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

UsedToWait · 16-04-2016 1:20pm

5500 wrote: »

The international edition yi dvr in english is available from geekbuying, http://www.geekbuying.com/item/-HK-Stock---International-Edition--Xiaomi-Yi-Smart-Car-DVR-1080P-60FPS-160-Degree-WiFi-Built-in-240mAh-Battery-Support-Android---IOS---Grey-363571.html

Roughly 65 delivered, chance of getting hit with customs too though

Thanks for that.. Are Geekbuying considered OK for customer service / returns etc?

16-04-2016 1:41pm

I've purchased from them before myself before without any issues, I think they have a decent name as opposed to the other crowd BearGest.

They take paypal as payment either ways so even if you had an issue and have to return you've a bit of piece of mind

josip · 16-04-2016 3:50pm

clint_silver wrote: »

Im about to get a dash cam, some questions

Do you leave the cam in the car all the time and only take it out when you want to look at the vid or remove every night for security?

Do they auto start recording when you turn on engine and is it a rolling hour of video or whatever your card can handle or do you have to start the cam?

Does the memory card over write or do you have to manually clear it off?

Do they charge from the car or run off the car, as in, if car isn't started can you still record?

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is recording when the ignition is switched off.
A lot of people have dashcams that have motion detection and can be useful if your car is hit while parked for example.
In that case you'll need to wire it up to an always live fuse holder in the fusebox.
My understanding is that they use so little power that there is no risk of a flat battery from this kind of set up.

job seeker · 16-04-2016 4:00pm

shietpilot wrote: »

My camera records footage in 5 minute segments meaning there is a bunch of 5 minute clips on the SD card. You can adjust this but 5 mins is the longest on my dashcam.

Genuine question.

My dash cam does this as well.. I always wondered though, what if someone crashed into you during the period which it was not recording? Like records for 5 min, stops for 1min. So isn't a dash cam pretty usless in this situation? Or am I missing something?

sunnysoutheast · 16-04-2016 4:11pm

job seeker wrote: »

Genuine question.

My dash cam does this as well.. I always wondered though, what if someone crashed into you during the period which it was not recording? Like records for 5 min, stops for 1min. So isn't a dash cam pretty usless in this situation? Or am I missing something?

The camera records in contiguous 5 minute chunks, shouldn't be any gaps. In fact I think mine overlaps a little bit.

job seeker · 16-04-2016 4:22pm

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

The camera records in contiguous 5 minute chunks, shouldn't be any gaps. In fact I think mine overlaps a little bit.

I got mine form halfords it's a nextbase. I'm sure mine stops for a min or so and starts recording again...

cormie · 16-04-2016 4:40pm

There's another one here for $79? http://www.geekbuying.com/item/-HK-Stock---International-Edition--Xiaomi-Yi-Smart-Car-DVR-1080P-60FPS-160-Degree-WiFi-Built-in-240mAh-Battery-Support-Android---IOS---Golden-363570.html?utm_source=EMS&utm_medium=EMSPD_Product_Link&utm_campaign=EMSPD_Feed_363570

Wonder what's the difference? Also, does anyone know if Xiaomi has a load of knock offs the way the mini series was from loads of different manufacturers? I mean what are the chances of not getting the original?

16-04-2016 6:35pm

The dearer one you linked comes with an sd card. Generally geek buying would be known for selling genuine xiaomi stuff.

Having bought power banks before from them and checked the security barcodes with xiaomi they were all legit

josip · 16-04-2016 8:55pm

Any half decent dashcam should overlap recording segments by a few seconds and state the overlap in the spec.

joujoujou · 16-04-2016 9:03pm

Honestly, any decent cam is decent enough not to lose even a fraction of the second between the clips.

Now, try to seamlessly join two consecutive, overlapped clips. :P

AndyBoBandy · 16-04-2016 10:02pm

My mini series cameras (0806 & 0801)have seamless end to end videos, and when I put 2 clips together, you'd never even notice it,

Many of the videos ice uploaded consist of footage from at least 2 clips, and I never have an issue with them, there is maybe a millisecond of a blip, but you wouldn't notice it if you didn't know it was there.

Any dash cam that loses even 1/10 of a second between clips isn't worth it in my opinion,
I also wouldn't be a fan of the cans that overlap the clips.

UsedToWait · 17-04-2016 7:54pm

Ordered the Xiaomi Yi, linked to by 5500 earlier in the thread - kinda regretting cheaping out and choosing standard shipping over DHL in the hope of avoiding extra charges

Hopefully won't have cause to need it in the interim!

Will update thread when it arrives, if anyone else is holding off for feedback before buying it..

Voodoomelon · 17-04-2016 10:44pm

The manufacturer informed me the Xiaomi english version is being launched on Amazon UK this week, which will likely have a more up to date firmware. That's the one i'm waiting on.

OldMrBrennan83 · 17-04-2016 10:53pm

This post has been deleted.

UsedToWait · 17-04-2016 10:56pm

Voodoomelon wrote: »

The manufacturer informed me the Xiaomi english version is being launched on Amazon UK this week, which will likely have a more up to date firmware. That's the one i'm waiting on.

Its already on sale at geekbuying (international version), but you'll likely have yours first

Came in just under $70 (+/- customs)

I'd imagine any updates to firmware will be available on the xiaomi site in any case - the description says the firmware is upgradable..

cormie · 18-04-2016 8:14am

I wonder will the amazon.co.uk version be shipped from within the EU? Would be better still if it was being sold direct from Amazon but I'm guessing it'll be a third party seller?

18-04-2016 8:18am

As above the international version is updateable the Chinese version isn't so if buying from China make sure it's the international version.

Geekbuy ships from Hong Kong so postage might not be too long as opposed to mainland China. Another option is use parcel wizard/motel as your delivery address which also tends to speed things up if you want to try not get hit for customs charges which is guaranted with dhl

cormie · 18-04-2016 8:49am

What happens if parcel motel get hit for customs on a delivery from outside the EU? Do they refuse the package or how does it work?

shietpilot · 18-04-2016 8:52am

cormie wrote: »

What happens if parcel motel get hit for customs on a delivery from outside the EU? Do they refuse the package or how does it work?

Parcel Motel will refuse a package with customs.

18-04-2016 8:52am

Yeah they refuse delivery, but I've used it a good few times for some pricier Chinese items eg phones and they never got stopped by royal mail for vat but it could be the luck of the draw

cormie · 18-04-2016 8:58am

An post is the same though, I mean with the likelihood of charging customs compared to royalmail, no?

Would rather an post give me the option to pay customs instead of having PM send it back and wait for delivery again, and then possibly have to pay customs in IRE too.

18-04-2016 11:41am

From my own experience an post are a lot better at revenue collection than RM. I think I only ever had 1 item stopped and returned by RM going to parcel motel many moons ago.

You can select DHL shipment at the checkout if your in a hurry it's only a few euro extra and if dispatched in the next day or so you should have it by Friday, BUT your getting hit for vat and DHL fees .
Send by an post and it's a lottery, could take 3 weeks for delivery (generally a bit less with HK shipping) and you may or may not get hit with vat.

In summary DHL after vat and fees should see total cost about €100, but end of week delivery.
An post with vat and fees about €90 all in and 3 week delivery, OR if it's slips through €65 delivered with 3 week delivery.
Parcelmotel/wizard Roughly €69 delivered and 10 days delivery, OR if stopped for customs returned to sender

zizou_ · 18-04-2016 1:29pm

Any recommendations for a small dashcam which has a neat mounting arrangement? I'm looking for the least obtrusive set up as it will be left in the car the whole time.
No screen/tiny screen is fine btw.

AndyBoBandy · 18-04-2016 1:37pm

zizou_ wrote: »

Any recommendations for a small dashcam which has a neat mounting arrangement? I'm looking for the least obtrusive set up as it will be left in the car the whole time.
No screen/tiny screen is fine btw.

I'd look at the mini series (0803/0805/0806)
Its quite hard to find genuine 0801's these days (they are still an excellent camera)

Jan Laco · 19-04-2016 9:44pm

Selling my VW Polo

http://www.adverts.ie/car/volkswagen/polo/vw-polo-1-2-2005/10315557?utm_source=email&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=AdCreated

micks_address · 20-04-2016 8:00am

hi folks,

has anyone replaced a battery in a mini 806? I've seen instructions on the web but wouldn't be that confident in doing it myself.. there's a couple of wires to solder etc

Cheers,
Mick

shietpilot · 21-04-2016 7:19pm

For anybody using the Mini 0806 dashcam, you can achieve better quality recordings by using this file:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pulsarz/mini-0806-autoexec-hacks/master/mini0806%20040116/auto_24Mbit/autoexec.ash

It will increase the video bitrate from 14 Mbit/s to 24 Mbit/s which is a substantial quality increase. All you need to do is place the above file named "autoexec.ash" in the root folder of your SD card.

job seeker · 22-04-2016 1:20am

josip wrote: »

Any half decent dashcam should overlap recording segments by a few seconds and state the overlap in the spec.

joujoujou wrote: »

Honestly, any decent cam is decent enough not to lose even a fraction of the second between the clips.

Now, try to seamlessly join two consecutive, overlapped clips. :P

Had a look at it closely yesterday.. It definitely stops for 2 minutes between recordings.. Ah well.. will just hope for the best..

AndyBoBandy · 22-04-2016 2:24am

shietpilot wrote: »

For anybody using the Mini 0806 dashcam, you can achieve better quality recordings by using this file:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pulsarz/mini-0806-autoexec-hacks/master/mini0806%20040116/auto_24Mbit/autoexec.ash

It will increase the video bitrate from 14 Mbit/s to 24 Mbit/s which is a substantial quality increase. All you need to do is place the above file named "autoexec.ash" in the root folder of your SD card.

You can achieve this also by using the custom firmware I mentioned last year

AndyBoBandy wrote: »

If anyone has a mini 0806 and are not entirely happy with the quality they are getting from it, theres an excellent custom firmware available for it. The difference in quality is night and day.

https://forum.dashcamtalk.com/threads/0806firmware-150323-dct-custom-bitrate-version.11232/

The mini 0806 website is also offering the same update

http://www.mini0806.com/update.html

cormie · 22-04-2016 8:26am

Don't suppose it's available for the previous mini's? Does it increase file size?

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

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