Using Netbook-DVR Video To Catch Neighbor Vandalizing Car 5 Times

esox

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Dec 18, 2008
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Can A Netbook be left powered on for weeks at a time like a full size PC system?

Like the title says, I'm trying to catch an S.O.B. that's been vandalizing my mother's car. It all began when she told her downstairs neighbor that he was violating condo rules and municiple fire codes with his constant BBQ'ing on his balcony. The smoke would always blow into my mom's unit making it difficult for her to breath particularly on hot days. It wasn't long before others started to complain about all the smoke he was generating.


Since that day (starting just a few weeks after), my mother's car has been vandalized 5 times in a span of 13 months. Her tires were slashed 3 times all requiring replacements, a destroyed motorized power mirror and as of last week, her license plate was stolen. BTW, no other vehicles in the garage were ever a target of vandals. The condo's super and many of the other owners have no doubt in their mind that it was the person in the unit below her. He's had altercations with several of the other condo owners and a member of the condo governing board suspects that this douche smashed in the door of the mailroom after no one in the building voted for him when he wanted to be elected onto the very same condo board. Now to further complicate matters, I plan to buy my mother a new car in the next few months and I know this creep will continue his cowardly attacks. So I want to nail this lowlife before it comes to that.

What I hope to do is to get 3 or 4 wireless spy cameras monitoring my mom's car 24-7. The wireless receiver for each camera has a usb antenna that will plug into either a netbook or a mini-tower system that will be powered by a high capacity deep cycle marine battery located in the trunk of her car.

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I used the same setup to catch my neighbor's dog depositing disgusting steaming fudge bombs on my lawn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDdrx3NJAF4

So my question is - Is a Netbook capable of being left on for a week?



 

grody

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Nov 10, 2009
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You might be better off with getting a private detective to set something up for you. That way you don't have to buy any equipment yourself, and you'd be able to use him as a witness in court (when you present the video as evidence) if it ever comes to that. I'd at least contact one and compare his cost to the cost of buying a system yourself.
 

misry

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Aug 11, 2006
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It should be fine. Make sure you don't have any ventilation or sleep mode issues and you should be good. You might consider a low cost SSD to further save power on the netbook.
 

4745454b

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Apr 29, 2006
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Does her parking spot face her apt at all? All the places I've lived at had the spot either in front of or behind the unit. You should be able to just setup a webcam pointed at the car and record. Either all the time or one of those programs that only record when it sees movement. This probably happens at night so you'll need one of those night vision webcams.

Your idea isn't bad, but seeing as the attacks don't happen on a nightly/weekly basis I'm not sure how long a battery that isn't being charged at all will hold up powering a notebook with USB stuff attached.