Suggestions for a good "Dash Cam" for my car please
Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Suggestions for a good "Dash Cam" for my car please

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    286

    Suggestions for a good "Dash Cam" for my car please

    Sorry moderators, if I posted this in the incorrect forum; was not sure where else to post it. You can move the post if need be - I just hope I can find it though :-)

    Anyone have experience with a good dash cam? I don't mind spending some money on a good one. There are just so many out there finding one that meets some of my needs is a real chore so I am asking the forum if anyone has one that they really like and can suggest to me.

    My Preferences:

    #1 Would prefer one that attaches to the rear view mirror instead of the windshield. I find anything that sticks to the windshield tends to drop when hitting some pot holes or bumps in the road (tons of them around here) and I don't want it falling six times while I am driving. If suggestions are that windshield is better or a particular brand/model is better than another and it is windshield mounted then fine.

    #2 Would prefer one that can charge with USB so I don't have to always have it plugged into my outlet in my car with the cord hanging down across my line of sight over the windshield. My eyesight is bad enough.

    #3 Good "wide" recording view from front. (Wide peripheral view).

    #4 Color recording of course.

    #5 High SD card recording capacity.

    #6 Viewing screen so I can see in the monitor of the dash cam that it is aimed correctly ("real time") etc without having to review what is recorded to see if it is aimed correctly. Also so as I hit a bump etc I can see that it needs to be adjusted here and there.

    #7 Would like to be able to record what is behind me also. I know there are some with a rear camera but you have to run a wire and attach the cam to the back window. Are there any wireless ones that you don't need to run a wire to the back window? I guess I could mount the rear camera in the front on the windshield with the cam facing behind me so it records not only what is behind me but also along side me in case of a side collision. I'm not a Uber driver so I don't need to record the occupants of the car for security reasons.

    #8 I prefer one with sound recording ability. This way I can if needed play back that there was no siren or horn blowing from another vehicle etc.

    #9 I guess most of them now have the ability to sense a collision and it saves that moment or something like that. Not quite sure what the terminology is on this.

    #10 I am not so worried about it recording if someone attempts to break into the car as in "parked mode". I live way out in the sticks of the country and hardly ever travel further than that. I could probably leave my engine running and my door open and no one would steal it - yes, I am very trusting :-)

    #11 Play back function, etc from the unit itself so I don't have to remove the SD card and place it into a PC to review what was recorded.

    #12 High performance video recording - What I mean by this is if there is bad sun glare or the sun is at a perfect angle and the road is wet and the glare of the sun is reflected off the wet road causing a great deal of glare. I hardly ever drive at night but good recording ability at night would be good where it can cancel out the strong head lights coming at you or something like that.

    The problem is when looking for one on sites is that the listing does not always list all the abilities or what it does not have so it is so hard to figure out what one is best for me.

    As I said I am basically looking for suggestions from ones on this forum who have one or knows someone who has one that is very good. Again, I don't mind spending some money on it for a good one. Somewhere around $140-$185 or maybe more if it really fits some other good uses.

    Thanks so much for your thoughts!! Much appreciated!!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2000
    Location
    Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
    Posts
    18,063
    I do not have a dash cam of the type that you are looking for, however, here are some possibly useful links:

    https://dashcameras.net/rearview-mirror-dash-cams/

    https://topguidepro.com/best-rear-vi...h-cam-reviews/

    https://www.amazon.com/PORMIDO-Cam-B...a-873757297884

    I have not seen a rear camera with a wireless link, probably because battery life would be short with the battery providing power to record and transmit. However, it is usually not difficult to secure the cable to one side/edge of the car headliner. I usually do the same with the power cable for the front camera, running it up to the dashboard and then to the camera along the top of the windshield.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    286
    jdc2000: Thanks for your suggestions/links. It took me a while to respond to this post because it is so mind boggling all the features etc of these dash cams. I kind of got lost in all the reading - Urgh!!

    This is the one I selected.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    I just hope I did not get it confused with some other one I was looking at. The reviews were good for this one and the cord seems to be long enough for the rear view camera for my CRV which seems to be an issue with other rear view ability dash cams.

    Appreciate your time you took to get me a starting point. Thanks!!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2000
    Location
    Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
    Posts
    18,063
    That one looks like it should work for you. Let us know if you encounter any issues.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    286
    Coming back to give an update on the dash cam I purchased (see Post #3).

    Love it!! Before I came back to give an update I wanted to use it for a while.

    Only thing that concerns me about it is the low power sensor. I have it hardwired to be on all the time unless I turn it off. The low power sensor is suppose to operate to keep your car battery from draining down. I turn the dash cam off every time I park my car at the end of the day as the first few days I left it on all night it drained the battery. It is during very cold weather so that may have something to do with it.

    Other than that I am very pleased with this unit.

    Although it takes up the entire rear view mirror you would think you can't see out the mirror but you can. It has a reflective glass/coating so even though the unit takes up the entire space of the rear view mirror you can still see behind you. I don't drive much at night at all so don't really know how well it does when you flip your rear view mirror up to dim car lights behind you but I am sure it would be fine.

    Very easy to install. Has a very good view area in both front and rear.

    I in error ordered the incorrect GPS unit to work with it and the company alerted me prior to shipping the GPS unit and replaced it with the proper one. It records my GpS location along with speed.

    The SD card that comes with the purchase is small but with the amount of driving I do is fine. I may upgrade to a higher capacity SD card in the future.

    My thanks to the members here on the forum that provided the link!! So much appreciated!!

    I wanted to give an update so in case someone doing a search on a dash cam that they want to purchase can benefit from my review.

    Thanks again everyone!! Especially jdc2000 !!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2000
    Location
    Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
    Posts
    18,063
    Thanks for the update.

    On the battery drain issue, if you had a new, top quality battery, and you were not living in an area with cold winters, and you drove the car most every day, the battery would likely not drain much. Cold temperatures (teens or lower) at night and a battery that is a few years old might be enough to drain it to where the car wouldn't start.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Posts
    286
    Yup, my battery is three years old, I drive the car every day. Not too worried about the drainage as I make sure I shut off the dash cam every time I park the car for the day. I live out in the boon-docks and my car is parked next to my house with my security camera aimed at it so not much worried about someone hitting it along with the fact that it is parked between trees and I live on a dead end street. I do leave it on while I am at work during the day though as I park on the main road. I fold my driver side mirror in and leave the dash cam on in case someone side-swipes me. Parking is free on the main road because I don't have to feed the meters because I have a PD license plate

    When the weather warms up I may leave it on over night just so I don't have to remember to shut it off every day.

    Thanks again jdc2000



    .
    Last edited by question2012; March 2nd, 2020 at 03:55 PM.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •