Good dash cam for the Car

[Insedious]

Here are some points I considered when selecting a dashcam

• Super capacitor powered instead of Lithium Polymer  (Must have. The heat always managed to destroy the battery between 6 months and  2 years)
• High endurance Micro SD card (Must have: After one year, the FAT was always broken and the HE ones are going strong 1.5 years later)
• Proper WDR supporting chipset (Must have. Our addiction to fog lights and high beams will make the picture white out if the chipset is a cheap one)
• On board Wifi ( Nice to have. Saves time when you want to download files)
• On board GPS ( Nice to have. But keep in mind the time stamped Speed might have a delay so in an event the video is used as evidence, it might work against you)
• Parking Monitor mode ( Nice to have. However, this works best if you have 2 cameras as there's no point the front camera recording evidence when some fools decides to fornicate with your rear bumper)
• Dual camera (Nice to have. For obvious reason but a b*itch to wire up)
• Installation mode ( Personal preference: I prefer the windshield mounted inconspicuous ones over the standard hang with the Suction cup version simply because the camera can't move around and it doesn't restrict your view.)
• Power cable (Nice to have : I prefer the cables which double as a USB cable so it's easy to plug it directly to the laptop over the standard 12v to 5 cigarette lighter adapter that comes with the dashcam. This feature completely eliminates your need to take the card out, provided the cable is not *power* only cable and the dashcam supports the same.
• (Edit) Video Quality degradation due to Tint : (Point to consider. Event the 30% 3M tint has a considerable impact on the night time video quality and seem to confuse the WDR chip as well, so it's a hit you have to take if your windshield is tinted)

Having said all that, the flavour of the month in my view is Roav from Anker. I've been using  a dashcam from them with 2K resolution and GPS and wifi and I'm pleasantly impressed with the total package. Sadly it has the evil LiPo battery but I seriously wanted give it a try as I've only had positive experience with Anker stuff (personal experience only, others are bound to have different opinions on the same).

If anyone wants to see, I will upload some videos of day and night driving on this puppy.

Edited January 18, 2019 by Insedious

[Wijever]

Anyone recommend Transend Drivepro 230??

[Sam B]

Have been using a Transcend DrivePro 100 since late 2015. Bought it from Chel**yLK at MC for around 13k LKR. After 3 years I began to notice that every now and then the date settings reset after constantly correcting it. Now when the car is shut off for 10-15 hours the data and time settings reset back to factory settings which means the battery is shot. Apart from that, video quality is still good as it was new. When the camera is aimed at sunlight the view becomes underexposed a bit. Tried to fashion a polarising filter from stuff I bought from AliExpress and due to added weight camera began to shake when the road got bumpy. 

Now the model is discontinued though. As said previously in this thread, try to buy a cam with a cap instead of a battery. They will last a lot longer. If you're tight on the budget, get a G1W-C with correct chipset. Most ebay sellers do fakes. Also, try to get one with wifi so that you can stream the video on your phone - where the screen is large. That will be handy when the cops try to penalise you for some wrong you didn't commit. 

[Devinda_Z]

Sorry to dig up this old thread but has anyone tried any of the Xiaomi dash cams out locally?

Any other sensibly priced branded options?

[Hyaenidae]

  

17 minutes ago, Devinda_Z said:

Sorry to dig up this old thread but has anyone tried any of the Xiaomi dash cams out locally?

Any other sensibly priced branded options?

Xiaomis are told to be good

Get one with WiFi connectivity so you can produce footage OTS on your smartphone

[Devinda_Z]

1 hour ago, Hyaenidae said:

  

Xiaomis are told to be good

Get one with WiFi connectivity so you can produce footage OTS on your smartphone

@Hyaenidaeany idea if the local agent carries their range of dash cams?

 

These things don't need to be wired in do they?

[Sam B]

On 3/10/2020 at 9:54 PM, Devinda_Z said:

Sorry to dig up this old thread but has anyone tried any of the Xiaomi dash cams out locally?

Any other sensibly priced branded options?

Bought a Xiaomi 70Mai Pro with GPS for wife from AliExpress. Easy to set up and is user friendly. Comes with wifi, so you can connect the phone to cam's wifi hotspot and playback videos. There is an app through which you can configure the camera. Need to make an account and log in for this. 

WIth GPS, lane departure warning and front vehicle movement alert are activated. Video will show the speed of the vehicle too. However, this comes with a battery. Under our hot Sun, this will go kaput in a few years, like the battery of my DP100 did.

  

On 3/10/2020 at 11:33 PM, Devinda_Z said:

@Hyaenidaeany idea if the local agent carries their range of dash cams?

 

These things don't need to be wired in do they?

Needs to be wired. The cigarette lighter adapter now comes with 2 USB outlets. So it doubles as a phone charger port. No idea about local agents. Try buying one during Ali sales. Cost me just under 12k for both camera and GPS unit.

 

Edited March 12, 2020 by Sam B

[Devinda_Z]

1 hour ago, Sam B said:

Bought a Xiaomi 70Mai Pro with GPS for wife from AliExpress. Easy to set up and is user friendly. Comes with wifi, so you can connect the phone to cam's wifi hotspot and playback videos. There is an app through which you can configure the camera. Need to make an account and log in for this. 

WIth GPS, lane departure warning and front vehicle movement alert are activated. Video will show the speed of the vehicle too. However, this comes with a battery. Under our hot Sun, this will go kaput in a few years, like the battery of my DP100 did.

  

Needs to be wired. The cigarette lighter adapter now comes with 2 USB outlets. So it doubles as a phone charger port. No idea about local agents. Try buying one during Ali sales. Cost me just under 12k for both camera and GPS unit.

 

Thanks @Sam B

Sounds like it's worth a try then ?

 

[Sam B]

On 3/12/2020 at 11:59 PM, Devinda_Z said:

Thanks @Sam B

Sounds like it's worth a try then ?

 

Just to add a little more. Try YT channel called Dashcamcentral. They have good content. Bought a Viofo A119V3 on their recommendation. Yet to try it.