The video quality seems pretty good, thanks Suncoaster.
That was into the sun, so it’s pretty glarey.
And at night the camera could be better.
I have a dr32, been in use a couple of years but the internal battery has failed and it cannot hold date/time so needs setting each trip now. It was fairly good quality but did freeze a couple of times.
I have just ordered the street guardian (nearly went for GW1 but SG supposed to be better although not so budget) for the front and the Mobius for the rear (and maybe my drone). Both get great reviews on dashcam forum.
Ordered the G1W-c about one hour ago ...
street guardian = Yes , looks very nice , cheapest price I have seen = $199 USD
DR32 looks nice @ $70USD on ebay
Innovv C3 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPY9oBfYeoM
Suncoaster, you nearly had the Astra in the Merc's sights.
Shpkorea for the SG, they are the recommended supplier on dashcam, I paid $179 for the basic package which works out about £120 for me.
The Mobius is far cheaper at $68 (£45) from seller eletoponline365
I’m on there with the same screen-name. More dashcam info there than anywhere else including manufacturers, sellers, and development people along with real-life users. Don’t buy without researching there or you’re going to waste your money!
Dashcams, much like flashlights, have a lot of fakes on the market, and similarly some are OK while some are junk. Also some can be modded- mainly lens swaps and going from batteries to Super-Caps, but some can swap firmware too.
In general I’d recommend the capacitor versions wherever you consider your summers to be hot. It is well-known that the LiPo batteries these use can swell, burst, and simply die in very short order in anything above moderate heat. Some are easily replaceable, some need your soldering station. Also many go out of focus in the heat- this is less of an issue with most Cap-based versions. These can be very finicky with the SD cards they like- best to try the ones recommended and not to expect anything else to work correctly no matter how well it works in other devices. Some can upgrade to a larger card if you go at that correctly and have some luck, and some just can’t. Also with most of the cheaper ones, the motion-detect and shock-sensor modes simply don’t work and need to be turned off if you want the darn things to otherwise work correctly.
Specifically, I can’t recommend the G1Wc. My first one died in the heat a couple weeks after purchase. It acted like an overheating electronic component. The replacement was DOA with an identical problem. It’s replacement was OK for several days but yesterday it shut itself down while I was driving. Now a lot of people haven’t had problems with these- maybe mine are all from a bad batch, I don’t know. The G1Wh and other battery versions (only the non-fakes) seem to be very good for the price.
I’m now trying a Mobius, a few dollars more but a much better camera in every way. It’s also tiny- something I also like in flashlights. The other folks using these love them; few problems, great development, very versatile, best bang for your buck in that price range. The high-end cams are amazing but you pay dearly for them.
Last, the forum mentioned has a list of recommended sellers. Not so much for service etc, but a list of those who do not sell fakes- buy elsewhere at your own risk. And like here it’s chock-full of real-life user reviews, comments, tests, and comparisons. Plus the people are all nice and helpful- just like here.
Phil
Yeah, some of these cheap cameras have horrible compressed video. My dad just gave me a Go Pro Hero (an old one) that I can hopefully make use of… which seems to have better video than some of these new budget cameras.
A lot of these dash cams lack ventilation , any that I plan on using will be modded for better ventilation ...
All it takes is bright sunlight , a good angle , and the dashcam can cook . ( Dont need to be hot weather )
I will be making use of a cutting disc and my motor tool .
HD video can make any camera heat up. When I use my smallish black magic camera, that thing cooks when it’s a bit warm outside.