Does anyone have experience with Dash Cameras here? I've read many mixed reviews online for various systems. Prefer something ~$100. What do you guys use and what are your thoughts on your systems? Would you recommend what you have now or would you have gone with a different product?

GO!

12/11/2019 9:39:21 AM

is Dash Cameras a brand, or are you asking about dash cameras in general?

i have a dual channel blackvue, i like it but it was about $200. before that i had a roav which worked fine but i wanted 2 channel and a capacitor.

i recommend getting one with a capacitor instead of battery so you don't have to worry about heat

12/11/2019 10:22:56 AM

Mobius

12/11/2019 3:19:34 PM

Apologies for the confusion. I mean dash cameras in general.

12/11/2019 7:05:49 PM

There was no confusion.

12/11/2019 8:42:42 PM

I have Z-Edge S3 dual camera setups in two of my cars.

Here's my Amazon 2-star review:
"To begin with, the video and audio quality are both very good. I've had two of these cameras for almost a year now and both still work like new. But there are some big flaws...
Motion Detection (MD) works well enough as far and sensitivity and such, but the way it's incorporated is terrible. Turn on MD to catch perimeter activity while parked... awesome! Except turning it on also causes the camera to shut off when stopped at red lights and stop signs (because there's no motion, of course) during normal driving. You will a get video clip of yourself coming to a stop then you get a video of yourself accelerating away whether you sat at the stop for 5 seconds or 5 minutes. Obviously, any normal person would want it recording the entire time. Imagine you're stopped and someone rear ends you; you go to retrieve your video and all you've got is the aftermath. The other driver reports that you put your car in reverse and smashed the guy on purpose; now what?
Well then, just turn off MD, right? Because the manual states if any motion or vibration is detected by the device, it will automatically turn on and begin recording. EXCEPT come to find out it only detects both if you've enabled both Parking Mode and MD.
From the programming side, they need to understand that EVERYONE wants continuous recording while powered (aka driving around), so letting MD affect powered operation is ridiculous. The MD option should only affect the camera when in standby (aka parked, unpowered). The only workaround to get what I want is to remember to activate MD when I park the car then deactivate it when I hop back in. BUT if you've spent any time with this unit, you'll know that getting into the menu is a huge pain in the neck: after the camera turns on, you have to press the button to stop recording before you can access the menus. 9 times out of 10 after you stop recording, the cam IMMEDIATELY resumes recording and locks you out of the menu. You have to have the cam unplugged to do it successfully. So power off the cam, unplug it, power it on (battery power), stop recording, THEN go into the menus and re-plug when ready to roll.
Also, the camera apparently uses ALL the juice coming through the USB port, leaving none to charge the internal battery. You will inevitably drain the thing and render your Parking Mode useless. The solution is to periodically (depending on how active of a parking lot you're in) remove the cam and charge it in the house... Yeah, that's pretty terrible.
One last suggestion to the manufacturer would be to modify the mounting pieces to slightly click together so the front camera doesn't slide side-to-side..
This camera is my only experience with dash cams, and I wonder if others are programmed or generally perform in the same way. If I didn't have two of these that operate in the exact same manner, I would have assumed I had a defective unit from the stop recording and battery life issues."

Not sure if other Z-edge cameras are the same way, but I wouldn't be surprised.

If y'all's cameras work the way I want (continuous recording while driving, motion+g-shock detection when parked), let me know. I'm in the market for more.

[Edited on December 12, 2019 at 9:09 AM. Reason : ]

12/12/2019 9:09:34 AM

I used a $5 mobile app and my phone in a windshield mount for awhile, but obviously storage space could become an issue

[Edited on December 12, 2019 at 11:20 PM. Reason : Autoboy Dash Cam - Blackbox]

12/12/2019 11:10:31 PM

Quote :

"i recommend getting one with a capacitor instead of battery so you don't have to worry about heat"

definitely

i had 2 ROAVs with batteries that swelled due to poor physical design + heat. lots of great features - good quality video, wifi access - but a fucking fire hazard. i complained about the first one i had on amazon and they sent me a replacement, said it had a better design... then it did the same thing.

also the blackvues seem to be gold standard. I have some bootleg capacitor dashcam that i bought from massdrop - not even really sure it works, to be honest, since every time I touch it, it restarts.

1/5/2020 1:17:02 PM