The Amazing – and Cheap Keychain Mini DVR.
February 17, 2010 22 Comments Thursday, February 18th, 2010, Netcast 1029
A fan sent me an email about this Keychain DVR. I wish I could find their name to give them credit, but I went through more than 500 emails and can’t locate it. But I did buy one & I love it. Actually I ordered two more. Here are the details from the Ebay website:
The car key Chain mini DVR is the smallest DVR in the world. The video is still very clear and vivid even if you are moving when you record video because it is 100% 720 X 480 pixels and 30 frame/second. Dimension: 1.2 x 1.95 x 0.4 inch (3cm x 4.9cm x 1cm) Weight: 15g ( including battery) Real time recording in AVI Video format. Takes 1280 x 960 JPG photos. Color video with voice lets you clearly see who’s there & hear what they say. Playback video on Laptop or PC Time stamp on video. Built-in Memory: None. Micro SD card support︰ 128MB to 16GB (No card included) USB adapter charging cable. Battery build-in: 280mAH, charges via USB. Record Time︰ Around 70 minutes. Kit includes camera, usb cable and Instructions.
The camera looks exactly like a key fob for your car. There are two working and two fake buttons. One button turns the cam on/off. The other button does all the operations. One quick click shoots a photo; or hold the button down until the LED light blinks 3X, which indicates you are in video recording mode. I paid $16.90 including shipping, but Leo found one on the web for only $12 including shipping! I have heard there are knock-offs of the original and that some of the lower priced knock-offcameras can only take 2 or 4 GB Micro SD cards and don't focus as clearly. I don’t know if Leo will get the exact same camera I have, although they look alike. To be safe, I reordered the exact camera I first ordered & paid the full $16.90! (Not a bad price for the amazing quality!!)
Here’s a 1-minute video clip I shot at MAD Magazine with the camera I bought:
http://www.youtube.com/watch#playnext=1&playnext_from=TL&videos=bK_zJIvqwj4&v=OIm8Z2OQbOs
Here’s where I bought mine:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180467377034
Hear this show: www.twit.tv/dgw1029
Reader Comments (22)
Regarding the keychain camcorder you featured in DGW 1029, I thought you might like to know that the device has become very popular in the radio controlled aircraft community. Because of it's tiny size, people are strapping these cameras on their helicopters and airplanes to get post-flight bird's eye views of their flights. YouTube is littered with many videos taken in this manner.
Alan
Thanks for the tip on this little bugger. Mine came quickly, I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality.
Maybe a word of warning about the software you need to set the clock on it. It scanned ok in Avast! anti-virus, but as I monitored the installation with Commodo, it seemed to be doing some possible extracurricular stuff, that I ended up blocking, like messing with system restore. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but how funny the Chinese might think the joke, if the software for their $11 spy camera actually placed something on computer's that did indeed spy for them!
I did a system restore and all trace. I really don't mind if the date is wrong. Happy recons!
@PygmyHippo: This kind of camera (720x480) has no internal memory. You have to insert your own microSD card in it. So if your card is empty, nothing will be installed on your computer. To change the date make a tag.txt file and put it in the root. Write something like this inside (example):
[date] 2010.02.25 19:06:00
then start the camera and take a video or picture. That's all.
I've strapped a couple of these on to my full size aircraft recently and posted the results on my blog.
Hello Dick. I am "the fan" mentioned in the abstract above.
Dick will read a follow up letter in episode 1036, to be released on March 1, 2010.
PygmyHippo is referring to a PC program, provided with some cameras, used to set the date time. He is saying that the program might be malicious. The program is not necessary.
My review of this camera is at chucklohr.com/808, and video on YouTube is under user Normandy5.
my symptom:- bty dead and i already replace it,it was work for some day's,now reset butten dented and i removed it,can power on but can't record or take phote....
pls help on tech
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I use these Memorex mini-dvds for my Sony Handycam and they work great! I've had no issues, the 30 minutes isn't much but it normal for mini-dvd cameras. These dvds are cheaper than the Sony ones and still work fine, so I see no reason to pay more for the name. I do get a message when I start the camera that says they "recommend" I use a Sony brand, but.. of course they do.
I want to know where you bought that keychain because that's what I need some people said me I can get it at the pharmacy but I'M NOT really sure about it.
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I just got one of these 808 models from ebay and they went for 22 bucks now dropped down to 21. The 8gb or mini sd cards come with a file writetime_ch and its has a trojan.win32 virus on it. I sent it to avg, norton both confirm its a backdoor tool used to hack into the pc to steal video or pictures from a high speed internet connection. be very aware of these chinese sellers.