ToughBook Arbitrator has to be the way to go !

OK . . That's one too many times I've been cut up while driving! . . anyone know where I might find a cheap ToughBook Arbitrator
(do they ever come up in Police junks sales or somewhere?)

or other in-vehicle camera . . anyone done any good mods with a ToughBook ?

Maybe I should just invest in one of those Muvi micro DV camcorders ?

Yes I did see the ebay link . .

http://tinyurl.com/yt6eym

but that stuff looks like quite a big install! (British cars are rather compact . . well mine is . . Simon Cowell's is Ma$$ive!)


EDIT: Ah ! OK so after taking a closer look on ebay there maybe some gear out there that would do nicely !

You guys have any knowledge of this stuff . . are the cheap 'all in one' units any good ?

Just wanna open discussion . . .

 

I looked into the ToughBook Arbitrator to put into my work vehicle but they are still cost prohibitive for me. $2500 usd and up. usually more like $3500 usd. I need it for work so I might pay a bit more than the casual user but not that much. there are alot of in vehicle camera systems out there both new and used. the big difference from one generation to the next seems to be the format that your data is kept on. old cop car systems used VHS tapes, then DVD then all kinds of formats. I have seen SD card ports on some systems and of course USD for flash drives. the newest ones I have seen this year use solid state hard drives and will dump to USB. Multiple cameras are always good as is nightvision. the new stuff is big bucks in my opinion. different systems pop up on ebay all the time.

 

Yeah...

That VHS equipment is STONE AGE... most PDs have been using 8mm and DVD-R for about the last 10 years, and now they're all converting to COC-Compliant encrypted digital storage.

Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few PDs here in Tejas still using Betamax... or a box with a little bird inside pecking at wooden planks to make the image...

mnem
Stone age? HAH ! I'm MUD AGE...

 

Might find a few at the Hamvention at Dayton, OH every year along with some XTS5000s, APX's and.....

 

Why not build a carputer out of an old CF-28, MK3 and post a few cams at angles you want.... Bury the Toughbooks somewhere out of site..... Get a large hard drive and have it record.... In the meantime.... Run an external 7" touchscreen to your dash so you can run it al... Then DEFINITELY focus a camera on THAT.

When I sell my Hummer H3 and buy my next truck... Whatever it maybe... I plan on burying a CF-29 into a dock somewhere and running a carputer from that... THEN if I really need a mobile laptop.... I can just undock it and go!

Of course.... With my new Droid.... I don't know if I will need to carry my Toughbook with me everywhere now... This thing is fantabulous! I traded my iPhone I had for two weeks after more dropped calls than I have fingers and toes to count.... I didn't realize how bad AT&T sucked until I bought an iPhone.... So now I have a Droid... The iPhone was a good phone...

iPhone - good

AT&T - BAD!

 

AMEN, brutha... though I kinda got hosed on mine.


ATT promised I could "road test the iPhone risk-free"... I did, it ROCKED, AT&T SUCKED, so I TRIED to take it back...

*Cue flashibackie music*
"Oh, I'm sorry sir, but that's only for the FIRST BILLING CYCLE."

"I've had the phone less than a WEEK."

"Yes sir. Your first billing cycle was 4 days. It ended day before YESTERDAY."

*JAW DROP* THUDDD!

Oh, I COULD have given it back... as long as I paid the $175.00 EACH termination fee... and another $190 for the current month's service, since I was 2 DAYS INTO MY NEW BILLING CYCLE.

My wife had to drag me out of the store; I had BOTH phones, and I was gonna pull a HANCOCK on somebody...

However... I've tried the Droid. The user interface is STILL a generation or more (IMHO) behind that of the iPwn... I'm NOT willing to give that up, and I have NO DESIRE WHATEVER for one of those retarded slider keyboards on my PHONE. Typing with your thumbs is a WHOLLY UNNATURAL ACT... Like TeleTubbies or (Insert Name Here) ON ICE...


I LOVE MY IPWN SO MUCH, I'M WILLING TO PUT UP WITH AT&T FOR IT.

VeriSuck says they'll have coverage for ALL BRANDS/DEVICES in 2010... when that happens, I'm going back in a heartbeat; even if I do have to pay AT&T's blood money to get out of my contract.

Add my name to that list about a million names strong...

mnem
iPwn. You know you want it.

 

I need an XTS5000 VHF Full display...

 

Wow . . that Hamvention looks like a great day out to inspire !

Looks like you could build you're own cop car and make smokey & the Bandit movies

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hsaito/2500118483/

I like the idea of a ToughBook dock . . I understand the dash screen . . but I'll have to have a think about how the camera's might be linked up / interfaced . .