Now this device, the Navsgo GO760RV wireless backup camera system and GPS seemed to have it all at first glance.  But I thought at over £300 it ought to have it all. So with a dram of cynicism I did some digging.

The Technical specs are indeed impressive and include a 7″ screen. A low light Wireless backup camera. A separate AV input for a second camera or perhaps a DVD or game as well as such bells and whistles as having a picture viewer and mp3 player. It even can read e books on the SD Card! So it truly had all the features you would expect and a few I certainly didn’t!

Reassuringly the mapping software was recently updated and the manufacturer has facilities for you to download further updates as they become available. But my focus here was the actual RV backup camera system so after wading through the hype this is what I found. I knew with a 7″ screen picture quality was going to be great so I focused (excuse the pun!) on the camera itself.

The device comes with a very small camera ingeniously mounted on a screw fitment designed to replace one of your licence plate/tag screws. the cable for it passes into the trunk of your car through this same hole making installation even easier than normal. It has a generous 170 degree angle and is designed for low light use as well, though it does not by itself have any Infra red LED’s to illuminate behind you so in total blackness like a remote camp sight you had best have good reversing lights! The camera also has a fixed lens position which might be problematical in some cases but with that excellent field of view I doubt many will have much of a problem.

Indeed the only caution I would pass on about this excellent and well made unit is the wireless link from camera(s) to screen unit might get a bit fuzzy if there is a lot of metal between the two.  This is partially because the Bluetooth (did I mention it has Bluetooth as well? Sorry I should have, as everything is better with Bluetooth!) built into it can, as I have mentioned before, get scragged by the wireless signal or vice versa. So if you have an extra long or (pardon the phrase) dense vehicle you may want to invest in an extension cable for the backup camera’s antenna. But really that’s it, there are no other flaws in this device that I can discern. The Navsgo GO760RV is a backup camera system of the first order and a very decent GPS as well. Its wealth of bonus features are just icing on the very well made cake. So I am going to add it to my Recommended list without further ado. Take a look at the Navsgo GO760RV, at a little over £300  it would be hard to buy better!

OK after the mixed impression I was left with after looking at the Atlantis X-5600 I did some more rummaging around for combined Backup camera systems / GPS navigation units. The Nextar I4BC was one of the first I looked at next.

First of all its a little bit cheaper than the Atlantis X-560 so I was immediately wondering if the Sat Nav was going to be even more mediocre. However upon looking at the available facts it seems that it is a great improvement over that system as it seems that Nextar are deliberately pitching it as a GPS first Backup camera second. It also includes the ability to play MP3 Audio files stored on SD type memory cards which are also used to add to the devices main memory. It is a smaller unit than the Atlantis with screen just over 4″ in size. Still that is by no means bad, and helps to explain this backup camera systems /GPS  reduced cost.

The camera they include is a pretty basic one I must admit with a quoted effective viewing range of only seven feet. Quite what they mean by this escapes me, I assume its the point that the devices simple lens looses good focus. Indeed regrettably the camera is the weakness of this device as all my sources tell me it is prone to a number of problems. One chap reported his was affected by damp too easily for example.

Overall the build quality of the Nextar I4BC is not as good as it could be and while they are commended to have made a complete unit it occasionally shows that costs were cut. You might find your particular model works fine (if so tell us here please! Comments are always welcome) The Sat nav interface is a good one by all accounts and if that’s your focus first then you should give this due consideration. Perhaps outfitted with a decent stand alone camera – say one with night vision LED’s fitted the whole Nextar I4BC backup camera system /GPS unit would become the decent all rounder we all want it to be.

Some times the geek in me just gadgets right out. I saw this little beauty of a Backup camera system and had to take closer look! With a recommended price of over $600 the Atlantis X-5600 ought to have the kitchen sink included – and it does, but I saw it for sale for as little as $240! This makes it affordable not just as an RV Backup camera  system, but for any decent family vehicle. Goodness if you own both an RV and a family car, a portable unit with this feature set is a must have.

So what exactly does it do I hear you cry? Read on the specs are a dream. First up it has a large 5.6″ screen which is good but that’s the least of it. In addition it is able to accept two camera sources so you could have a dual camera system covering every blind spot even on the larges vehicle. As an added bonus it also plays Mp3 Music files and instead of a Backup camera you can have it display Video output from a portable DVD player or  similar device such as a game consol. But the best is yet to come.

The Atlantis X-5600 has GPS Sat nav capability as well! So there is no need for a second add on device potentially cluttering up space on your dashboard. It has an SD memory card slot for loading extra maps and (Mp3) files externally. This is a feature I found very useful with my own Sat Nav system that I brought over from the UK. All I needed to do was slap a new card in and download the US maps on my unit and I was away – literally.

So are there any drawbacks to this backup camera system / GPS unit? Well first the obvious one really, its an old truism that the Jack of all trades is master on none. From what I have seen the GPS unit in this is only average, so you’d need to put the thing up near the windshield to ensure the best satellite reception.  I know for a fact that few Sat Navs really like being nestled down near the glove compartment, which alas, would be the natural thing to do with a larger sized unit like this. GPS is a subject that’s not really the province of this web site, but from my own personal experience I’d have to say that they are very useful to find places far away you have not been to but once you get into the local area – a local map is oftens the best! A map at least won’t insist on taking you through the city center if you have a nice bypass to choose from instead. That seems to be my GPS units particular foible!

The other thing to remember with this backup camera system / GPS unit is that this is a Display unit only.  Camera’s are not included so that has to be factored in any budget. So I guess that’s my next task, to see if there are some decent stand alone cameras out there and perhaps some better Multi function units as well.

The Atlantis X-5600 is proof of the concept and a decent go at it for the $240 price tag, lets hope they update the GPS soon (something I can check on the manufacturers web site shortly, look for updates here soon) and then this backup camera system will really shine!