Dash cam saves your ass (no Roundabout stuff please :)

vibe666 · 31-05-2012 10:22am

i forgot to mention that the mini usb car charger my dashcam comes with has a very long length of cable, so you can position it wherever you like and still have plenty of cable to run to your cigarette lighter socket.

one thing i have noticed is that if you have loop recording on it will still keep recording over the oldest video indefinitely in automatic/ignition mode (assuming it is set) but you can't manually record anything if the card is already full of automaticly recorded video. i imagine most device will be the same as well, but it's just something to watch out for.

i'll be sticking a 16gb card in mine today once i've finished copying stuff off it this morning, so i should be okay for a decent amount of recording time going forward, although i might pick up a cheap 32gb card for the longer term just to get the most out of it.

i'll definitely be buying more of them anyway (one for the back of the car and one more for the wife's motor), very happy with the results for the money and i'm now officially 100% converted from my old android dashcam app.

for any interested nerds, here's the audio & video info from gspot:

i cant help but think they could have done better with the bitrate on the video. :eek:

23900kbps versus 4300kbps on my DHD.

vibe666 · 07-06-2012 9:52am

caught a nice bit of precision driving by a bloke in a brand new range rover onyx yesterday.

well, not quite, but you'll see what I mean. :pac:

the wide angle lens actually makes it look further away than it really was as well. talk about "like a glove".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5hk4b2XKcI

I had to dub over the audio as my wife was in the back talking to our baby to keep him entertained and i don't think she'd fancy getting famous on the interwebz for baby speak.

smash · 07-06-2012 9:55am

vibe666 wrote: »

caught a nice bit of precision driving by a bloke in a brand new range rover onyx yesterday.

So what exactly was the problem there?

cormie · 07-06-2012 10:38am

Perfect example of one of the many problems caused by people not keeping in the left hand driving lane and hogging the overtaking lane. Whatever car is in front of you was slightly ahead of the truck at the start of the video yet ends up going slower and lulling behind the truck so the truck driver can either choose to slow down, probably not fit in the gap between you and the car ahead, or maybe the rest of the people sitting in the overtaking lane behind you. Truck driver is forced into this position, indicates out and indicates back into the driving lane. Good procedure considering problems caused by other drivers.

Wexfordian · 07-06-2012 11:06am

cormie wrote: »

Perfect example of one of the many problems caused by people not keeping in the left hand driving lane and hogging the overtaking lane. Whatever car is in front of you was slightly ahead of the truck at the start of the video yet ends up going slower and lulling behind the truck so the truck driver can either choose to slow down, probably not fit in the gap between you and the car ahead, or maybe the rest of the people sitting in the overtaking lane behind you. Truck driver is forced into this position, indicates out and indicates back into the driving lane. Good procedure considering problems caused by other drivers.

Though it is indicated as a bus lane, so not obvious here whether its active or not.

Bigcheeze · 07-06-2012 11:15am

cormie wrote: »

Perfect example of one of the many problems caused by people not keeping in the left hand driving lane and hogging the overtaking lane.

Huh? The left lane is a bus lane.

cormie · 07-06-2012 11:19am

There's signs at the start saying bus lane not in use, either that or no sign posts, I forget which.

gurramok · 07-06-2012 11:21am

Tuesday at 4:26pm, the bus lane is likely to be in operation on a main road? Only the poster of the video would know

vibe666 · 07-06-2012 11:59am

i've actually no idea if it's in use or not, but everyone seems to ignore the bus lane markings so i'm guessing it's the latter.

i'll be going that way again this evening so i'll try and see if there is sign-age to say if it's not in use.

the problem isn't actually all that evident from the video as the 120 degree wide angle lens makes it look like the distances are much greater than they actually were.

to give you an idea of the distances involved, i'd actually sped up a bit to get a closer look at the range rover, but eased off as if i had been any closer to the car in front of me i wouldn't have had time to stop on the wet road if he had slammed on his brakes, so take that distance as an estimation of the minimum safe distance between 2 cars on a wet road.

ignoring the fact that he had cut up the inside of the car in front of me to get where he was, by the time he actually puled out, there was only about a foot between him and the blue car in front of him and the back end of the truck and the silver car in front of me, and similar distances either end of him when he pulled back in again after overtaking the blue car.

it wouldn't have been much more than antisocial driving if he'd been behind the wheel of the range rover, but in a truck with a heavy load on wet roads, it's a pretty dangerous manoeuvre imho.

celticbest · 07-06-2012 1:23pm

^N32 - Bus lane no longer active..

L-M · 07-06-2012 1:33pm

Anyone have any recommendations for one of these?

i had a near miss yesterday (Fella came around a corner, speeding, in an ML Merc and frightened the **** out of me) so a few of us are thinking about investing.

Value for money vs quality?

Nissan doctor · 07-06-2012 1:33pm

vibe666 wrote: »

caught a nice bit of precision driving by a bloke in a brand new range rover onyx yesterday.

well, not quite, but you'll see what I mean. :pac:

the wide angle lens actually makes it look further away than it really was as well. talk about "like a glove".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5hk4b2XKcI

I had to dub over the audio as my wife was in the back talking to our baby to keep him entertained and i don't think she'd fancy getting famous on the interwebz for baby speak.

I don't see the issue here, that bus lane hasn't been in operation for several years, truck was in the driving lane, came behind a slower vehicle, overtook and returned to the driving lane.

The problem with that road is people still driving in the overtaking lane and ignoring the driving lane.

cormie · 07-06-2012 1:46pm

Limerick man wrote: »

Anyone have any recommendations for one of these?

i had a near miss yesterday (Fella came around a corner, speeding, in an ML Merc and frightened the **** out of me) so a few of us are thinking about investing.

Value for money vs quality?

I've been paying attention to the newest high quality ones and it seems the iTronics ITB-100HD is the new benchmark in quality DVR's. The popular Blackvue 400 is close but the iTronics comes out top according to a few reviews.

L-M · 07-06-2012 1:48pm

cormie wrote: »

I've been paying attention to the newest high quality ones and it seems the iTronics ITB-100HD is the new benchmark in quality DVR's. The popular Blackvue 400 is close but the iTronics comes out top according to a few reviews.

Have you got any links to any reputable sellers?

vibe666 · 07-06-2012 2:19pm

Nissan doctor wrote: »

I don't see the issue here, that bus lane hasn't been in operation for several years, truck was in the driving lane, came behind a slower vehicle, overtook and returned to the driving lane.

The problem with that road is people still driving in the overtaking lane and ignoring the driving lane.

the problem with this particular bit of footage is how close the truck was to both the back of the car in front of him and the front of the car in front of me when he pulled out and again when he pulled back in.

he's driving a truck with a heavy load on wet roads at a relatively high speed, far too close to other road users to be safe and then overtaken someone on the inside, pulled out directly in front of them and then pulled in again directly in front of the car he's just passed leaving no space ahead or behind him in the process.

the problem with the road itself and the people driving on it in general, is that the road is still marked out as a bus lane and the old road markings haven't been removed. hardly surprising that a lot of people still follow those road markings.

cormie · 07-06-2012 3:43pm

Limerick man wrote: »

Have you got any links to any reputable sellers?

Afraid not, I'm after 3 myself so weighing up the options. I'll probably go the ebay route and just look for somebody with good feedback at a good price!

L-M · 07-06-2012 3:57pm

cormie wrote: »

Afraid not, I'm after 3 myself so weighing up the options. I'll probably go the ebay route and just look for somebody with good feedback at a good price!

How much is a good price? i might have 5 or 6 more people interested.

cormie · 07-06-2012 4:12pm

There's a chap on this forum who sells them at $380 with a power pack. That's a lot more than you can get them for elsewhere though and I'm not willing to pay that per unit. Here's one for $180 shipped: http://www.ebay.com/itm/ITRONICS-ITB-100HD-Full-HD-Car-Black-Box-8GB-Drive-Recorder-GPS-FREE-SHIPPING-/261025996985?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc65ca0b9

I'd be after a 32GB card myself, which are a further $30 or so.

ValerieR · 07-06-2012 5:04pm

Nice bit of driving on the M50 yesterday ... :rolleyes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRnjjgFefrs

Captured with Daily Roads Voyager on a HTC Desire, the video isn't quite as fluid as I'd like. Does anyone know whether something like a class 10 micro SD card would sort this problem out ?

I have downloaded Autoguard on my phone today ... has anyone used this application ? Any better/worse ?

Thanks.

cormie · 07-06-2012 5:25pm

That's anything but fluid

I've heard card speed can indeed dictate the smoothness of recordings!

SniperSight · 07-06-2012 5:32pm

Would the wipers having amything to do with the fluidity, to me it looks like the camera is having to adjust every time the wipers pass it.

Nissan doctor · 07-06-2012 9:53pm

vibe666 wrote: »

the problem with this particular bit of footage is how close the truck was to both the back of the car in front of him and the front of the car in front of me when he pulled out and again when he pulled back in.

The car in front of the op didn't brake when the truck pulled out, nor did the car in the driving lane when the truck pulled back in again.

You could drive that road back and forward a couple of times and post 10 video's of the exact same thing happening with different vehicles.

Mycroft H · 07-06-2012 9:56pm

ValerieR wrote: »

Captured with Daily Roads Voyager on a HTC Desire, the video isn't quite as fluid as I'd like. Does anyone know whether something like a class 10 micro SD card would sort this problem out ?

Thanks.

Autoguard isnt as good imo, I couldn't do 720p videos with it.

With daily roads go into your video settings and up the quality and up the frames a second to high.

vibe666 · 07-06-2012 11:03pm

BX 19 wrote: »

Autoguard isnt as good imo, I couldn't do 720p videos with it.

With daily roads go into your video settings and up the quality and up the frames a second to high.

what phone are you using? autoguard worked perfectly for almost a year and a half on my desire hd with a class 10 sd card at 720p and 3000kbps. it even did okay at 5000kbps, although it was a bit jerky occasionally.

eddiem74 · 08-06-2012 9:23am

Shane732 wrote: »

Just to let you know that I'm looking to see if there is any interest in a group buy of the Black Vue DR400 over on BMW-driver:

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=36888

Personally, I think the prices are very good.

If anyone is interest you might PM here or let me know on BMW driver, unfortunately I'm not allowed start a GB thread here.

Limerick man wrote: »

How much is a good price? i might have 5 or 6 more people interested.

FYI, Shane was trying to organise a group buy for the Black Vue, details above. Might be of interest?

fred funk }{ · 08-06-2012 10:13pm

Lads, anyone know what type of memory card is best for the dash cams. Mine takes a micro SD card. I'm looking for a very fast writable card.

cormie · 08-06-2012 10:16pm

I believe class 10 is amongst the best but I think it should be from a decent manufacturer too to be genuinely class 10!

I'm pretty set on getting the iTronics ITB-100HD, it appears to be the new best dvr out there. It takes a regular SD card and I'll be going for a Transcend 32gb class 10.

Basq · 08-06-2012 10:40pm

Just bought this for €46..

.. is it me or have they come down in price? Remember pricing them a few weeks ago and they were about a tenner more. Might explain the "extra £7 off" in the subtitle of the listing.

These videos of Day and Night as posted on Techmoan's YouTube review won me over!

Dirkster · 08-06-2012 10:52pm

Basq wrote: »

Just bought this for €46..

.. is it me or have they come down in price? Remember pricing them a few weeks ago and they were about a tenner more. Might explain the "extra £7 off" in the subtitle of the listing.

These videos of Day and Night as posted on Techmoan's YouTube review won me over!

I'd say the difference in price is because thats not the HD version that was put up here (I bought one for €60). The resolution on that one is 640x480.

In relation to the memory car, I had a card that was skipping because it was too slow and bought this one and it runs perfect if anybody's stuck.http://www.ebay.ie/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260721972232&ssPageName=ADME:L:OC:IE:3160

vibe666 · 08-06-2012 11:01pm

fred funk }{ wrote: »

Lads, anyone know what type of memory card is best for the dash cams. Mine takes a micro SD card. I'm looking for a very fast writable card.

forget ebay for a start, full of fakes, even from *reputable* sellers and ebay won't do anything about it.

i usually get mine from decent online shops like mymemory, memoryc, 7dayshop or other similar suppliers, depending on whoever has the best deals at the time.

go for a class 10 card (it goes slowest to fastest up from 2, 4, 6 to 10).

Basq · 08-06-2012 11:15pm

Dirkster wrote: »

I'd say the difference in price is because thats not the HD version that was put up here (I bought one for €60). The resolution on that one is 640x480.

Strangely, the sample videos linked to were 1280 x 720!

Dirkster · 09-06-2012 10:07am

Basq wrote: »

Strangely, the sample videos linked to were 1280 x 720!

Ya I checked the ebay link from my emails and the HD one is "no longer availbale" or something to that effect.

I wonder is this one any good? it looks very like the one I got so could be just generic brand but cheaper.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-0-1080P-180-2-LED-HD-Car-DVR-Vehicle-Driving-Traffic-Recorder-VDV-48124-UK-/221018562249?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DDLSL%252BSIC.NPJS%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BUA%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D200745123135%252B200745123135%26po%3D%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D9009407507317572749#ht_16845wt_1263

cormie · 09-06-2012 11:22am

Think I've decided on this one, from this seller:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261025996985&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

iTronics ITB-100HD. Said to be the new benchmark in quality DVR. I'll also be getting a 32GB Class 10 SD card to go with it, this looks like a reliable, affordable one:
http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-Class-Flash-Memory-TS32GSDHC10E/dp/B003VNKNF0

franksm · 11-06-2012 11:18am

Cool - Vibe666's information is gospel

I bought legit Transcend 32gb micro-SDs from Amazon and they have been great ! Similar bought from ebay would only format to 2gb; when forced to 32gb they later fried and stopped working completely. Buy cheap, buy twice :-/

cormie · 11-06-2012 11:26am

So I've gone an ordered what I believe is the best of the best.

iTronics iTB-100HD and also ordered a 32GB Transcend card here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-Flash-memory-card-Class/dp/B003VNKNF0/ref=pd_cp_ce_0

I can claim the VAT back since it's from Amazon too which is nice.

Sample video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVmktoSKpYM

vibe666 · 11-06-2012 2:47pm

franksm wrote: »

Cool - Vibe666's information is gospel

I bought legit Transcend 32gb micro-SDs from Amazon and they have been great ! Similar bought from ebay would only format to 2gb; when forced to 32gb they later fried and stopped working completely. Buy cheap, buy twice :-/

yeah, you soon learn your lesson when you get burnt by sellers on ebay.

got a (supposed) sandisk extreme sd card off a platinum power seller with thousands of positive feedbacks, but it was a fake card. it was the right capacity, but was far too slow, so i checked with sandisk and they confirmed it was a fake.

i then complained to the seller who claimed it must have been a one off as his supplier was 100% legit and offered me a refund, but he declined to give me a replacement, so he knew they wee all dodgy from the outset.

i complained to ebay but they weren't in the least bit interested and even sandisk didn't seem bothered enough to follow up on it so i left it at that and just used the card for something less critical speed wise.

leasson learnt anyway and i tend to stick with more reliable retailers for memory cards now and touch wood i haven't had any problems since.

cormie · 11-06-2012 2:52pm

I wonder how common fake devices themselves, as in cameras like the one I just bought are? I know it's a lot easier to fake a card, but would hate to think I was buying a cheaper replica..

vibe666 · 11-06-2012 2:54pm

cormie wrote: »

I wonder how common fake devices themselves, as in cameras like the one I just bought are? I know it's a lot easier to fake a card, but would hate to think I was buying a cheaper replica..

i'm actually surprised there aren't a lot more out there, but who knows, maybe there are and we just don't know the difference.

ukonline · 11-06-2012 3:06pm

-

Is there a separate thread for dashcam footage of incidents? Couldn't find one. I think that would be great, and keep reviews/technicals separate?

rocky · 11-06-2012 9:52pm

cormie wrote: »

So I've gone an ordered what I believe is the best of the best.

iTronics iTB-100HD and also ordered a 32GB Transcend card here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-Flash-memory-card-Class/dp/B003VNKNF0/ref=pd_cp_ce_0

I can claim the VAT back since it's from Amazon too which is nice.

Sample video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVmktoSKpYM

Disappointing that even at 1080p you can't see all reg numbers that pass by...

franksm · 11-06-2012 9:56pm

It could be the fault of Youtube - I have uploaded some 1080p stuff with all the HD settings checked, but Youtube still downgrades it. No idea what the secret is, it could be codec settings, colour quality, and even sound quality that causes video to be downgraded (according to some FAQ I read on the subject)

cormie · 12-06-2012 12:08am

If you pause it as a car goes by, the still frame is actually a lot clearer and you can make out the reg's a lot easier.

vibe666 · 13-06-2012 8:34am

youtube 1080p and true 1080p are 2 different things.

the bitrate and encoding format can make a huge difference in quality even with the same video. you're also re-encoding to the flash video format that youtube uses as well, which will result in a little loss of quality on it's own.

cormie · 13-06-2012 8:45am

That's good to know

My iTronics ITB-100HD shipment is on the way anyway so might try upload some raw footage as an example.

On a side note, I was speaking to somebody who runs a stall at a market the other day and has been robbed a few times now from their van of thousands of Euro, I was telling him about the cameras, but he said he'd need one facing the drivers door. It would need to be clear quality and on a continuous loop. Gforce and GPS not so much of a necessity. Any suggestions?

cormie · 13-06-2012 9:07am

Just saw this too, comparison of BlackVue against ITB-100HD

Interesting forum actually for other gadgets

http://www.radardetectorforum.org/countermeasure-testing-reviews-videos/12020-can-you-tell-one-blackvue.html

Bohrio · 13-06-2012 10:30am

cormie wrote: »

Just saw this too, comparison of BlackVue against ITB-100HD

Interesting forum actually for other gadgets

http://www.radardetectorforum.org/countermeasure-testing-reviews-videos/12020-can-you-tell-one-blackvue.html

Dont really like they way it misses frame rates, this makes it haard to spot license plates, i have no problem spottinf plates while watching a video made with the blackvue, apart from thats its pretty good, similar to the bv. Does it record while the car is off?

Mycroft H · 13-06-2012 11:01am

vibe666 wrote: »

what phone are you using? autoguard worked perfectly for almost a year and a half on my desire hd with a class 10 sd card at 720p and 3000kbps. it even did okay at 5000kbps, although it was a bit jerky occasionally.

Xperia Play.

Its on 720p at HQ with the highest framerate setting

cormie · 13-06-2012 11:42am

Bohrio wrote: »

Dont really like they way it misses frame rates, this makes it haard to spot license plates, i have no problem spottinf plates while watching a video made with the blackvue, apart from thats its pretty good, similar to the bv. Does it record while the car is off?

Yeah I'm pretty sure there's a parking mode on it. I'll have mine hard wired up to always be running anyway.

Not too much of a frame rate difference thankfully, compared to the DRS1100, it's a huge step up.

I'm not sure what's making the reg plates that little bit more difficult to read, whether it's youtube's rendering or the FPS, but if you pause it, it's much clearer to read. A distributor on this thread, who sells both BlackVue and Itronics says he prefers itronics: http://www.mycarforum.com/index.php?showtopic=2652268&view=getnewpost

I'm sure something much better will be out in another year or two anyway. I'm hoping for a blackbox, gps traker and sat nav all in one, shaped like a rear view mirror :P

PerrDub · 15-06-2012 5:15pm

How's this for car mounted cameras! Spotted this Merc today with what look like Go-Pro camera's proffesionally mounted on each wing mirror and rear window, possibly on the dash as well, could not see though...

Anyone seen this before?

Mr Magners · 15-06-2012 5:41pm

That looks like its being used for filming of some kind.

Kinda overkill if they were just dash cams!!

Dash cam saves your ass (no Roundabout stuff please :)

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