I ordered one of these from Ebay about 3 weeks ago, got it yesterday.
Awesome resolution (HD) and the capability to have one camera facing forward and one shooting out the rear window as you drive. Very impressed, especially for $66
Looks cool. Let us know how it performs when you get it.
I've seen those and always wondered: what is it good for?
I could capture my finest roadrage incidents.
Well, besides using it yourself at ,say, an autocross event, people use it to prevent auto insurance fraud. Kind of similar to the way law enforcement use it to prevent false allegations of police brutality and/or prove you were weaving all over the road.
Not only did I answer the question, I even embedded a video! Just learned how to do that today from Vectrex's thread. That post marked a new personal best in my helpfulness here at BLF.
Would that be your's or your fellow Sconnie's? :O
I like that and want one.
Look a little further ( scroll down) 8 camera home security and recorder?
Oh No
I mean, really, how much trouble could I get into? :p Now I just have to learn the picture process. Double :O
So it does "cycle recording" which I understand that it record and erases the oldest material at the same time?
Did not know these were this cheap nowadays. I was expecting more likely about 150$ tag.
Interesting. Waiting for a review! :)
Hi
I have something like this in my car (forward camera only), also a chinese cheap-and-cheerful gadget.
I find that it has 2 disadvantages:
1) it segments the video into 2-minute chunks (not a problem), but while its saving, there is a pause of a few seconds where no video is recorded. (A lot can happen in a few seconds - if you miss the accident, then what's the point?)
2) Motion detection. It only records when it detects motion, so if the cameras view doesn't change much, it doesn't record. It is often fooled by plain scenery, nighttime etc. You could get beaten up right in front of it and it probably wouldn't bother recording it!
So, what I want is a camera that records:
1) All the time that the ignition key is turned on. No motion detection etc.
2) Minimum pause between video files.
If anyone knows of such a thing, please let me know.
I hope you will give us a review once you've been using your dash cam for a while!
Thanks
Pete
For one like that you have to wire it to your car. Then it turns on and off with the car.
I used it today, awesome resolution but if you run teh "split screen" (both views, forward and rearward) the playback is OK, but it has a little 'lope' to it. With single screen, the 720 resolution is great, even at full screen playback on my laptop.
Very impressive for the money.
I have been hit by drivers twice in the last two years. One ran a stop sign and T-boned me, one rear-ended me. Both times they tried to say it was partially my fault, which it was not. So this way, I get it on camera...
I drive about 35,000 miles per year so I like having the camera in the car. Hope it lasts.
I'll post a video tonight of my drive home.
It shoots Quicktime format.
Thanks for your very helpful post, cone! :bigsmile:
I probably didn't understand the idea of this dash cam stuff because in my case it would mostly record my own misbehaviour in traffic... ;)
I appreciate that Huny. I've been making a concerted effort to lower my "smart a$$ remark to helpful information ratio" down to at least 1:1 instead of my historical 9:1.
I imagine that all of your footage would be awesome to watch because as a myopic American I think all Swedes, Fins, and Norwegians Rally Race everywhere they go while small children, pensioners, and hot snow bunnies stand by the side of the road and cheer. I imagine you folks do this in delivery trucks, school buses, and bad a$$ Subarus. I plan on visiting someday to see if this is true.
@ Troop. I think you are really on the right track with this. I'm sure car insurance in CA is just as outrageous as it is in NJ. If $70 spent today can save you from having your rates go up, or worse yet, some frivolous law suit, it will look like one of the most genius things you've ever done. Even if it doesn't save the day because you never have another accident, think of all the fun you will have playing with that thing.
Mine of course, I have a real flare for it.
If something like that works well it really could be very helpful in accidents. I am really interested in how well it works.
It works quite well, I am more concerned about its longevity. The problem with this kind of camera is that it sits directly in the sun, and on days that the car is parked outside all day and the in-car temp reaches 120+ degrees, the heat takes a toll on the cheap electronics. So if it makes it through the summer here in San Diego and still fucntions, I think it will last for along time.
TriggerHappy, on the one I have you can set the file size to as long as 15min I believe. I think I have it set on 5min. Not sure how much delay there is beween files...
You can also set it for Auto-Detect or just "always on" when there is power to it.
Don't drive angry!