Taxi Driver Online

Just bought one of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/vga-journey-recorder-625683 .

Was a bit dubious as the reviews of the cheap chinese ones on EBay and Amazon aren't very good (they keep breaking!) but as this ones from a well known high street retailer I've got a 28 day refund if anything goes wrong and the years guarantee after that. The bloke in the shop assured me they've sold loads and not had one returned yet so hopefully they're a better quality even though I suspect they all come off the same production line.

The qualitys ok'ish, facing forward in daytime it gives a good view of the road, you can clearly see other vehicles/pedestrians/cyclists although the resolution and focus can't pick out number plates unless the cars stationary and closer than 20ft, the interior view clearly shows passengers. Night front facing is very good if there's streetlighting (better than I can see with my eyes) but without streetlights you can't see beyond headlight range and forget about number plates completely. The interior night view using infra red lights up pretty well, you can see front and rear passengers but only in that greenish hue which doesn't give much detail, not much of a problem as you can see clearly passengers when the interior lights are on as they enter/exit the vehicle. The voice recordings not brilliant but good enough.

It's early days so don't know how reliable it's going to be but so far it seems to have had an effect on the 'dodgy' passengers, when the spidey senses have been tingling with a passenger they've clocked the camera and I've had no problems. Definately will be a godsend if a pedestrian jumps out in front of me or there's a non-fault accident and it's certainly better than having nothing at all.

I'll keep you posted if the unit turns out to be a pile of the steaming but so far so good.

I hope it works out for you.

Is there anything stopping the scum ripping it off?

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IDFIMH

I purchased one of the cheap ones from eBay for £19.99. I have mine recording the interior of the vehicle and I echo your comments on the sound quality. If the customers are talking in a raised voice, it's relatively understandable. I find some interference however through the sound.
Picture wise is good too, especially for the price.

Mine is fitted via a suction mount, just to the left of my rear view mirror.

I also have two SD cards, 'just in case' haha.

Sussex - It's no more secure than a sat-nav, PDA, datahead or phone suckered to the windscreen, so not much to stop it being ripped off. I've got mine just below and to the right of the rearview mirror so anyone trying to get it has to deal with me as well ! If anyone starts asking questions I tell them it's just a camera and the images are stored elsewhere in the car or beamed to the office.

Chronicle - Good idea having a spare SD card. Don't know if your mount is the same but the one I have came with a long arm which meant wherever I tried mounting the camera was too far into the vehicle. I got round this by removing the long arm and replacing it with the bit the camera screws onto, now the camera sits with the lens about 3" from the screen. I find that most of the time I have the camera facing the road ahead and spin it round to face the interior if a dodgy looking passenger gets in or they start getting gobby, they soon calm down once they realise they're being watched !

The issue I have with the cheap ones, well I have loads of issues, but in relation to your situation it's only one, and that's if they nick the unit they also nick the footage.

But at least you have some sort of deterrent, and that little white lie is a good one to share.

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IDFIMH

I agree about if it gets pinched so does the footage and I'd prefer one that stores the data elsewhere, but the thing thats held me back from getting CCTV is the cost of a more professional system.

For the sake of £40 it's better than nothing and if it lasts just 6 months without getting nicked I reckon I've got my moneys worth. If you get one off the auction sites they can be had for as little as £12, at that rate they're almost disposable.

One big advantage of having a camera is its taken a weight off my shoulders, too many times I've had close calls with road users pulling out in front of me, pedestrians crossing without looking, passengers accusing me of all sorts of things and drunks making threats. Now I have the peace of mind I have proof of any incidents should they occur.

The front facing camera is as important as the rear facing version.

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IDFIMH

The one you paid £39.99 for at Maplin is exactly the same as the one I paid £19.99 for from Ebay. It comes in exactly the same box as the one I got off Ebay, the same instructions as the one I got off Ebay.

I popped in to Mansfield Maplin last week to have a look at them, they're exactly the same as the ones off Ebay for £20 cheaper.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_nos ... n+car+cctv

One on Amazon for £13. the very same.
I paid £24 for this one a year ago and watched the price plummet for the same cam.

There's one for sale in a Catalogue that came through my door the other week for £79.99, exactly the same as the one I got off ebay, the only difference is they were throwing in a 4gb memory card which are £6 from Morrisons.

The reason I was put off getting the cheaper one were the customer reviews about them not being reliable and having problems with returns and refunds. At least with the Maplin one there's a full money back guarantee if it breaks within 28 days and a repair/replacement under the 1 year guarantee. I suppose with paying £19.99 you wouldn't be too bothered if it only lasted a couple of months and wouldn't go to the hassle of chasing a refund.

Another problem is the cheap ones come from China where there is a huge problem with counterfeiting, the one you got may look the same (and I'm not saying it isn't) but it could be an inferior knock-off. My feeling is that by buying from a high street shop I've got the genuine article which hopefully will be more reliable, but my gut feeling is that they are indeed the same camera from the same production line, the difference being mine is loaded with Maplins software - at least when you switch it on the screen says 'Maplin welcome'.

I do think that if I were to get another as a spare/backup I'd try one of the cheap ones.

Mine seems to work OK and has cracking night vision to along with sensors when the car is stood. I had a result yesterday afternoon when a copper came up to me and said, "did you pick someone up from KFC about an hour ago, a youth in a green jacket"? I said 2yes I did do you want the memory card from the CCTV camera"? He said "you've got CCTV"? I said yeah it's there on the window. He was well pleased when I gave it to him and within 20 minutes he phoned me and said I'll meet you on the rank to give you the memory card back.

When he gave it me back he was more than thankful and said we've got our man thank you very much.

How many speeding let offs is that worth??
I personally don't have CCTV but I am considering it, as the council have said there is not a problem using it if we wish

Since getting the camera another three drivers have asked me about it and said they're going to get one as well. Another who already has a professional system fitted is going to get one to face forward as his only films the interior and the images are only accesible by the police/council.

Two recent examples down here.

1. An armed robber confirmed as being in a certain area at a certain time. Remanded in custody due to that evidence.

2. A hammer attack filmed in full via a taxi CCTV. Police very happy indeed. Bad guy not so happy.

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IDFIMH