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!