Capture your extreme sports moments for posterity, affordably.

I'd been thinking about purchasing a helmet cam for over two years now. Recently I started looking more seriously again and with a recent off-road motorcycle trip that was coming up I really wanted something to record the action with. I looked at many different products and researched a lot about helmet cams to find the right solution.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money since I didn't really know how much I'd use it or even if it would be something I'd use regularly. I also wanted something that was flexible for many types of activities and something that would be easy to use.

There are so many products out there to choose from; Chase Cam, POV.1, HelmetCam, actionvideo, tonyhawk, and more... Honestly they range in price from $150 to $1,000. The $150 ones are typically mini handheld camcorders that you can attach to a helmet (quite clumsy), as the price moves up you get into the sleek "bullet cams" that connect to camcorders with video inputs or specialized video recorders such as is the case with the ChaseCam.

Most of the "extreme sports" variety do not use hard disks for storage, rather they use flash drives so storage is typically limited to 2-16 Gigs of memory, this is not usually an issue and is far more reliable than a hard disk that may stop recording if it senses shock or rapid movement.

The Archos Helmet Camcorder really fit the bill; price, size and ease of use. The best part is it connects to an Archos portable media player so it can also be your MP3 player. On top of that it has the capability to record TV for later viewing, view PDF files (great for taking manuals with you), and carrying around photos (for showing off family, pets, vacations or toys).

Another advantage of the Archos helmet cam connecting to an Archos player is you can review your captured footage instantly, as opposed to some dedicated capture devices with no screen. This is also helpful because you can use the preview window to align your helmet cam before you take off to make sure you're going to capture what you want to capture (not just the sky or the ground).

The process of setting it up is very simple. Update the firmware on your Archos player (even if it's brand new. The firmware update is extremely simple so don't stress about it. If you don't update it the buttons on the remote lead won't work). Connect it to the Archos Player using the included portable DVR adapter. Connect the camera to the portable DVR adapter. Press the record button on the camera lead and start capturing the excitement!

Seriously, it is actually that simple.

On to the details, what to expect and how to get there:

- What sort of image should you expect? Don't expect handheld camcorder quality images. Almost all bullet cameras have narrow fields or view, short focal ranges and limited capabilities in varying lighting conditions. The camera included with the Archos is a quality Sony CCD, but it's only the 420 line variety with a 1/4" CCD. It might be better with a 520 line 1/3" CCD, but who really knows. I'm happy just having the opportunity to catch some action footage of my adventures. It makes telling stories back home a lot easier. The faster you're moving the less clear the image will be, this won't change unless you get a really high-end camera such as the ChaseCam with faster recording rates.

- Using the camera? It's really easy, as I said above. You just plug it in and go. There are two buttons on the cable going to the camera, one starts and stops the recording the other shows you the status of the recorder, this is extremely helpful when the recorder is in a pocket or bag sealed from the elements. The microphone is also in this part of the cable, so position it wisely if you're planning on capturing voices or other audio. It's pretty much irrelevant on my dirt bike since all you can hear is the engine. Press the "power" button to start and stop recording. Press the "i" button for info. If you see a Green light under "power" that means the Archos player/recorder is powered on. If you see the green light and a red light under "record" then you are recording. Again, it's that easy... a very handy feature.

- Things of note?

1) It gets hot... quite hot when recording, but that's hasn't caused any issues yet for me.

2) If you don't set the player up to power off "NEVER" it will turn off in 9 minutes or less (depending on settings). When this happens the remote lead does not start recording. You actually have to use the power button on the unit. Before an activity I just set it to never power off. It runs about 5 hours this way with on and off recording.

3) The "headband" that is included is worthless, every activity I do requires a helmet. I'll describe my connection methods a little later. They really should include some sort of "extreme" mounting device. It would also be nice if they sold some sort of "hard" protective case that kept the size to a minimum but allowed the DVR and the player to be held together while protecting them from impacts. Both the player and the camcorder come with soft bags, but you can't fit both in either bag.

4) The connector for the portable DVR to the Archos is good, but not great. I wrap a strong rubber band around the two parts to keep them secured together. On my first outing they came apart which resulted in no captured footage.

5) The 2 gigs built in will capture about 1 hour of footage. That's pretty good without adding anything to the price.

6) In regard to ease of use. A huge pro for this camera is that it only has one wire that connects it to the recorder. There are no extra battery packs or microphones necessary to figure out how to carry or connect.

Pricing, I found, is quite reasonable. If you do your homework you can find the camcorder for less than $115 shipped and you can find a player (I recommend the 405 for price and size) for under $100 shipped. That's $215 total for a true bullet cam setup with a moderately good image quality that's probably the easiest unit on the market to use. Accessories such as SD cards and external battery packs can give you longer record times.

I'm very interested in seeing if this unit will record any better with a higher quality CCD. If anyone has a damaged Archos camcorder they would be willing to donate for dissection and experimentation I'm up to the task or seeing what can be done.