Such as this one:
Is the picture any good? I'd like one to be able to watch a bit of the back garden while I'm on the pc.
Are some better than others?
To watch it on the pc I take it I'll need a tv card? If so, any recommendations?
Si
Not a tv card; a video capture card.......?
Si
All depends how much you willing to fork out?
That's why I was asking if the ones on Ebay were any good - the colour cameras go for between £15 and £20, it seems.
Si
Me thinks thats a scam? item location HongKong/United Kingdom. :-) If you look at this one from the same seller who in their right mind would pay £21 p&p in the uk for an item that weighs probably no more than 1lb
It's a technique - they use a high P+P to avoid having to put a reserve/starting price and paying higher listing fees.
But what do think about the location? do you trust it if you where want the item? Like I said a scam, its the buyer who gets conned.
I guess I'm not so risk averse.. I've bought quite a few bits and pieces from Hong Kong sellers - an MP3 player, an IR webcam, various other small unbranded electrical goodies. All much cheaper than you could get over here (even with the P+P) and all arrived no problem (after a week or two).
One mobile car charger I bought was for the wrong phone. I emailed them and got a free replacement in 3 days, no questions.
So I'd say go for it. I've been burned on EBay, but only by UK sellers (and buyers)...
Do you own a DVD or analogue video camera?
Yes CCD device is a whole lot better than CMOS device.
for under £40 you can get a TV/Video capture card which will give you the TV on the comp and record or just survielance.
mine is this one and gives me excellant results with a Composite input from an old analogue video8 camera adapted so it don't shutdown after 5minutes.
Watch the word wrap.
Type it in angle brackets and it will work even after the wrap.
I would have posted it as a Tiny URL but you get grumpys on here.
Don't you mean open'n'closed brackets? :-)
Nope, I mean brockets :-P
< and >, like I used!
Why is it a scam just because of the location. It might be, because it is an area of the world prone to scamming but...
If they have good feedback, I cant see a problem. A lot of these HK and Singapore sellers have 1000's of +ve feedbacks, so lots of people have had good experiences with them and have said so.
It's an annoying tactic, as it's both against ebays rules (though they do not enforce this), and makes it almost impossible for UK sellers to sell things. In many categories, they are flooded with HK sellers, selling at low prices with high shipping. But, you can't eliminate them by saying 'items within 500 miles', or by sorting on price - as they will usually have lower price than UK sellers, due to the surcharge on postage.
Agreed, but you cant knock them for taking advantage of lax policing by ebay.
I generally find I can look down a list of electronic items and filter out the Asian ones, just by looking at the postage. A pain, but not too difficult.
my Dad got a couple of these off ebay. The one he showed me was from Honk Kong and it all arrived ok. The picture is actually very good, but there was a little interferrence when you walked through the door. ( had the camera set up in the back garden on a birds nest !)
I'd say they are excelent value, should last a few hours from a 9v battery but best to get a few nimh rechargables or use AA rechargables in a battery pack.
To watch it on the pc you'd need a video capture card .
Simon
Is there duty to pay from HK, Singapore? I've heard of people getting stung by import duty from USA. It would be handy to know the official position as that's what puts me off rather than not trusting the seller.
>
Well I wasn't scammed. I bought a wired, lensed (not wireless pinhole) camera like the current item 5792478541 for 99p (£11 with postage) and it's very good; well-finished metal case, adjustable focus and pretty good resolution although there's some barrel distortion at the edges. It's for a blue-tit nestbox and definitely better that the existing b&w one from Henry's Radio that's £40 or so. The only problem is that it needs some illumination (the b&w one has built-in IR LEDs) but I bought 10 super-bright white LEDs also on Ebay from Hong Kong for 1p (£2.51 with postage) and they are fine too.
-- LSR
I've never been stung by it, but then my purchases have always been below the £18 threshold...
If you do have to pay, then it will be the relevant duty + 17.5% VAT on the total... plus a few puounds fee to the Post Office for collecting the money from you :-(
Thanks to all, as usual.
I don't think they're a rip-off, these sellers in Hong Kong; I've known plenty of people buy from them. I was concerned about the quality rather than the goods actually turning up but I think I will go for it following the advice given here.
Si
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.