Race Keeper vs Aim... Anyone have experience with both?

Ok, I will try to make this short story only SLIGHTLY longer than it needs to be...  I'm looking for input as far as what will be the best route to do what I need to do.  I crew for a driver that runs in SCCA GT-3, and one of my tasks has become "data-acquisition guy".  Sounds cool, and it's been fun to learn about this stuff.  The last few years, I've tried everything from Track-Addicts on my phone, to various Go-Pros rendered in Race Render.  Too much PITA, and got very few useful sessions as far as usable info.

The driver, while very experienced, is not able to get a lot of seat-time, due to his job crewing in Trans-Am, as well as starting his own fab business.  So, we are looking for a good platform for basic data/video to help him refine his driving in a short period of time.

This last season, I installed an Aim Solo 2DL, along with Smartycam HD camera.  Once I started to get used to it, and the beta version of Race Studio3, it worked quite well.  Now, we have a chance to get a killer deal on a two-camera Race Keeper system, and the driver really wants to go that route.  I think his main reason is that we can use the second camera as a rear-view to a tablet, since he really has very minimal rear vision out of his car.  I agree with this sentiment, however...

User information for Race Keeper seems to be a hidden secret, while Aim has hundreds of how-to videos available to answer any questions I may have.  Aim also has active forums, while Race Keeper's user forum really hasn't been active for a few years.  

I REALLY like the idea of Race Keeper, but the lack of info on how user-friendly it is kinda makes me want to stick with Aim.  Anyone have any real-world advice as far as which is more user-friendly for quick review after a session?

I only know the aim systems & I'm not sure id consider anything else.  Been using them since the drack gold days.

You nailed it though, 5 minutes on YouTube and you'll know exactly how to setup & review aim data between sessions.  This technically is the same for any data system but the aim has lots of support. 

If you are being the data guy, you have to be Johnny on the spot every session.  Practice, laps, qual, race - always run the data, always debrief the driver as soon as he's out of the car (write it down), review the data right there & then.  Aim has some neat features / templates to make it easy and quick (if you know what to look for).  

Data is awesome - driver aid, tuning aid, troubleshooting aid, tattle tale, etc.  

The thing about data is that it's only useful if you can analyze it.  These days, collecting data is a commodity feature, many people make hardware that's capable of that.  Decisions about what to purchase should therefore be made on the strength of the analaysis software.

I have no experience with Race Keeper, but I've used AiM a lot.  Their software is far from perfect, but it is pretty good and since it's sort of become the de facto standard for US club racing there is a lot of community support out there for it.

Do you need to sell the current system to finance the new one?  If not perhaps you could run them both for a while.  

APEowner said:

Do you need to sell the current system to finance the new one?  If not perhaps you could run them both for a while.  

The Aim stuff is mine, while the driver is buying the Race Keeper, so I'll be keeping the Aim for the time being.  I just don't want him to spend the money if it's not going to be an upgrade to what we already have.