i don't really know anything about them, other than that they exist.

i have been thinking about getting one for months and, wouldn't you know it ... going around a gentle curve, i come face to face with a bozo that is driving down the MIDDLE of the road ! with parked cars to my right i have nowhere to go and we collide. relatively minor bumper, sheet metal and headlight damage but still ... day of work lost, have to go into make the claim ... other driver will probably lie and insurer will assess blame at 50/50 ... yadda yadda .

so what do i need to know about dashboard cams ? how much for a decent one ? are they reliable ? would one help in such a situation ? can i install it myself with basic electrical know-how ? any models/makes to avoid ?

any input appreciated.
thanks.

 

Get a keyhole camera and mobile dvr. Pretty simple to install.

 

Some car insurance companies will pay if you get one. It saves them money in the long run.

 

They have kits now that you can purchase that will give you 2-4 cameras and a mobile DVR that's wired to the vehicle's 12V system. try this site: www.gogss.com

 

I have been doing some research myself recently on these. I ALWAYS see something in my truck that I say "damn, I wish I had a DVR in here!!" Same on my motorcycle!

You will find that ALL of them are made in Korea, China or Taiwan and I think maybe some made in Russia.

In my research the things to look for are clarity of the picture during the day and especially at night. Some have cheaply made lenses so if the interior of your truck gets too hot it will actually distort leaving you with a blurry or distorted image.

I have looked at only those that have 1080p ability. I am sure 720p is good enough but the cost to go to 1080p is insignificant.

I did a lot of reading in reviews and there is no "perfect" camera. Did you want GPS function to record your location? I opted to get one without that! The one I am looking has G-force and plate recording. I am still trying to get more info on those but they seem rather self-explanatory. It had pretty good reviews as well.

I have this one on my Christmas list for Santa:


If you buy it from E-prance website it's actually a little less expensive. But I actually find a little piece of mind with Amazon fulfilling the order.

Whatever you get be sure to post up some kind of review! Especially if you get this one before I do!

 

thanks for the input guys ...

jf auto ... the stuff on that site looks a little more complicated than what i am thinking of. looking around on the internet i have found quite a selection of "plug and play" devices that probably suit my needs.

runvs ... my research has found pretty much the same as you ...the funny thing is that they dont seem to be an item that most of the electronic brick-and-mortar retailers are carrying, although i may be wrong on that; need to look into it further. i have a personal bugaboo about buying off the internet; but i know i am probably in the minority on that.

seems to boil down to "how much do you want to pay ?" the prices seem to range from under $20 to about $120, so i am guessing that in order to stay away from the real garbage, i am looking at around $80 ... a small price to pay.

 

I agree, I think the $80-$150 price range is about right filtering out the complete junk and the overly priced.

I hope to have one under tree in about a month. But I have other pricey stuff on that list as well so we'll see what wins out and b/c my wife is not a big online shopper, I may have to get this one for myself. Oh, I know, I'll get it and have her give it to the kids as their gift to me!! I have plenty of practice acting surprised when that happens!!

 

Hey i have had dash cams in all 4 of my vehicles for the past year. I actually wont drive without it now. Not to disagree with anyone on cost but i have 4 $25 setups. You could spend more yes and get a fancier camera but im just looking for functionality really and the way i set them up, they're practically hidden. I don't do the suction cup on windshield method. I actually fabricate a mount that attaches to the bottom of the mirror mount and then wire it to the ignition. This way, you dont ever have to mess with it. I use one like this (i never bought from this buyer, just an example. theres a gazillion sellers for these cameras), http://www.ebay.com/itm/HD-Color-IR-DVR-NightVision-Car-Dash-Camera-2-5inch-TFT-LCD-Screen-Road-Recorder-/390609989801?pt=US_Surveillance_Digital_Video_Recorders_Cards&hash=item5af22b70a9Yeah i know not pretty but as long as it works, that's all i need. I use the max card which is a 32gb. Lots of people have issues with the cameras because they take the sdhc cards out from their cameras and pop them in before actually formatting the card. It wont work. Same thing goes for swapping one card into another dash cam. Format the cards always first and it will work just fine. Trust me, i had a crash coarse.. Also if your gonna hard wire it like me, dont run 12v.. you need to drop it down to i think 5 or 7 at most. Ill take pictures for you when i get a chance.

Here is a video i posted last year on one of my cameras. Please excuse the music, i was talking on the phone and didnt want to broadcast my conversation.. Not the clearest, but definitely good enough for a cheap cam..

 

Those are pretty impressive images considering low cost!

 

I plan to make a mount for the front of my overhead console and hardwire it with the ignition, just as you stated!

I did not realize, however, that they are not 12v, thanks for the heads up. That one you posted looks like the DV-027 I think it is? - and it's all over the net.

 

hey mikey ... thanks for you excellent input. was hoping to hear from someone who actually has used one for a while !

the video quality looks decent but you never showed a shot of a license plate ... is it good enough to show them clearly ?

if a $25.00 unit gives you a year of good service i would say that is pretty decent.

how do you step down from 12v to 5v ?

 

p.s. ... my searching tells me that these units are not available in any stores as yet ... online only. i predict that these are going to become VERY common VERY soon. in russia they are practically standard equipment due to the huge number of attempted insurance frauds (coming soon to a roadway near you).

 

I bet these are extremely popular with OTR truckers and for the same reason you stated; insurance fraud... Yeah, that wasn't for quality "for $25" but definitely seen better quality. Now...this is assuming that the quality wasn't downgraded when it was uploaded...

 

The ones that i have, yes they're very easy to find. Even Amazon carries them. Personally, Ive purchased them all from China through Ebay. Like i said, that one is not 12v. If you wire direct using 12v, you will burn out the unit immediately. I think they are 7v but i used a reducer down to 5v and its actually plenty of power with no issues. heres an example of what i used, I also now see one for 7.5v too on amazon. I suppose either way is fine. (just double check the volts). As far as reading license plates, its not really designed for that. It doesnt really matter how good the camera quality is, you not gonna get clear shots of plates unless your directly behind someone. You have to remember that the lens on these cameras are anywhere from 2.8 to around 3.7.. Thats ideal for a dash cam because you want a wide field of view and you wont achieve that with a 12mm lens. The whole purpose of these cams are to capture an accident. Its really gonna be your job to capture the plate number. Also keep in mind, even if you are rear ended, the cam shows your position while driving or parked at the time of impact so even though it might not capture the collision on cam, it will still show who is at fault. Also, immediately after a collision, you can spin the cam in the direction of the impact (important that you can spin at least 180 degrees). It also records sound flawlessly so you'll have that too. As far as quality, they are small cams with 1/4" cmos image sensors and not the 1/3s (im not even sure if they have 1/3s in dash cams.. could be wrong) You can only go so far with quality on a 1/4 sensor imo.
Oh and make sure you buy a decent sdhc card. A class 10 one is excellent. It will make a difference on quality.

 

Has anyone wired them to record when their truck is parked?

After having my truck stolen and six months later another attempt, I would love to be able to have some kind of motion cam pointed out each side.

Obviously, they wouldn't do me any good if they succeeded in stealing the truck but I have other anti-theft devices in place. At least if they tried and didn't succeed, I would have something to turn over to the local LE...

If anyone has, how did you wire it? If it is direct, always-on, how long before it makes an impact on your battery - enough to worry about starting.

And does anyone make some with bluetooth or direct wifi in order to send a live signal or recording to a phone or computer?