I bought a Uniden one in Harvey Norman for around $100 for my...

I bought a Uniden one in Harvey Norman for around $100 for my son's 18th birthday last year. He's a sensible kid (doesn't hoon, hardly drinks) and I wanted to be sure that if he was unlucky enough to be involved in a prang that wasn't his fault, that he wouldn't get blamed (by the other driver) or had assumptions made (by the cops) just because he's a young, male P-plater.

Then I came across the same model (without the Uniden branding) for a third of the price, and me and my daughter both have these now: http://www.geekbuying.com/item/C600...or--Night-Vision-Car-DVR----Black-313215.html

It's cheap and cheerful and doesn't offer rear-facing camera or GPS, and night-vision isn't the best, but daytime vision is great and it's not a bad camera really for the money. It does the trick for what we want, to monitor what's going on up ahead. Knowing how fast technology moves, it's only a matter of time before a better model comes along at a sensible price, or they become available as an optional extra with new cars. So I won't feel like I've wasted much money on upgrading, or if the thing conks out prematurely.

Only thing I find annoying though, is where to put all that wire.. The camera is positioned just under my rear-view mirror, then the wire tucks up nicely underneath the interior roof along to the passenger pillar, tucks in down the side, but then you have to have it trailing across somewhere to get it plugged in to the cigarette lighter. The garage wanted $200+ to install it properly when I took it in for a service!! I'm not confident enough to be pulling the dashboard apart or anything. So I have blu-tacked the wire in place for the moment.