Dash Cam Recommendation

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Dtwm1

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Hi all,

On saturday I was very nearly the victim of 'cash for crash' (I think). One lane goes onto two at a set of lights then just after the lights it merges back to one lane. So there I am, the second car in the left lane car in front was an old pug 206, in the right hand lane pulls up a '51 plate focus. As we set off the focus doesn't really accelerate hard, cuts up the 206 and slams on for no reason, causing the 206 to slam on then me. All happened very quickly and we all came to a total stop, after about 5 seconds they drove off and both cars turned off down a side road soon after.

So with this in mind I really want to get a Dash Cam, I've done a search and seen @cemerson great install guide but what cameras do we all have? What can you recommend? I've been looking at the Blackvue dr600 and it seems really good but any advice is welcome. I've seen it online with a power magic pro on offer for £210.
Thanks,
Dave
 
I have the Mobius Dashcam, cheap and cheerful, don't need all the extra gimmicks the Blackvue has.

 
I have the Blackvue DR550GW. I think the 650 is the latest in the same series (There's a 750 as well but it's completely different and not really designed for the UK market), and is pretty much the same but upgraded and with common complaints fixed (it's all black, silver lens surround is gone, supports bigger cards). The 600 is front view only I think - so depends what you want.

Mine had a couple of issues caused by me trying to use a card that is bigger than the camera officially supports (I had read online that it works fine - it doesn't). These are all fixed now by switching card, and the 64gb card I was trying to use now lives in my phone!
 
Some insurance companies will give you a discount for having dashcams, but the ones I've seen require certain brands (Adrian Flux do it for Blackvue only I think, and perhaps even only certain models then). Something else to bear in mind.
 
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I just got a transcend pro 200,a bit expensive but the image quality is great, it also has emergency recording/autoprotect and a few other gadgets. Very small, I'm happy with it
 
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cemerson said:
Some insurance companies will give you a discount for having dashcams, but the ones I've seen require certain brands (Adrian Flux do it for Blackvue only I think, and perhaps even only certain models then). Something else to bear in mind.
Click to expand...
I've already called my insurers to see but as present they don't (churchill) but they are investigating and hoping to introduce a discount package in the new year.

Regardless I'm 22 and my insurance is about £800 a year with a £300 excess so even with no discount it makes sense if it can help. Im looking at the dr600 front facing only at the moment, I'm sure I can justify the extra costs for a rear view.
 
audi upgrades
Dtwm1 said:
I've already called my insurers to see but as present they don't (churchill) but they are investigating and hoping to introduce a discount package in the new year.

Regardless I'm 22 and my insurance is about £800 a year with a £300 excess so even with no discount it makes sense if it can help. Im looking at the dr600 front facing only at the moment, I'm sure I can justify the extra costs for a rear view.
Click to expand...
I forgot to add, I'm also thinking of adding an extra one to use as a rear cam. Regardless of discounts, just having the peace of mind if I get crashed by some unscrupulous person makes the expense worth it. If you'd like some confirmation, just google dashcam accidents russia and see the thousands of youtube vids there are..
 
The rear camera light serves as a good end-to-end test. If you can see the light is on in the rear view mirror, both cables must be working!
 
The most important thing to do is to check sample videos from whatever model you want to get, and especially night time footage. If that is rubbish, there's no point in the camera at all!
 
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I use a blackhawk hd camera. Picture quality is outstanding both during the day and at night. Tools also exist for Apple OSX. Integrated with racerender and likewise apps.

Very nearly integrated and nice and small.

Already earned its money by grabbing video evidence of lacking signage on entry of a car park allowing me to get out of a parking ticket.
 
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I have a MiWitness, front and rear camera with parking mode, really impressed with it and looks smart as well. Not cheap though.




 
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I also went with Transcend DrivePro 200 and very pleased with it. So much so that I've just ordered another for the rear.
 
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glospete said:
I also went with Transcend DrivePro 200 and very pleased with it. So much so that I've just ordered another for the rear.
Click to expand...

Pete

I've just ordered one of these DrivePro 200 too (for the front of the car). Do you fit the wire behind the headlining and if so how easy is it to remove and replace the lining? I don't want to start pulling my car to bits and then find I can't replace the lining!! Is your unit plugged into the 12v socket or is it connected to the fuse box?

cheers
 
At the moment (and whilst I was still evaluating it) I simply had the wire trailing behind the passenger sun visor and then pushed it between the windscreen and headlining, down through the glovebox and into the 12V socket. But now that I'm happy with the unit I have bought this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3Meter-DC...le-/130978718214?ssPageName=ADME:L:OU:GB:3160

and a "piggyback" fuse connector to tap into a 12V supply in the fusebox behind the glovebox.
The only negative things I've read about the Transcend is that because it doesn't have a battery (only a capacitor) it loses the time but I haven't found that at all and I don't use my car every day. It will supposedly keep the time for 3-4 days. Even if it does lose it if you connect it up using the Wi-Fi then it gets the time from there. But as I say I haven't found it's lost the time at all.
For the rear camera I'll get my power from the 12v socket in the boot and hide the cable away.
 
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I've one of those Bristle Hound - and it very good. So good I bought one for swmbo Q5 as well as my S3
 
Try searching YouTube for Techmoan. He has a great channel that reviews most dash cams with in car footage etc. The new Innovv C3 looks like an interesting new concept which has a separate camera and control unit.
 
I use a MiVue 538D, it's handy as it works on a sucker system so it's easy to move from car to car.

I've just dropped the wife of at her works christmas party and on the way back this silly woman looked straight at me and then decided to pull out!!! Excuse the terrible engine noise, I was in the 4x4 as the hotel is down a muddy country lane.



Good job I didn't boot it from the lights!!! :)
 
Hi,
Just to let you know that a number of our insurance scheme do offer discounts for a wide range of in-car cameras.
Regards,
Dan.
 
DAN@ADRIAN FLUX said:
Hi,
Just to let you know that a number of our insurance scheme do offer discounts for a wide range of in-car cameras.
Regards,
Dan.
Click to expand...
Dan, how would that work? Totally hypothetical.. For instance, the cam is reported to the insurers, the person has a crash that was his fault, he presents the recording which incriminates him, does the insurer still pay? And if he "looses" the card?

Thanks for the info
 
Wonder why none of the manufacturers haven't jumped on the dash cam band wagon and offered an integrated one at a ridiculously inflated price, just like they all do with integrated sat nav's :think:
 
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These dash cams plug into your 12V socket right? I'm thinking of getting one.. a year ago I had a van U turn on me as I overtook, wrote my car off but was his fault and his insurance took the beating, also last week I was in the van down southampton coming home in the morning, they had shut off the M3 so everyone was diverting off the A34, I go home the A34 and you use two lanes on the roundabout to get on it, I was on the outside lane and all of a sudden everyone panicked and cut me up, but if I had been impatient and carried on, the bloke next to me would've hit me, because he swerved and I had to emergency stop to avoid it... I was holding the horn down as well, and I'm not proud to say I lost my temper because I had a lot of idiots before me doing stupid things so I ignored the A34, came along side his car and put the window down and was yelling all sorts of bad words at him, I was saying do you know what your mirrors are? can't you hear my horn? The bloke full on blanked me cuz he knew what he did. I just made myself calm down as nothing bad had happened out of it but what complete morons some people are.

After that, I'm thinking of a dash cam. My dad got one straight after my accident as he too can't trust people now, his one is a mirror with the camera on the back with a little screen on the mirror face, but I don't want anything bulky like his, especially with no wires lying around or any rattles from the camera/wires that'd drive me insane.

Anyone got some pics or their setup in their car? Would be a great help
 
I'm not sure a dashcam would have given you any support in a potential dispute if you were shouting (and being recorded doing so!). But I get your drift as to why you might want one.

I haven't photographed my setup but have a Transcend DrivePro 200 at the front and have just purchased another for the rear. I haven't yet wired them in as I wanted to satisfy myself that they were worth having in the car (I think they are!). What I have done is "wrapped" the front of the DrivePro with matt black so as to make it less visible (and yes I left a hole for the lens :D ).
 
glospete said:
I'm not sure a dashcam would have given you any support in a potential dispute if you were shouting (and being recorded doing so!). But I get your drift as to why you might want one.

I haven't photographed my setup but have a Transcend DrivePro 200 at the front and have just purchased another for the rear. I haven't yet wired them in as I wanted to satisfy myself that they were worth having in the car (I think they are!). What I have done is "wrapped" the front of the DrivePro with matt black so as to make it less visible (and yes I left a hole for the lens :D ).
Click to expand...


Oh no no, I just did that because I didn't have one in haha. I guess the problem with them is they also show what you do wrong.. in most cases getting road rage


I would wire mine round the head liner, down the pillar and under the dashboard, but where then? You've got those knee pads in the way so you'll have an ugly wire going around it.. not too sure if it's worth me having one because I do the mileage in the van and not a car, I drive a car for pleasure/going on holiday not commuting, I commute on my bike through the park which is also quicker than driving round haha

Might just buy one to put in the window of the vans at work when I drive.. might be a dispute of them letting me though since we go to secure sites that forbid you using the camera on your phone so don't think it'd go down well tbh. Then again, it's not my insurance when driving the van
 
There isn't a 12v socket in the glovebox, but it's not difficult to put one in there.
 
Aha, just had a quick read, from what it seems most people plug it in somehow to the socket fuse, but wouldn't this void the warranty?
 
glospete said:
I'm not sure a dashcam would have given you any support in a potential dispute if you were shouting (and being recorded doing so!). But I get your drift as to why you might want one.

I haven't photographed my setup but have a Transcend DrivePro 200 at the front and have just purchased another for the rear. I haven't yet wired them in as I wanted to satisfy myself that they were worth having in the car (I think they are!). What I have done is "wrapped" the front of the DrivePro with matt black so as to make it less visible (and yes I left a hole for the lens :D ).
Click to expand...

My DrivePro 200 arrived today. Very easy to set up and the picture quality is excellent. Just need to work out what I do with the wire now!
 
would be interested to know if anybody knows of/uses a wireless dash cam?
Would be more suitable for myself to charge it up daily then to wire it up through the car.

thanks
 
JimmyO said:
Could just use a normal video camera
Click to expand...

I doubt it would be as good as a dash cam:

Positioning and attaching to the dash/windscreen

And being able to record the full windscreen?
 
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