MiniDVR h720 from DogCam Sport

It's unhealthy to have an addiction to gadgets (to the economy that is). I've been using a GoPro Hero Wide a few time last year, but was really annoyed by the way it was operated - on/off on the front, and there isn't any good way to see if it's recording or not.

I've spend most of the winter researching what the best (and cheapest) replacement would be; having the following requirements:

• need a remote (wired please)


• need to be able to charge it while riding (and recording)


• have a separate camera (recorder and camera head)


• should be able to use 8GB or more SD cards (GoPro never released the promised firmware upgrade to use 4GB cards)

I would liked to have had a Chasecam PDR100, but there is a replacement coming out shortly, and as it's not the cheapest option, I've decided to wait for with that one.

Then looking at the stuff Dogcam Sport have I decided to go for the MiniDVR h720 package, and as it's been shitty weather I've not had the chance to try it out until now.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=10158306&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

MINI HDVR Test from Casper Pedersen on Vimeo.

Now what are the pro and cons in my eyes (as this is not a perfect package):

pro's

• can use up to 16GB Micro SD cards


• have a charger (on the bike)


• have a remote (wired)


• quality is ok for the price


• cheap (249.95 gbp)

cons

• it uses Micro SD cards, which are small and flimsy


• the remote is no a lanc remote which means that it's not possible to extend the cable


• it uses MP4 (h264), which means that the videos are not iMovie compatible, they needs conversion which affects the quality (big minus)


• there is a microphone on the cable to the camera, I could live without that as I'm using the internal mic only.

Well I've figured out that Final Cut Express can deal with the movie's directly, which means that I've yet another piece of software to sort out.