Dash Cams, front/rear ?

[Lance]

A family friend has just bought a new Mazda 2 and wants to fit it with a front/rear dash cam.
I've suggested the Blackvue but was looking for other recommendations.
Blackvue are up there in price so something a little cheaper would be good.

Any thoughts ?

[Barboots]

I have two Blackvue DR650S... one in mine and one in the girl's. I wanted front/rear and at the time they were the best option. We're run them all the time, even when parked. Hers is powered by a lithium pack as BMWs don't tolerate parasitic battery draw.

- the image quality is good with the right settings. I'm not sure why they provide setting options which are not great.
- the heat tolerance is good. They will still shut down if parked and it gets particularly hot... primarily when the main camera is catching the sun.
- the WiFi connection is handy for grabbing a clip off them, but it's not particularly fast and occasionally wigs out.
- the "cloud" backup feature requires payment, and also a data connection. Our home WiFi is fast enough, but the copper upstream isn't. As a result, I've never used it as it'd swap our connection. My phone's Telstra mobile data is a bit pricy to consider using it.
- I bought both during 20% off sales on eBay via authorised distributors. The price was therefore less offensive.

I think they're a good camera, but buying again I'd have a close look at Thinkware. I'm pretty sure they do a front/rear now.

Here's a funny clip off our Beamer's cam. It's a big file, but if you have the data allowance watch closely... several times
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dx5msamdghex5 ... F.mp4?dl=0

There was another parking impact to the other end a few months before, so for us the investment was definitely worthwhile. Prior to all this I missed a parking impact to my Jeep because the Mini 0806 camera I had was "taking a rest"... of course the driver did a runner and I was left with a repair bill. Not again.

Cheers, Steve

[Busman]

I used to switch off the 8 cams I have on VP after parking but after seeing that I don't think they will ever be switched off again.

[BruceS]

Running the risk of a flat battery and a divorce just to get a glimpse of her knickers might not be worth it William?

[Barboots]

"Her"??? [emoji20]

[Lance]

The DR650S @ $450 is still top of the 'want' list when finances allow, but poking about today I found this one @ $185 that looks to be a reasonable unit.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/INavi-G700- ... SwKzpZgukt

[Busman]

Well Bruce the 2 in the engine bay will not see too many knickers and the power supply for the DVR where the recording is done is the 200 Ah x 12 V Liths bank, so no problems there, it is topped up by the Projecta every day, in the middle of the day.
However the other six are basically in all directions so should catch any wayward action.
At this stage of life I am not sure what I would do with a knicker flash anyway, heart murmur perhaps ?
I upload as soon as I drive into somewhere, that's one of the advantages of having a large Gig allowance and having the server I upload to on a VPS.
The DVR also give me the advantage of being able to track and also kill the fuel supply when I wish, if ever being used unappropriately.

[Barboots]

The DR650S @ $450 is still top of the 'want' list when finances allow, but poking about today I found this one @ $185 that looks to be a reasonable unit.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/INavi-G700- ... SwKzpZgukt

Lance I didn't elaborate... my Mini 0806 was "resting" because the casing deformed in the sun and as a result the SD card slot got temperamental.

You may end up putting your ~$150 in the bin as I did. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything other than "a brand name".

Cheers, Steve

[Barboots]

And guys... I hate to tell you that they weren't knickers you saw. Technically, in context, they were JOCKS!