dash cams, who's got them and what is best

Amazon says it's temporarily unavailable and doesn't list the price - any idea what ballpark it goes for?

 

I think i paid about $80 for it at the time. This one looks pretty similar https://smile.amazon.com/Starvis-Wi...1&keywords=Roav+DashCam&qid=1608149759&sr=8-6

I'll post a video from the hit and run in the youtube section.

 

Don't do it if you ever plan on visiting the Big House. You will get green lit.

 

Bumping this again. Haven't quite found exactly what I'm looking for. Maybe that's because it doesn't exist.

Wanting to get front and rear for both our vehicles. Don't care about GPS logging and would prefer it to be battery operated with local storage. I'm also outfitting our home with 3 Amazon Blink Outdoor cameras. They essentially have everything I need at about $83 each. But dash cams in that range all seem to be cheap chinesium. If the Blink had local storage, I'd probably just stick a few of those in our cars. So what's the deal with dash cams? Looking for the following:

24 hour on or motion triggered
battery operated with at least 6 months life (ideally a year)
Local storage
Night vision
Decent enough quality to capture a license plate or face (don't need to see what radio station the car 100 feet ahead is listening to)
Don't care about GPS
Don't care about image stabilization (not shooting quality movies here, just need to record basic info)

 

Don't see why this wouldn't fit your needs ?
It has pretty much what you want.

 

Looks like you have to purchase a separate hardwire kit to keep it on 24/7? Is this right? And it looks like you have to use a USB charger to keep it charged, which means annoying wires running through the car. And SD cards have to be purchased separately.

By the time it's all said and done, outfitting both my vehicles with these would cost more than my complete home security system , which comes with weatherproof cameras, wireless video upload/storage, motion detection, and an app for monitoring/alerts. This system either doesn't have these features or it has them but it's not something I feel is needed for a dashcam (e.g. - motion detection: I want it to simply stay on and record in loops 24/7). Combine this with the fact that I remember guys running chinesium ebay keyfob cameras on their race bikes that they bought for a couple bucks on ebay over a decade ago and I've never even heard of the brand Aukey before now... just seems like spending a lot of money and getting very little out of it.

If there's anything I'm wrong about or maybe an aspect of all this I'm not considering, please correct me as I'd really love to find a solution here.

 

Yes for the USB... but that runs in the car and is hooked right in the front, so no wires anywhere in the car except the little end that is connected directly in the USB port and always stays there, so it can run 24/7 (motion detection when vehicule is off)

And yes for the USB card but I think they're all like that.

I can take a pic of the USB port connected in the my SUV, if it can give you a good idea.

 

I have yet to see one that is battery operated, especially that will last that long.
Running the wires is super easy.

I got this one for the in-laws for xmas.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CT6JPYW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I installed it in less than 30 minutes. Though to do the 24/7 monitoring while parked, you have to run an extra kit to a fuse. A bit more of work but nothing major for the security that you get.

 

The battery thing I really don't get. The outdoor cameras I just order are battery operated and will last 2 years on a set. Seems a simple dash cam should be able to match that, if not more.

The big issue with the wiring is my wife drives a brand new vehicle and I don't want to run the risk of voiding any warranties by having to pull stuff apart to route wires and then connecting the wires in places the oem didn't intend. Plus I'm just lazy and prefer simple things.

 

lol I get that. You have to think about how much recording you do while driving. With running the wire, you shouldn't have to remove anything. The wires fit nicely behind the weather molding and trim pieces. But, I do understand your concern.

 

Not sure if you can get fully wireless product and still get good quality video and long life. I have the Blink system and while it says 2 years for batteries. Thats with minimal activations. I don’t think the batteries would last 2 weeks if it was recording continuous which is what a dash cam does.

I just bought an Akaso DL12 LCD mirror with backup cam. I bought it more for backup cam and hooking up the trailer without yelling at my GF but it has integrated forward dash cam. I’m not a fan of the dash cam as I tend to be the fast guy on the roads but not too concerned about it as I don’t do my law breaking in my tow van. It also has a speed “calibration” which allows up to -6mph from actual to be displayed. I will be engaging that feature. I compared it to the VanTop H612 which had voice recognition but it seems like most of these units are very similar. If you have newer cars replacing the factory mirror may lose some features. On a 2000 E350 not so much so it worked for me.

I think I’ll start a YouTube channel and comment on other drivers behaviors for some extra cash

 

@redtailracing
Here are a few pics of the front consol, where my cam is plugged in.
You'll see the wire goes right underneath the dashboard.
Now it is important to know if that USB port of yours are continuous power going through it, to help your dahs cam record 24/7.

Hope this helps you a bit more.

Cheers

 

If you want your cake and to eat it too ie quality and wireless then expect to pay a lot more than a home system would cost you.

 

Thanks for the reference. It does help

 

I guess that's what I don't understand. What's the difference between quality, wireless home security cameras vs. quality wireless dash cams? Why is one so much more than the other?

 

BTW the same unit I got, just saw a seller sell for $70CND less then what I bought mine for.
https://www.amazon.ca/AUKEY-Wide-An...rd_wg=00SqQ&psc=1&refRID=ZY0CJZXCYB8CQ5KHM0N2

 

So would you consider this for a track car?

 

Yes if you're ok with 15min loop recordings

Hell I have one for my race bike (not this one, one made for bikes) but the down side is its 5min loops but works for what I need to help me and those I help/teach.

 

Because the one in your car is built to better specs because it gets hotter and colder in your car. It has higher and lower humidities. It is always vibrating , etc. you can build a home one to a fraction of the cost. Home one resolution at distance usually sucks too. Mine sees a mile down the road Uber clear. I’d compare it to a GoPro quality where my home Adt and personal cams don’t have near the quality and are much larger.

 

I do realize that the resolution is better but I honestly don't care to be able to shoot 4k movies with the thing. I want it to be able to read a license plate 10 feet in front of me. That's about it. As far as weather conditioning specs, I'd think that my outdoor cameras are plenty robust for that. Even with the vibration, the outdoor cameras have to hold up to a fair amount of wind.

Just seems like all the big name brands like Garmin, Sony, Amazon, etc. either don't make one or it's all high end stuff that's way more capable than I care to have or pay for. They don't make a budget line. Basically saying I wish one of those companies would make a model where they scaled down the resolution, dumped the GPS tracking, etc. and offer it at a price that matches those traits. Like I mentioned in a previous post, it's hard for me to believe that you could get a keyfob camera for $2 to stick on your racebike a decade ago but a name brand dash cam can't be had for less than $70-$80/each.