[Greyfox]

Because of my travels, I started using a dash cam for a bit of assurance that if someone does something stupid in front of me I would have it for insurance purposes. Having a video has already paid off once this past winter. All the uits I've used up till now have been repurposed cams like a Cisco Flip and Ion Game. Unfortunately those are manual mode systems and don't automatically over-write old files.

The other day I walked into a Radio Shack that is in the process of closing up and having a clearance sale. Happen to find at the register display a Cobra CDR820 Dash Cam for $49. Still playing with it but so far not a bad option.

Good:

Continous recording and can take up to a 32gb memory card
Small unit, cam is ~2" and has a very well designed suction cup mount.
Recorded very nicely even across rough roads.
Small rechargeable battery for recording if power disruption from crash.

Bad:
Only has a 118 degree field of view. Higher price units have wider. My Ion had 170 degree.
Does come with a power cord but it has a fairly large transformer on the end.

Full Specs:

Visual Angle. 118 degrees
Sensor. 5 MP CMOS
Video resolution. 1080P 1440x1080 30 fps
. 720P 1280x720 30 fps
. 720P 1280x720 60 fps
. 480P 640x480 30 fps
Video Format. H.264 .avi
Picture Resolution. 4032x3094 (Max. 14 MP)
Picture Format. JPEG
White Balance. Auto
Color Effect . Auto
Continuous Loop Recording. Supported
Motion Detection. Supported
Date and Time Stamp . Supported
Media Supported. SD Card - 8GB Included (32GB Max)
Languages. English, Spanish, Portugese, Russian, Chinese
Sound Recording. Synchronous video and sound record
USB Interface. USB 2.0
USB Web Camera. Supported
USB Mass Storage. Supported
Display Screen. 1.5” LCD
Battery. Rechargeable Lithium-Ion

If you can find one for ~$50 then it's a nice bit of peace mind to have. Retail they are ~$100. I may look for a unit that has a wider field of view for the front and mount this unit in my back window.