Roadhawk RH-1 - Any good/cheaper alternatives?

[XDA]

After being badly cut up twice in two days (by two trucks), Im considering getting a Roadhawk RH-1.

Having looked at it online along with example video's recorded on it, it's pretty impressive!

Anyone here have one? What do you think of it? Money well spent?

Also, its £199 so does anyone know of a cheaper but equally as good rival system?

Cheers.

[Liquid Knight]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HD720P-Car-Dashboard-Video-C...

[Mattt]

If you have an Android phone, free app called DailyRoads Voyager

[XDA]

Liquid Knight said:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HD720P-Car-Dashboard-Video-C...

Do you have one? Reason I ask is that it would be good to know how well it works etc.

Mattt said:

If you have an Android phone, free app called DailyRoads Voyager

I have an iPhone. Thanks though.

[vonhosen]

I like them.

Activations are very sensitive with out of the box settings. Video quality is reasonably good in decent lighting, not so hot in the dark.

[DailyRoads]

XDA said:

I have an iPhone. Thanks though.

I compiled a list of currently available dashcam solutions for all mobile platforms, also including alternatives to Roadhawk.

http://www.dailyroads.com/blogs/entry/Car-black-bo...

[300bhp/ton]

XDA said:

After being badly cut up twice in two days (by two trucks), Im considering getting a Roadhawk RH-1.

Having looked at it online along with example video's recorded on it, it's pretty impressive!

Anyone here have one? What do you think of it? Money well spent?

Also, its £199 so does anyone know of a cheaper but equally as good rival system?

Cheers.

Just curious, but what would you actually use it for? As in what would you expect to achieve?

[thetapeworm]

I have the RH-1, mainly because I like gadgets but also for the "just in case" evidence in the event of an accident.

It's an "ok" device but the camera isn't good enough, it can't capture something as important as a number plate from more than a car length away on it's best quality setting, to me that's a basic requirement.

It captures images Ok when you are close to another car so in the event of an accident etc it would probably be OK as you'd be on top of the other vehicle but in daily use it's just not quite there IMO.

I've only had one "near miss" when the device has been in the car and if I'd hit the other car and he'd driven off there is no way the Roadhawk would have been able to give me his plate info, even before Youtube compression etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXorCQQXmSA

[XDA]

DailyRoads said:

XDA said:

I have an iPhone. Thanks though.

I compiled a list of currently available dashcam solutions for all mobile platforms, also including alternatives to Roadhawk.

http://www.dailyroads.com/blogs/entry/Car-black-bo...

Cheers for that, will have alook.

300bhp/ton said:

XDA said:

After being badly cut up twice in two days (by two trucks), Im considering getting a Roadhawk RH-1.

Having looked at it online along with example video's recorded on it, it's pretty impressive!

Anyone here have one? What do you think of it? Money well spent?

Also, its £199 so does anyone know of a cheaper but equally as good rival system?

Cheers.

Just curious, but what would you actually use it for? As in what would you expect to achieve?

Mainly for "just in case" something happens.

Last year my car was severely damaged by a massive wheel coming off the back of a lorry. The driver didn't stop and was never traced. If I had a roadhawk type device, then I would have the vehicle details to pass onto the police.

About a month ago, I was badly cut up by two trucks where I nearly ended up buried in the side of their trailers. Having roadhawk would have allowed me to forward the footage onto the companies involved.

[thetapeworm]

XDA said:

Last year my car was severely damaged by a massive wheel coming off the back of a lorry. The driver didn't stop and was never traced. If I had a roadhawk type device, then I would have the vehicle details to pass onto the police.

About a month ago, I was badly cut up by two trucks where I nearly ended up buried in the side of their trailers. Having roadhawk would have allowed me to forward the footage onto the companies involved.

You might need some CSI software to enhance the images but it's better than nothing

[XDA]

thetapeworm said:

XDA said:

Last year my car was severely damaged by a massive wheel coming off the back of a lorry. The driver didn't stop and was never traced. If I had a roadhawk type device, then I would have the vehicle details to pass onto the police.

About a month ago, I was badly cut up by two trucks where I nearly ended up buried in the side of their trailers. Having roadhawk would have allowed me to forward the footage onto the companies involved.

You might need some CSI software to enhance the images but it's better than nothing

Just noticed your previous post re quality.

If it is poor, not sure I want to spend £300 if the recordings aren't going to be clear.

[thetapeworm]

XDA said:

Just noticed your previous post re quality.

If it is poor, not sure I want to spend £300 if the recordings aren't going to be clear.

You can get something of equal recording quality for less and better quality for around $100 on sites like dealextreme.com - what I think you pay more for with the Roadhawk is that many of the niggles found with cheaper devices have been sorted out (it's a cheaper unit with enhancements I believe) and the software is superior.

Cheaper unit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsiNgQA3bh0 (change to 720p)

I guess it depends how much you need the GPS element of it - handy for sure but for the same money you could probably get an in-car DVR and a couple of standalone cameras that record in much better resolution.

[mrmr96]

What about a 'Go Pro Hero HD'?

This is meant to have fantastic resolution and FPS, but I think the downside is that because it's a camera designed for all types of extreme sport it won't have GPS or 'event recording'. I don't know if it has 'auto record on power up' or 'power up on DC in' to enable it to start/stop with ignition, and I don't know what happens when the card is full, but I doubt it will record over the old stuff.

Another idea would be a 'home security' PVR with bullet cams or something, but I'm not sure on cost or auto record etc and won't have event or GPS.

I think that trying to make something work that doesn't work at the moment will be harder than using the RH1 which has been designed for a purpose... shame the camera isn't so good.

How about the new Roadhawk RH2? It has 2 cameras (front as before, but now interior too). Not sure if they improved the quality?

[Big E 118]

Hey XDA, did you end up going for the RH-1?

I want to get a dash cam and not sure what to go for. There are cheaper ones on the market but most of the £50-£100 ones have very mixed reviews.

A review of what you got would be good!

[XDA]

Big E 118 said:

Hey XDA, did you end up going for the RH-1?

I want to get a dash cam and not sure what to go for. There are cheaper ones on the market but most of the £50-£100 ones have very mixed reviews.

A review of what you got would be good!

Haven't got any dash cam as yet. Still keen on the RH-1 as the GPS part would be very useful.

It's the price of the RH-1 that's the main reason why I haven't bought one yet. Hoping the price might go down....

[vonhosen]

mrmr96 said:

What about a 'Go Pro Hero HD'?

This is meant to have fantastic resolution and FPS, but I think the downside is that because it's a camera designed for all types of extreme sport it won't have GPS or 'event recording'. I don't know if it has 'auto record on power up' or 'power up on DC in' to enable it to start/stop with ignition, and I don't know what happens when the card is full, but I doubt it will record over the old stuff.

Another idea would be a 'home security' PVR with bullet cams or something, but I'm not sure on cost or auto record etc and won't have event or GPS.

I think that trying to make something work that doesn't work at the moment will be harder than using the RH1 which has been designed for a purpose... shame the camera isn't so good.

How about the new Roadhawk RH2? It has 2 cameras (front as before, but now interior too). Not sure if they improved the quality?

http://contour.com/products/contour-gps

Variable resolution/frame rates, HD quality & GPS.
Pricier than the roadhawk but great versatile piece of kit.

[JQ]

Try this :

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?c...

2 hrs of recording, then starts recording from the start again. Less than £30 and includes everything you need to get it working. Mine arrived today so not had chance to test it yet. I paid £15 for one without a memory card as I've already got one - BARGAIN !

[cheadle hulme]

JQ said:

Try this :

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?c...

2 hrs of recording, then starts recording from the start again. Less than £30 and includes everything you need to get it working. Mine arrived today so not had chance to test it yet. I paid £15 for one without a memory card as I've already got one - BARGAIN !

Looks good. Any footage we can look at?

[mrmr96]

JQ said:

Try this :

http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?c...

2 hrs of recording, then starts recording from the start again. Less than £30 and includes everything you need to get it working. Mine arrived today so not had chance to test it yet. I paid £15 for one without a memory card as I've already got one - BARGAIN !

That is a great shout. Good find!

[JQ]

cheadle hulme said:

Looks good. Any footage we can look at?

There's a video review of the product attached to the advert which looks pretty good for a few quid. Mine genuinely did arrive today, I'll report back once I've run a few tests.