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

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

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".

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 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.

CreepingDeath

I've just ordered one of these, but Deal Extreme takes 4-6 weeks to deliver.
I'll post a review/sample day/night vids when I get it.

One thing worth considering, my old black dashcam got very hot in direct sunlight.
So I went with a silver one this time, hoping it would reflect more of the sun/heat away.

DealExtreme Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr-1UHRrGpo

From that thread I linked to earlier, it seems the iTronics ITB-100HD is considered a better device than the Blackvue 400 so I might go for that instead. Anyone here have one themselves? I think it's new enough..

CreepingDeath

Here's a near miss I had in Lucan last weekend. ( Don't mind the timestamp on the video footage)
A muppet in a silver people carrier on the wrong side of the road caused the car in front of me to swerve into parking bays and only moved to the right side of the road after seeing me.

I've a cheap dashcam which didn't get their reg number clearly (only 640x480) resolution, but I'm upgrading to a 1080P one after this.
I think it's 99 LH <something> but too tough to see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7MHzlfAgkk

not actually had a chance to test it properly yet, but i know people are waiting, so here's the preliminary impressions.

i'd thought it took a microSD card, but it's a regular full sized SD slot and i didn't have an adapter yesterday, so i couldn't record anything.

playing around with it today at my desk, it's obvious it's a cheap chinese product, very cheap plastic. there'a actually no HDMI despite what the ebay auction says. i contacted the seller and they said that the wrong batch was sent by their supplier and they only just realised and that i could get a full refund if i sent it back, or a £4 refund if i kept it, so i decided to take the £4 back.

i also said i'd planned on buying more and had 'friends'

who might also want some, so to make sure they corrected their ebay description to say there was no HDMI and if they are going to get new stock in with HDMI, to let me know. not a big thing though, i imagine most people won't use it anyway, so it's just a minor gripe.

i did some test video recordings at my desk with usb power from my laptop and there was a lot of noise on the audio, almost like a small engine running in the background. it's only when i have my laptop powering it though, the car charger doesn't seem to have the same problem, so again only a very minor gripe.

so, you can mess around with all the usual settings as you'd see on most of these things, inc. turning on/off the date/time stamp (or changing it to the correct date/time

) you can disable audio recording, choose the video and image quality you'd like, from 720p down to 480p (i guess to save space, more on that later) and you can also disable the (most likely) useless IR LED's and also flip the image upside down if you mount it on your dash instead of on your windscreen.

so, i guess it's time for the good bit (sort of).

to try and give a side by side impression of video quality, i spliced back and forth between the dashcam and my desire hd which was mounted next to it and fitted with a fisheye lens (another ebay buy) to give as much of a similar field of view as i could get to the dashcam as it's pretty wide compared to my desire hd standard field of view.

the only downside really is a pretty inefficient encoding rate as i only got 5m45s of video for a 977mb file, so you won't be filming long journeys.

just to be complete, this is the one I got: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/270964106767?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_3058wt_1396

the seller was elec-touch for anyone reading this after the auction has expired.

also, this was the total delivered price in the end according to paypal:

Conversion from: -€34.71 EUR
Conversion to: £26.99 GBP
Exchange rate: 1 Euro = 0.777617 British Pounds

Basq wrote: »

Looking forward to it lads.. my decision is resting firmly between those two anyways!

not sure ow well i'll perform under this much pressure!

Basq

Looking forward to it lads.. my decision is resting firmly between those two anyways!

should hopefully be collecting mine at lunchtime, so we'll see how it goes.

fred funk }{

vibe666 wrote: »

any chance of you posting up some sample video of it so we can have a look?

mine arrived whilst i was away on holiday, but i'll be picking it up tomorrow from the post office so i'll give it a test run as well.

it's this one anyway that was posted on the thread a few days ago: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/270964106767?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_3058wt_1396

might be worth getting some test day & night footage to see how they compare.

I'll post something up later or tomorrow. Quality isn't too bad at all.

Just curious, is the time, date, speed etc permanently stamped on the video of the BlackVue or is there an option to JUST show the footage without any info?

Also, this thread here: http://www.mycarforum.com/index.php?act=findpost&pid=4437699 seems to have a lot of very knowledgeable folk and new products being discussed. The link there brings to a newly recommended product. H.264 recording, 140 degree lens amongst other things.

Anyone keeping an eye on it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZx3pPh-K10

fred funk }{ wrote: »

I bought one of the Smartcams off eBay last week. I had a problem with it, think I caused it myself, Scott was extremely helpful and sorted me out straight away.

I'm very pleased with the cam and I would highly recommend anyone thinking of getting one to get one of these. For the money would cant go wrong.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/SmartCam-HD-Car-DVR-720P-Dashcam-Driving-Recorder-HDMI-2-0-LCD-UK-SELLER-/200745123135?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item2ebd577d3f#ht_2701wt_700

any chance of you posting up some sample video of it so we can have a look?

mine arrived whilst i was away on holiday, but i'll be picking it up tomorrow from the post office so i'll give it a test run as well.

it's this one anyway that was posted on the thread a few days ago: http://www.ebay.ie/itm/270964106767?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649#ht_3058wt_1396

might be worth getting some test day & night footage to see how they compare.

fred funk }{

I bought one of the Smartcams off eBay last week. I had a problem with it, think I caused it myself, Scott was extremely helpful and sorted me out straight away.

I'm very pleased with the cam and I would highly recommend anyone thinking of getting one to get one of these. For the money would cant go wrong.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/SmartCam-HD-Car-DVR-720P-Dashcam-Driving-Recorder-HDMI-2-0-LCD-UK-SELLER-/200745123135?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item2ebd577d3f#ht_2701wt_700

deadwood

franksm wrote: »

Funny that you are talking about the Ballymun roundabout, here's a vid I took yesterday. Just watch the chaos, I thought we'd be witness to two or three sideswipes but it all just seems 'normal' for this roundabout.

Oh the humanity!:eek:

franksm

Funny that you are talking about the Ballymun roundabout, here's a vid I took yesterday. Just watch the chaos, I thought we'd be witness to two or three sideswipes but it all just seems 'normal' for this roundabout.

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Which is a completely different place/exit to the above video

I looked at the vid again and your description as the ballymun exit. I should have said ballymun road and not M2 (which is finglas exit). Apologies. I come off that exit for DCU often but I still maintain getting to left lane is safer and the cue is not heavy enough to stop you getting across.

Nissan doctor

Damien360 wrote: »

I was on about coming off M2/N2 and heading for southbound M50.

Which is a completely different place/exit to the above video

Nissan doctor wrote: »

That option would only add to issues when both lanes are full at rush hour.

The entry from ballymun to the southbound M50 is completely seperate to the southbound exit off the roundabout. If you are coming from ballymun and stopped at the traffic lights at the roundabout then you aren't/can't go southbound.

I was on about coming off M2/N2 and heading for southbound M50.

Nissan doctor wrote: »

That option would only add to issues when both lanes are full at rush hour.

They cue for southbound is usually right beside the ballymun turn off in rush hour. Very rare that it reaches back to your entrance. The light sequence is short on your entrance also, so I find there is room to get to the left due to very few cars pushed through.

The tallaght bypass exit southbound with 3 lanes works better (most of the time) and removes the problem seen on the ballymun exit.

Nissan doctor

Damien360 wrote: »

I know that junction well. I am always wary of the 2 lanes going on into ballymun for that very reason. I always change to the left lane as I go around to avoid that.

That option would only add to issues when both lanes are full at rush hour.

Damien360 wrote: »

It gets even funnier when the lights are red for the cue to go southbound on the M50. You could end up in the cue with those on your left going southbound. They could argue they are doing the same as you from their entrance and 2 lanes entering the M50 south.

The entry from ballymun to the southbound M50 is completely seperate to the southbound exit off the roundabout. If you are coming from ballymun and stopped at the traffic lights at the roundabout then you aren't/can't go southbound.

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Another from today, on the exact same roundabout as my other roundabout/wrong lane video:rolleyes:

You can see the Renault Flatulence in the left lane before it goes off camera, as I begin to continue straight, I just notice the headlights of the influenza coming towards my passanger door out of the corner of my eye.

It was VERY close! It was rush hour traffic and I'm not one who would be arsed jumping out to an idiot but as I went to drive on he beeped at me, which I admit almost made me stop again, until all the cars he was now blocking in the lane behind me started lifting him out of it:P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy6ti7Q0aqA

I know that junction well. I am always wary of the 2 lanes going on into ballymun for that very reason. I always change to the left lane as I go around to avoid that.

It gets even funnier when the lights are red for the cue to go southbound on the M50. You could end up in the cue with those on your left going southbound. They could argue they are doing the same as you from their entrance and 2 lanes entering the M50 south.

Thanks for that, I dismissed the idea earlier and was in favour of going the Korean Ebay-Korean friend route, but on second thoughts, if the supplier can supply 3 to me EX VAT (UK@20%, that will bring each down to about £137 so it may just be worth it..

Gumbo

cormie wrote: »

What kind of pricing are they talking on the group buy? You need to be a member to see the page you linked to

taken from bmw driver :

The camera retails at £250 in the UK - you can get it cheaper on Ebay but by the time you pay for shipping and customs its up at something like €260 to bring one it, plus you really have fe*k all come back if there are any problems with the camera.

Anyway I was speaking to the authorised reseller of BlackVue in the UK and they offered a group buy.

The group buy is as follows:

20 units £199
50 units £169

Shipping to Dublin (Insured TNT 2-3 days)

20 units £44.65 (£2.23 per unit)
50 units £78.21 (£1.56 per unit)

Nissan doctor

Another from today, on the exact same roundabout as my other roundabout/wrong lane video:rolleyes:

You can see the Renault Flatulence in the left lane before it goes off camera, as I begin to continue straight, I just notice the headlights of the influenza coming towards my passanger door out of the corner of my eye.

It was VERY close! It was rush hour traffic and I'm not one who would be arsed jumping out to an idiot but as I went to drive on he beeped at me, which I admit almost made me stop again, until all the cars he was now blocking in the lane behind me started lifting him out of it:P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy6ti7Q0aqA

What kind of pricing are they talking on the group buy? You need to be a member to see the page you linked to

Shane732

cormie wrote: »

I'm half interested in getting a blackvue, I've a friend in Korea and with a bit of planning I may be able to get my own cheaper than any group buy.

I may have to resign to the fact I've bricked 3 DRS1100's/Roadhawks and I believe dash cams are such an essential driving accompaniment, that I should replace the 3 straight away. I'd much prefer if there was a 3 in 1 Sat Nav/GPS Tracker/Black Box, but that may be a long wait away.

Unless anyone believes a smart phone has enough processing power to be all 3?

The Korean route probably works out cheaper if you can manage to get it in without customs. The only problem is that you're absolutely screwed if something goes wrong with it.