situation would happen eventually (since they had only one of that item left in stock), so I said "OK". The substitute was the camera I'm reviewing now. I was a little disappointed that an English language operating manual wasn't included (the only manual was in Chinese, I think), but since I'm a very technically-minded, hands-on kind of guy, I started pressing buttons to see what did what. It didn't take long to figure out how to operate the camera (about 30-45 minutes of trial-and-error) and get the battery charged. It has several resolutions available, from VGA 640X480 to 1080 FHD on the movie camera side, to VGA 640X480 to 12 MP on the still images side. There's also a setting to flip the display 180 degrees, if you use the camera "upside down", and so many others I haven't used yet. It's a definite learning curve...if you press the setting wheel too soon, it defaults to the main display, and so forth. As mentioned, trial and error and about 45 minutes of tinkering, and you'll be operating this camera in no time flat. I've not yet used it in my car, but I plan to at some point, just to test it's capabilities.

It comes with an in-car mount (a heavy-duty suction cup for attaching to the windshield), an RCA video cable to connect to a TV or DVR, a USB A to micro USB cable, and a 12v car adapter. You can also use it as a webcam, if you're so inclined, or a USB mass storage device (although I had some trouble mounting it as the latter...I suspect my computer not recognizing any USB device over 8gb as the culprit). It'll take up to a 32GB SD Card, which, on the lowest resolution settings, will give you over 400,000 still images or over 5 hours of video. It's also night-vision capable, given the array of 10 IR LEDs on either side of the wide-angle lens. With the LEDs turned on, you can see about 30-45 feet in total darkness (about average for night vision devices). Turning them on takes a bit of practice...press the power button once to turn the camera on, then a brief press of the power button will turn the LEDs on or off (the display will indicate when the LEDs are on or off). The display itself is rather small...no more so than an average LCD camera, so it really isn't an issue.

I've not yet tested the battery capacity, but I suspect on battery power alone, actual use times may vary. I tend to use things like this connected to an inexhaustable power supply (such as a LARGE battery, a car charger, or other means), since batteries are so unpredictable.

I plan to tinker with this some more over the next few weeks, so we'll see just how complicated (or easy!) this camera is to use "in the field", as it were.

In closing, I'd like to ask a favor of the fine folks at Alldaymall Please include an English-language manual, or offer an English-language translation of the included manual with your cameras from now on. The directions on the back of the box are not very informative. Thank you!