Hey folks I am looking to buy a dashcam for my new car and was wondering if anyone had some good suggestions of brands/models/places to buy? Don't really have a budget at the moment so fire away!
Looking to buy a dashcam. Any suggestions?
frostee on 20/06/2013 - 18:26
Comments
Thanks for the tips! You make the buying process sound really scary! Haha.
Is it worth buying front and rear cameras? The rear makes sense as a lot of collisions are rear-enders.
Can't see the point of a rear camera myself. It's only going to show a car crashing into the back of yours which doesn't change anything. 99% of the time the person who does the rear ending gets deemed as being at fault, and they usually say the car they hit (you) braked suddenly and for no reason, so nothing has changed by having the rear view camera. IMHO.
Okay that explanation makes sense. I'll just get the forward facing. The Uniden models from officeworks look decent but there don't seem to be any reviews out there. That's the problem with that dashcam review site it lists a bunch of brands and models not available in Australia. I want to get a camera with good quality video during the day and at night, happy to pay the premium for that feature methinks.
The dashcam market is very small in Australia so there isn't a lot of choice. If you want a "premium" quality model I suggest the DR32 camera. Some sellers in AU may sell the product, so you may not neccessarily need to import.
Example http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/DR32-Car-DVR-Dash-Cam-1080P-Camer…
The uniden IGOcam 300 from Officeworks is actually a pretty lousy model that does not do full HD, merely an upscale. I don't have a lot of info on the others unfortunately.
The DR32 looks pretty good, can actually read the number plates which is nice.
scrimshaw - wondering what your opinion would be on dashcam phone apps, eg Daily Roads Voyager for Android or iCarBlackBox for iOS (examples of apps only, not recommendations).
… particularly when these are in the $0-$5 rangeIf your phone has a good camera, then I suppose it should be a good enough replacement for a low-end DVR.
But there are some downsides, mainly phone cameras simply lack the wide-angle lens to capture the sides of your vehicle. Most DVR's have 120 to 140 degrees of wide angle peripheral vision, including the budget ones.
An phone camera is less suitable in that aspect because it does not have a wide angle lens, unless you have some sort of fisheye lens attachment for it.The other thing to consider is the low light performance of the canera. Some phones are simply just terrible at capturing video at night, and there are only a handful of phones that are really good at low light level capture.
This was my choice after heaps of research http://dashcamtalk.com/livue-lb100/ can be bought on ebay.
http://www.gearbest.com/car-dvr/pp_67201.html
I have just ordered this one because of an earlier forum (recommendations). It hasn't arrived yet, but everything they said in the forum sounded good (pic quality, price etc) It also came with a discount code.
BEFORE you commit and buy anything, watch this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ0Tm9FFpKM
And then, you can use this Dash Cam comparison table to see the most commonly bought dashcams (true and tried options)
http://dashcamtalk.com/dash-cam-comparison/
You should avoid buying the "Rearview mirror" integrated cameras, because these products are generally made for left-hand vehicles.
If you want video reviews and samples, see the Techmoan channel on YT
Be careful when purchasing online:
Make sure the model number is explicitly stated on the description of the store's page, because it could be a low quality copy of the original model (imitation product that looks the same as original) and you may end up purchasing something that is not quite what you're after.
Make sure you have Paypal protection and the vendor provides RMA servies (such as Deal Extreme)