Dash cams

[Ianstwt_r59]

Looking at getting a dash cam for my dad for his Christmas, what one would people recommend?

[MINI William]

I have a DashHawk and love it. Great bit of kit and constantly records.

I also have a Garmin Virb Elite but this is more of an action cam rather than a dash cam that's constantly records and rewrites its self

[Fraser-OFG]

I just got one a few weeks ago in a Black Friday deal from halfords. Nextbase 412. It seems alright so far, only thing is that the nextbase app doesn't work that well if your trying to view the clips from there instead of taking out the SD card and plugging it into a computer.

[DigitalLemming]

I've got a RoadHawk which constantly records and will overwrite itself unless it detects an incident (g-force) or I press a button to save it.

Think they do a new version now that has a iPhone app as well.

[Craig]

All really depends on your budget Ian. You can get them from about £15 all the way up to hundreds of pounds. Mine is made by E-Prance and only cost £40. Does HD video, constantly records and overwrites unless it detects a g force event and then it protects that recording [emoji2]


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[a11y]

I tried some HP ones which were around £50 each but were utter rubbish. Unreliable, wouldn't always record, corrupted frequently. Tried with various different cards so it wasn't;t that. Managed to get a full refund from Amazon and now saving up to spend my £££ on something proper.

So yeah basically avoid HP ones!

[CiderFex]

As usual I went OTT and ended up buying a Garmin nüviCam.
It is a full blown sat-nav though with an inbuilt dashcam.
It can auto record when you turn it on and will save 10 minutes of video if it detects a sudden impact. It's voice activated too which is a great feature and saves you leaning over to tap the screen. I also use it as a handsfree phone kit which is awesome. It does seem huge at first but the size makes sense when you are looking at it from 3-4' away when it's stuck to the screen or on the top of the dash on the beanbag mount. I don't drive anywhere without it whichever car I'm using now. It is was expensive at £300, I only paid £200 for mine from Amazon Warehouse though.
[emoji4]
The traffic updates, which uses DAB, is a great feature and updates every few seconds.

EDIT: You can also add a baby monitor, rear view camera and an OBD II dongle to it as well which I've not bought.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/e46/Garmin-NuviCam-inch-Satellite-Navigation-Built-Dash/B00WSSSBS0




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[a11y]

That's not actually a bad shout - I'm in the dilemma of wanting a dash cam I can transfer easily between my van and MINI, rather than buy one for each.

[a11y]

I'm hovering over the purchase of a Next Base 312 WG or 412 WG, but probably going to hang off and see what discounts appear after Christmas. Halfords have the Next Base 112 for £35 (http://www.halfords.com/technology/dash-cams/dash-cams/nextbase-112-dash-cam?cm_mmc=Google+PLA-_-Dash+Cams-_-Dash+Cams-_-256930&_$ja=tsid:60494%7Ccgn:GoogleShopping%7Ckw:256930&istCompanyId=b8708c57-7a02-4cf6-b2c0-dc36b54a327e&istItemId=xxlaalraal&istBid=tztx&_$ja=tsid:35522|cid:344535124|agid:25438436524|tid :aud-276086900798:pla-258776213479|crid:89806882564|nw:g|rnd:59596876169 4034252|dvc:c|adp:1o6&gclid=CjwKEAiA7ejCBRDlp8uF6ezPnjoSJAAPED7MORJ8cq7g iCSKTYcCOMiKs4dUEgB5KEz0Nn5-7xEwkhoCx5Pw_wcB) at the moment which appears a bargain, but reviews say quality not as good as their other models.

Next Base's magnetic/wireless mount sounds perfect for my needs (swapping it between vehicles easily) although I'd have to invest in a second mount at £15.

Spurred into action after my cousin ended up in a ditch in her Fiat 500 yesterday through no fault of her own :sad: (she's OK, car's not)

[badwolf340]

Nice to hear which cam you end up with a11y as I am thinking of another one or two

[a11y]

Will report back. I know there's others but the Next Base connector's winning it for me at the moment. Keen to share the cameras between the MINI and campervan and that magnetic mount appears to be genius for my needs.

Thinking a Next Base 112 for the rear, and torn between a 314 and 414 for the front. Also unsure if I should wait til the post-Christmas sales or not for a better price, but quite cheap already in Halfords at the moment...

[a11y]

Just a wee update.

Bought 2 x NextBase 312WGs @ £75 - one for the MINI, one for the wife's Freelander - and 1 x NextBase 112 @ £35 for the campervan, all from Halfords. Decided against 412WG on basis of some reported issues on reliability of the touchscreen buttons; the 314WG has normal physical buttons. Sacrificed a bit of video quality but £25 cheaper each which paid for a dedicated camera for the campervan. Mounts are the same so - if I can be bothered and remember - I'll transfer the 312WG from MINI into campervan to get the better video quality when it's being used.

Problem with installs in all 3 vehicles: suction mount wouldn't stick to the effing dotted bit surrounding the rear view mirrors. I was unhappy with how much vision they obscured so got creative: used adhesive-backed mounting discs normally used to mount satnavs to the dash - LINK (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001763SRI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1).

Suction mount to glass - too much in line of sight:
https://c5.staticflickr.com/1/421/31159399164_3e68c92432_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Pts4N5)
https://c5.staticflickr.com/1/350/31962464596_273e1c25a4_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/QGpZaN)

Suction mount to plastic disc stuck to dotted area - MUCH better:
https://c7.staticflickr.com/1/741/31851401422_3eea154615_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/QwAKXu)
https://c2.staticflickr.com/1/537/31882864561_50afdf5b65_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Qzo1Rp)
https://c5.staticflickr.com/1/685/31159392564_6522b63724_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/Pts2Qh)

Last photo shows camera is completely invisible from the driver's position, and mostly hidden for the passenger's view too. Sticky pad attaching disc to windscreen is grey so almost invisible from outside due to the dotty area.

Currently wired into 12v socket in the boot, with power wire tucked under edge of headlining then behind the rear pillar. Might hack into 12v socket wiring behind the boot liner/carpet and wire it in there out of sight to avoid potential for damaging adaptor when filling the boot! Switches on and off automatically with ignition as 12v sockets in MINI are switched power.

Yet to download any footage but will do and upload when I do. Reliability has been 100% so far over quite a few journeys. I've got GPS turned on for speed, etc (but I behave anyway.........) but can be turned off it you choose.

[EcosseGP]

Nice install and the Nextbase cameras always seem to get a good/fair review. I've had issues with the Garmin 20 on mine but it'll be put back up in the car once it arrives (wasn't the camera at all it was a memory card issue).
I've also had hassle with the suction mounts refusing to stick to the glass especially during the extreme hot and cold temperatures. I've tried everything but don't want to use sticky pads as I swap the dashcam with my Virb Elite which mounts in a slightly different place due to its camera angle.
I'm sure the footage will be more than acceptable ....


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[MINI William]

Looks great and looks very neat and tidy

[Alistair]

After a near miss today in the local Asda Car Park(vauxhall driver going to fast), bit the bullet and ordered a 312GW myself along with the hardwire kit. Another one to add to the bought with Christmas Voucher list

[Alistair]

a11y, sent you a PM about the Tom Tom adhesive backed disks

[a11y]

Replied :)

Dammit, the 312WGs appear to be back up at £99 in Halfords now.

[Alistair]

Replied :)

Dammit, the 312WGs appear to be back up at £99 in Halfords now.

thanks

[a11y]

Finally, sample videos from the 312WG in my R56. Boring vids but they give you an idea of the quality:

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