Crutchfield rules, they give you all the wiring you neeed for stuff free, and al the diagrams free too. Not to mention great buys. Mr. Ebay!

Camera I say is a good idea but a laptop and camera are going to drain a battery fast. If I'm not mistaken there are RF type cameras that can transmit pictures and sound to a receiver and can also be turned on or activated by motion. You could have the reciever in a nearby building like the house or garage or even a dog house. You might also consider one that can see with infrared because they most likely are going to hit the car at night. Also for a stepped up security it should run on a dedicated battery and or have a backup battery.

This is loosely based on some research I did about year ago or so for possible security around the house.

But above all remeber that all a security system does is keep the honest people honest, by that I mean if they want it and have the experience they'll get it.

What about those little hidden cameras that you can buy to spy on the babysitter or whatever that you always see on 20/20 I can't imagine they cost to much and I'm sure there is some kinda website that pitches em for dirt cheap. Come to think of it the computer gets a bunch of popups for those blasted things.

Just an idea...hmmm, where does it record too? :?

But camera'* also don't do anything. They are passive. You need somethig to scare the intruder away, or keep him out altogether. I mean a camera caught the guy this time, and he'* in what jail?

But this camera didn't catch him in the act. It just caught a "suspect". :?

Getting a tiny camera is not a problem. I have found a few for as cheap as $50. What I would need to work out is the recording. I would want the recording device in the car and not a wireless transmition to a house or something. If it were a laptop I could then just use my wireless lan to connect to it if needed.

If you catch a suspect and the stuff is like in his garage.. its theft under $2000... whats that? 2 weeks in jail + 60hours of community serves?

Okay, here'* my $.02...talk to someone who does wiring for police cars...cruisers have a camera (color even) permanently wired into their cars so why can't you? You'd just aim it in instead of out. Maybe the cops on the traffic enforcement forum will have some ideas...http://www.trafficenforcement.org/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.pl

Good luck.

Gord..I have deleted your post here, it appears that you simply replied to Haileys post and didn't add anything furthur of your own

Just a heads up for you bud

SSEi95, have you looked into getting a two-way communication alarm system for your car? I've got a CompuStar on mine.... it basically lets me know if anyone touchs the car (up to 2kms away).

Also, put lots of LEDs on the car. Mine has 3 blinking ones, and one scanner. Basically it says "this car is too much trouble, go bother another car".

Again.... the 2-way comm system is a nice setup, the remote has an LCD display, and you can run quick diagnostics on the car. Cost of the system installed is around $600 Cdn.... way less then a camera and a laptop.

Anyways... that'* my 0.02cents...

Do you have a link on that car alarm setup? The local stores have a lot of nice ones, but I didn't see any with pageing capabilities. ..or if you know a good site to look up the various models that can do that. Thanx