So as an alternate that trades more features for the possible drawback of being a dash mounted system we have the PLMN7SD 7″ LCD MONITOR from Pyle company.

As you can see its designed to be affixed to the Dashboard or similar flat surface in your vehicle. The system is nicely self contained and for a 7″ screen very slim and compact. None the less It will be slightly more of a challenge to fine a home for it than the Power Acoustik display reviewed earlier.

But I feel this display unit makes up for that nominal inconvenience with some  features the other unit doesn’t have. The PLMN7SD comes with a 3-In-1 Secure Digital Card™/Multimediacard™/Memorystick® Card Reader and a Mini Usb Input as well as a standard A/V input for your backup camera or other device; as well as pretty much all the features of the Power Acoustik screen.

The price is comparable at about $90 depending where you find it (an example link is at the end of this entry as usual) So your real choice here over the other is really what is most convenient for you. While the previous system folds away nicely out of your way this in the other hand is more flexible and easily carried from one vehicle to another. As I have said before if your looking for a double duty backup camera system to use on your SUV weekdays and as your RV backup camera, weekends that’s a useful option to have.

So it occurred to me that if I am going to include stand alone cameras I had jolly well better add in at least a few Stand alone display units as well!

So here is the first a 7″ display from Power Acoustik designed to fit where your regular sun visor does. I appreciated this as an option as when dealing with a Backup camera system you do not necessarily want a great big display continuously taking up space on your dashboard (unless it has some other function – like the sat nav combos) Nor did I feel that the readily available flip down DVD players were entirely suitable either. The danger their would be that while driving along there would be the temptation to look at something other than the road. And as road safety is what this site is about… probably not my best move…

So we have this device, overall its 9″x5″ in size and less than an inch deep (the screen as I said is 7″ visible) it accepts a single video input. As you can see it comes with a mini remote control rather than have controls on its fascia, this is not personally something I’d like. I hope to be able to track down something that has both a basic on panel control set as well as a remote. I am a terrible loser of remote controls and I have a fear that would happen all to swiftly with this one as well!

But apart from that the design is simple and elegant with decent brightness and quality. The main reason I include it is that as a slightly older design prices are beginning to drop and if you wanted a simple flip down display for your camera that you could later double up as a video display when you were stopped then its ideal. So I shall be checking out more modern versions from Power Acoustik ASAP to see how they have improved the breed. But for now the Power Acoustik PT-727MSV is the best value basic screen at about $90.

Another automotive offering from the redoubtable Pyle Company. This seems to be the nearest equivalent to the 9 LED UK device I reviewed before, that I have been able to find thus far on this side of the pond.

It uses the  RCA connectors that all of these standalone cameras have as standard and has ten IR-LEDs for low light use all the way down to half a LUX rating (Dim moonlight) Interestingly this comes with a drill bit (by blue box in picture) for boring out a hole in the bodywork of your car as a standard feature. Nice touch as long as you feel ok about punching a 1.25″ hole in the trunk (or wherever) of your car yourself…

The camera quality is overall superior to most, the flush fitment of the camera means you can almost see the edges of your own bumper (Depending on vehicle of course!) with it. The Low light capability is very good though one or two people have reported problems with the night LED’s.  And a few more stated that the special drill bit was missing in their package.  However if installed as recommended, this camera will withstand the harshest weather your likely to get which is a very good thing with any piece of consumer electronics like this. Overall a solid contender and at a bargain price.

Here is a stand alone camera for the USA that has gotten some good press of late.

Designed to fit across the top or bottom bolts of your licence tag the VTL 400 has a swivel mounted camera for fine tuning the angle of view all wrapped up in a chromed finish.  It uses standard RCA connectors so will easily fit onto the vast majority of video inputs out there and has a very impressive low light rating – despite not being fitted with IR Leds. Its view angle is a decent 130 degrees and the camera auto compensates for light changes swiftly.

On the down side a few folks have reported that the camera does not like to get wet despite its “resistant” rating by the manufacturer, so discretion is advised if you live in a particularly wet area of the US. However should this prove to be the case it is reassuring to see that the manufacturer is offering a 2 year guarantee for this item. I find this a very good sign as any free guarantee over the statutory one year is a good indicator of the manufacturers faith in their product.  The best prices I could find were about $65-$70 but beware this camera is being offered for a LOT more than that elsewhere. The highest I saw was $190! How on earth there could be such a variation escapes me for the moment. But you can rest assured that here on this site you’ll only be offered the best deals I could find.