Cheap Dash Cam or a recording cam?

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So I am looking for a cheap dash cam for the car, which can record and store data up to 7 days maybe? Provided ONLY when car is being driven
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Any input or suggestions for it? Not looking for anything expensive or fancy. Anything which can get the job done.

Thanks for all for all of your input and help
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The latest ones I'm buying are at CVS pharm. They are 40 bucks discounted to 20 with a 4GB card included. I believe it takes up to a 64GB card.
 
What is your budget? What do you consider cheap?

The A119 can be had for less than $80 wihtout GPS
https://smile.amazon.com/SpyTec-A119-1440p-Dash-Camera/dp/B01HMZVYLY/

Or less than $100 with GPS
https://smile.amazon.com/SpyTec-Camera-GPS-Logger-Recording/dp/B01HN0HBFG/

The Yi dashcamera is cheap. Around $50
https://smile.amazon.com/YI-Smart-Camera-Night-Vision/dp/B01C89GCHU/


Add a 64gb Card to the camera and get around 7-8 hours or recording time when on.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XX29S9Q/
 
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
The latest ones I'm buying are at CVS pharm. They are 40 bucks discounted to 20 with a 4GB card included. I believe it takes up to a 64GB card.


Do you have a link for them? What's your feedback for them?
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
I bought a Pilot dashcam from Walmart. Works good for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS8iQcM-X0o

I have it plugged into the outlet that goes on and off with ignition so it turns off with the key. Also saves the recording if there is a loud noise or a strong g-force


Mind asking, how much did you pay for it? Thanks
 
Originally Posted By: maverickfhs
Thanks, I am looking for anything below $50 since I can see some of them are actually less than $20 on fleabay!

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Top-10-Dash-Cameras-/10000000204957091/g.html

https://uberpeople.net/threads/dash-cam-new-cameras-super-cheap-on-ebay-now.47543/


Yea and those are junk. You be lucky if it lasted even a year. Let alone the awful video quality.

Get the Yi camera I linked to. Newer chipset and good quality.


https://smile.amazon.com/YI-Smart-Camera-Night-Vision/dp/B01C89GCHU/
 
budget about $50-$70 for the camera and 20-30$ for the microsd card.

Usually a 32GB card will last
A good place to start is the G1W-C but beware of imitation rip off ones that suck.

They have unscrupulous Chinese manufacturers ripping off other Chinese manufacturers with much inferior products...(true story)

This is assuming you want features like... actually working at night and a capacitor instead of a battery so it doesnt meltdown in the summer heat mounted to your window.

Edit: the YI camera linked above looks like a great buy as well.
 
The really cheap ones don't have the definition to clearly record license plate numbers/letters. This is the biggest disadvantage with the budget priced ones.
B and H Photo have some good options and their site has reviews.
 
There are quite a few options out there - so many that it almost seems overwhelming. About 3 months ago, after watching a number of "idiot driver dash cam" videos on YouTube, and thinking about the fact that I drive 110 miles round trip for work every day, I started looking. I considered quite a few, from the cheapies, to some that were close to $100 each. I also was considering between those that mount 'permanently' to the windshield with adhesive, and those that mounted with suction cups.

I did a ton of reading, watching review videos, etc.. and narrowed it down between one that was very highly rated just about everywhere, had some excellent features, and mounted 'permanently' to the windshield using adhesive, for about $70... and one that was between $20 and $30 (depending on where you buy it), mounted with a suction cup, and had the "essential" features.

... ultimately, I decided on the cheap one, for a couple reasons:

1 - In Phoenix, our windshields tend to not last that long. Between "sand blasting" on the highway, all the trucks that kick up rocks, etc.. and the heat, it's not uncommon to replace a windshield every year or two. Mounting a "permanent" dash cam to a windshield that is going to be replaced frequently, to me, just makes for a hassle when it comes to re-mounting said dash cam.
2 - I wanted to do a 'test-run' on a dash cam, partly to see how much of a visual interference it was to my field of view, whether the Phoenix heat will kill it (it's supposed to hit 122 degrees today, which means potentially 150-160 INSIDE the car in direct sunlight), how much of a pain it is to run power, etc. In summer here, stuff just COOKS inside any car left in the sun, and small, inexpensive electronics, especially those with batteries, are especially susceptible to this.


So, I made my choice, and purchased a high-quality 16GB Class-10 MicroSD card for storage, and started using it.

I purchased This Dash Cam on Amazon for $20.

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If you search on Amazon, eBay, Newegg, etc.. you will find tons of other listings, under many different names, for the same thing. I've seen it as low as $13 in a few places, plus shipping. It's a cheap-o unit from China, but surprisingly enough, it does the job.

If you search Google for "GT300 dash cam" you will find all sorts of info, links, etc..


So far, I have to say that, while it is far from perfect, and does have its shortcomings, it functions exactly as required, and seems to record in pretty decent quality. It records video in 3-minute chunks, storing them to the SD card. Once the card fills up, it deletes the oldest file and starts a new one.. so basically an endless loop of recording. There is a shock sensor in it, which will lock the currently-recorded file if an impact is sensed, and of course, you can manually choose to lock the currently-recording video if there's something you want to keep. The cam will not delete any files that are marked as locked.

The unit I received has since developed a dead-spot on the screen - My guess is this happened because I accidentally left the cam on for a full day, while the car sat in my driveway, and some stationary glare burned out that part of the screen. This has not affected the recorded video, however - just the screen itself.

The cam comes with a rather long cord that ends with a cigarette lighter attachment. I have the dash cam mounted near the top of my windshield, behind the driver-side visor, and the cable is long enough to run along the headliner, to the driver side A-pillar, down to the floor, under the floor mat, and to the power point in the center bottom of my dash. I will be changing this out with a more permanent power solution soon, as I am ordering a new power lead and a fuse block adapter, so the cam can run off of switched 'key-on' power.

As I mentioned previously - It's getting HOT here. So far, we've had at least one day over 120 degrees (ambient), and multiple days over 115 degrees, as well as dozens over 100 degrees, and my car has spent quite a few of these days parked in the sun, with the dash cam mounted in the car. So far, aside from the issue with the dead spot on the screen, the camera doesn't appear to have suffered from this heat.. Since it's only $20, I'm sure that at some point, it will probably succumb to the heat.. but I suspect it will make it through this summer still working.

Hope this helps.
 
Thanks very much Sir tannon, I'll look into the one you have suggested and see if that's the one I am getting
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Originally Posted By: LotI
I picked up an A119 capacitor quite a while ago and it fits perfectly behind my rearview mirror so you can't see it unless you look.

I paid $80 then I bought a 32g card for $10.


This is the other dash cam that I was looking at, when I was trying to decide which to go with.. and will also be the one I buy if/when the one I have now breaks on me. I have to say, considering the features it has, and the overwhelmingly good reviews it seems to get, it's a great value for the money. Having a capacitor to hold charge, instead of a battery, is also extremely good for an environment like Phoenix.

What are your thoughts on the 119C?
 
Originally Posted By: maverickfhs
Thanks very much Sir tannon, I'll look into the one you have suggested and see if that's the one I am getting
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You're welcome. It's definitely worth considering. The 119C that Lotl mentioned is another excellent option, if you're willing to go a little higher in price. If you want to stick to something cheaper, then the one I've linked seems to be a good basic choice, at least from my own experience.

I will try to upload video from mine when I get home later, if you're interested in how good the quality is.

...in the short term, if you want to know more about the cam, there's this video.. which appears to be for the same cam, under a different "brand name"
 
Just minor issues. The G-sensor sensitivity is all the way down and it picks up the rumble strips approaching a stop sign near my house. I get almost a daily shot of my approach to the stop sign when I review the saved files. Oh well.

I rotate through 2 micro-SD cards so I can review the video at my leisure. No accidents so far but I keep a file on my computer with all the boneheads on the road. Mostly crossing the center line on 2-lane roads and passing in no-passing zones. It sees plates fine although I don't do a lot of nighttime driving.

It really is small so nobody knows it's there.
 
Thanks guys, I actually would prefer a one which is smaller in size and not easily visible. How much is usually a good size for the memory card? 32 or 64?

I am leaning towards 119C too!
 
32GB should work for most applications... but, a couple of points to keep in mind:

- Some cams only support up to a certain size. Some won't support bigger than 16GB, and some won't go past 32GB..

- The bigger the card, the more video you can store. Depending on how much you drive, you may not need a huge card, but I'd go with the biggest whichever cam you choose can support.

- The TYPE of card you get matters too.. Remember, there are Class-1, Class 4, Class-10, etc.. Higher class cards typically store data faster and are more reliable, and last longer.. and many good dash cams will work best with a higher-class card. I went with Class-10.. but you should find out which class is recommended for whichever cam you buy.

- I drive 55 miles each way to work, which takes roughly an hour each way. I have a 16GB class-10 card in my dash cam, and it holds enough video for the full 110-mile round trip, with plenty of room to spare.
 
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