Dash cams, what to get and where to get it (Q&A only)

Eric Cartman wrote: »

looking to get a small dash cam, the smaller the better, something thats particularly good at night. Don't mind if theres a screen on it or not, Id actually prefer one with a composite out so I could view it with the cars inbuilt monitor, will be a fixed install, but Id like it to be almost unnoticeable on the windscreen. Only real caveat is I'm a mac user so nothing that needs a special pc application to playback, VLC will suffice. Price isn't too big an issue but I wouldn't be going over 180

Mini series is what you want, small & discreet.
I have 2 (0801 rear & 0806 front)
Files are playable in QuickTime (so you don't even need VLC) and are easily edited in iMovie.

Argos clearing out a few cameras:

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4507365/Trail/searchtext%3EPRESTIGO.htm

Prestigio Road Runner 545 GPS Full HD Dash Cam. 450/7365
€89.99 was €189.99

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/4557690/Trail/searchtext%3EPRESTIGO.htm

Prestigio Road Runner 320 Dash Cam 455/7690 €49.99 was €119.18

Some others 'reduced' too.. Don't know much about the quality etc. but might be of interest here.

JumpShivers wrote: »

I have my eye on a nice dashcam. The model is Nextbase 412G. I have a few concerns before taking the plunge and buying.

Firstly, it's a about the size of an iPhone (lengthwise), maybe a bit smaller. Does everyone here normally take down their dashcam and reconnect it each time they get back into their vehicle? Is that not a bit tedious? Does it attract thieves who may mistake it for a GPS? Or will people steal it anyway?
Is it possible to get them hardwired into the cars electronic system like a handsfree system? Instead of having the wires trailing from the cigarette lighter. Does anyone have this particular dashcam? Does it have good night vision? Do you have to change to night vision manually or does the settings have to be manually changed?

Do you mean the Nextbase 402G or 512G?

I have the 402G. It's a bit smaller than an iphone. I leave mine in the car all the time. They are easy to remove if you want though.

I have mine hardwired in. You can see how I did it myself in post 1180 here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=97649372

The picture quality is fantastic during the day. You can see one of my videos here in post number 354.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=98010959

The raw footage is even better quality. Youtube doesn't do it justice.

Night-time recording is fine in towns or low lighting but it's not great in the complete dark, but I think that is the norm for most cameras.

Overall, I would recommend the 402.

sulli wrote: »

ok so this question has probably been asked about 100 times...going to get herself to get me a dashcam as part of my xmas present!!! I see the mini 0805 and 0806 are very popular...which one would ye choose to purchase? Also are they easy to hardwire into the car and conceal the wires? and do i need to purchase extra stuff to do this? any help would be greatly appreciated!!

I just bought a mini 0806 for my Ford C-Max Energi. It's out of sight nicely behind the rear view mirror. A word of warning, whichever car you have, if you're mounting it high like me, check that it's not mounted outside of the wiper sweep because you will have a job and a half taking it off as the included sticky pads are super sticky. I bought a 32gb SanDisk card (even though the camera can take a pair of 128gb cards) and I got write errors (3 Loud beeps) constantly. I learned after that Samsung cards cards are recommended. I haven't had time to try the Samsung out yet. You can take down the camera separately from the bracket (although it's not recommended you too it too often) so if you're struggling to remove an sdcard while the camera is mounted you can use the edge of a credit card to eject it. The display can be inverted, I had to do this as I wanted the camera on the left side of the rear view mirror (my car is left hand drive) so I could easily push the up button to turn on and off the mic. The green light has been changed from GPS signal to show me the mic is on. I bought mine from gearbest.

JaMarcusHustle wrote: »

Quick question, I just got the same model. What's the advantages of hardwiring this rather than using the provided connections for the cigarette lighter?

For me, there are two advantages.

1. It keeps the cigarette lighter socket free for other things like charging my phone or the occasional time I use the satnav.

2. It was a neater way to hide the cables.

Is the rac05 das cam any good at night and day?

Is easy to start recording?

Is it hard to dettle footage on the dashcam ?

What gb would be the best ?

If no to the first question which is the best at day and night?

Does the dashcam needed updates?

thanks for your feedback

You'll have to clarify what you mean.

delete the videos on dashcam or does it start from new

how to edit viedos

I bought a transcend DrivePro200 and just went for a spin. Pretty good purchase. Very good clarity. I did wonder how I would tidy the cable away but managed to put it into the linings around the screen and door frames.

ShaunieVW wrote: »

Hi All, I have bought myself a dashcam and want to hardwire it into my 01 Audi A3. I have bought a cig lighter socket and plan to wire it in and hide it behind the dash.

Original I was going to tap into the original cig lighter wiring and use that to also power the new cig lighter. However, power is constant to it even when car is off. So I was thinking of using another non essential power supply like my heated seats. My concern is I have seen on other hard wire guides that people are using 12v to 5v adaptors? Is this neccessary to run a cig lighter socket?

Thanks.

I wired mine in thre following manner

Camera
Power lead with cig lighter at other end.

Extrtas
Piggy back fuse holder and fuse
Spare Cig lighter socket.

Current tester

Locate fuse box behind dash
Locate spare fuse that comes live with ignition on.
Insert piggyback fuse holder.
Connect + wire from spare cig lighter to this.

Connect - Wire from spare cig lighter to Ground ( and screw nearby to body or metal )
Insert fuse to piggyback holder
Turn on ignition and all should be good to go.

Mc Love wrote: »

I bought a transcend DrivePro200 and just went for a spin. Pretty good purchase. Very good clarity. I did wonder how I would tidy the cable away but managed to put it into the linings around the screen and door frames.

Got one of these for the Abarth.
Pros: excellent 1080p video quality, very impressive night time mode that's almost as good as the day mode.

Turn the key and forget operating system.

Cons: it's got a screen so it's bigger and less discreet than I'd like.

G sensor is so sensitive it's near useless

Microphone could be better.

I got the NextBase 402g over the Christmas. Should this model have to plugged in constantly? Once I remove the lighter plug it only lasts about 15 minutes.

I've just spent 3 hours reading this thread, and i couldn't find an answer to my question :-)

Hopefully somebody can help:

I am looking for a camera for more of a security / vandalism point of view, compared to using it when actually driving. I'd like to have the camera running when stationary (parked up etc...)

I'm looking for a camera that will:

01 - record when the car is turned off (i think this is called parking mode)
02 - hardwire installation with battery pack and power monitor (stop using the car battery when it gets to a certain level)
03 - loop record (records over old footage when it runs out of space)

I'm thinking of ordering this... any thoughts?

http://www.blackboxmycar.com/collections/blackvue/products/pre-order-blackvue-dr750lw-2ch-wifi-16gb-32gb-64gb-english-version


Thanks in advance for your help.