Dash cams

[TremStar]

What is the best dash cam out right now? Not worried about price

 

[Loshad]

Been looking at the NextBase 622GW. The 522 is like $140 less and seems almost as good. From what I've read you want to get their memory card or it might not work so well. I don't see why any 128GB U3 microSD wouldn't do the trick.

Dash Cams | Dash Cameras | Dash Cam | Nextbase

Awarded Which? Dash Cam Best Buy. Nextbase manufacture UK"s bestselling dash cams catered for all budgets. Explore our award-winning dash cameras range.

www.nextbase.com

 

[Bryantbjb]

I use the Garmin 66w. Really like it and the app works well.

 

[boone82]

I kinda like the idea of the owl...
https://www.owlcam.com/product/classic-5-1-camera/

 

[Loshad]

boone82, you do realize Owl went belly up? Somebody bought them but that's problematic in my book. My main objections are that it's highly dependent on your phone AND it requires a subscription, something I'm allergic to.

A good review:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/0/owl-car-cam-review.html

 

[boone82]

boone82, you do realize Owl went belly up? Somebody bought them but that's problematic in my book. My main objections are that it's highly dependent on your phone AND it requires a subscription, something I'm allergic to.

A good review:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/0/owl-car-cam-review.html

Looks like a dead link. No, I didn't know that. That's interesting. I just like the idea of the security camera features as I can't park in my garage. I haven't bought anything yet so I'm still researching... thank you for letting me know.

 

[Worley]

Been looking at the NextBase 622GW. The 522 is like $140 less and seems almost as good. From what I've read you want to get their memory card or it might not work so well. I don't see why any 128GB U3 microSD wouldn't do the trick.

Dash Cams | Dash Cameras | Dash Cam | Nextbase

Awarded Which? Dash Cam Best Buy. Nextbase manufacture UK"s bestselling dash cams catered for all budgets. Explore our award-winning dash cameras range.

www.nextbase.com

I have the 522 model and use a regular microSD card as I couldn’t find the nextbase brand in stock anywhere at the time. It has a very crystal clear image. However, it is very finicky and freezes up all the time when I had it set for motion recording. The motion recording when I’m not around my truck is the main reason I bought this model and is now turned off.

 

[Loshad]

They are emphatic that you use a U3 C10 chip with a minimum of 45mb constant write speed. They also say you should reformat your chip fairly frequently (every few weeks?) and reset the unit if you're having problems. A Nextbase customer service person contributes fairly frequently to the dashcamtalk forum. If you're stymied I suggest signing up.

 

[Worley]

They are emphatic that you use a U3 C10 chip with a minimum of 45mb constant write speed. They also say you should reformat your chip fairly frequently (every few weeks?) and reset the unit if you're having problems. A Nextbase customer service person contributes fairly frequently to the dashcamtalk forum. If you're stymied I suggest signing up.

The SD card I bought had all the same specs as the nextbase brand. I had trolled a lot of forums looking for a fix and found that it is a common problem with the 522 unit. Even nextbase acknowledged the problem and came out with a new firmware update to address it which didn’t work. I haven’t checked back for another update in about 6-8 months. Maybe there is a fix by now.

 

[TremStar]

I decided to go with the Blackvue with LTE/Cloud. Front and rear cams. Looks pretty sweet. It's pretty much the top of the line deal when it comes to dash cams. Should have it installed sometime next week when it comes in.

 

[jiggadog]

I decided to go with the Blackvue with LTE/Cloud. Front and rear cams. Looks pretty sweet. It's pretty much the top of the line deal when it comes to dash cams. Should have it installed sometime next week when it comes in.

I have had a Blackvue 750 2-channel not long after it came out. It seems like a quality camera and produces good video. Not a huge fan of how the videos are accessed/downloaded to my phone, but it's not so bad after you're used to it.

 

[MTTremor]

I have had a Blackvue 750 2-channel not long after it came out. It seems like a quality camera and produces good video. Not a huge fan of how the videos are accessed/downloaded to my phone, but it's not so bad after you're used to it.

Waylens

waylens.com

 

[strogg]

So many competitors out there. Gonna put my $0.02 in as well. I never really cared for dashcams, but I ended up getting gifted two of them. One is a Garmin which works good enough, but it is finicky to get started up. Why it has to have the SD card formatted to FAT32 is beyond me. For those that don't know, formatting anything beyond 32GB in FAT32 is just asking for trouble. I ended up retiring that dashcam shortly after my brother gave me a Viofo. It records in 4k with outstanding quality, has GPS, and comes with a 1080p rear camera. It also has pretty amazing support as well as some accessories to help customize the installation. That one is much easier to setup, and I find it works far better than the cheaper Garmin.

As for the phone connection, the Garmin is absolutely horrible. I can never get my phone to connect to it via Wifi. The bluetooth connection barely worked. I haven't tried connecting with the Viofo one yet, since all the settings can be changed on the camera body itself. If I need to get footage, I keep a $15 USB-C SD card reader handy. The SD card reader allows me to copy anything quickly from an SD card to my Android phone, working many times faster than a wireless connection would. I originally got it for my Nikon camera after being frustrated by the bridge snap software.

 

[1337logan]

Any of these battery powered? Any recommendations on battery powered ones? I'm not a fan of cords everywhere

 

[Loshad]

You should be asking whether they are capacitor or battery powered when the vehicle is off and they go into 'parking mode'.
Some of the cheapos are battery only but you really need to hard wire the good ones. It's not hard. Nextbase sells a nice fuse tap kit - dead simple and clean.

Back to capacitors vs batteries - capacitor types tolerate high temps better than battery models. Unfortunately the Nextbase is a battery model but I haven't read about very many failures. In your soggy neck of the woods you needn't worry.

(my bro might live a few blocks from you - he's a bit east up the hill from the Red Robin)

 

[1337logan]

You should be asking whether they are capacitor or battery powered when the vehicle is off and they go into 'parking mode'.
Some of the cheapos are battery only but you really need to hard wire the good ones. It's not hard. Nextbase sells a nice fuse tap kit - dead simple and clean.

Back to capacitors vs batteries - capacitor types tolerate high temps better than battery models. Unfortunately the Nextbase is a battery model but I haven't read about very many failures. In your soggy neck of the woods you needn't worry.

(my bro might live a few blocks from you - he's a bit east up the hill from the Red Robin)

Thanks, I'll look into this. Yeah, I just dont want some shitty looking wires hanging all over the place.

Which red robin?

 

[TremStar]

Honestly you cant go wrong with Blackvue. Its hardwired, no wires if installed right, front and rear cams, beautiful quality footage, goes into park mode when vehicle off, they have wifi or LTE, motion and shock sensor which will start recording say someone hits your parked truck, wont kill the battery. The LTE allows you to to see whats going on from your phone even if you are far from the truck, just have to pay a small subscription. Kinda like the Ring house cameras. Only downside I guess is the price. A bit pricey but I think worth it. You cant see the footage as you drive but I never really knew why you would need to. Just as long as it is recording you are covered and it always records while vehicle is on. They also have just a bunch of different features and settings. It really is nice.

 

[Loshad]

Well, not Kirkland I guess - the one on NE 24th and 148th NE -
it's all greater Bellevue to me.

Most of the dashcam power wires are thin enough to easily tuck into your headliner and A pillar trims. I have seen reviews where the reviewer mentions that the wires are thicker and more of a hassle. Be wary of ones that connect to your OBD. Believe it or not but apparently they're not all the same. Much safer to tap into the fuse box.