I'm having bad luck with dash cams!

[Blisterpeanuts]

I recently bought two cams, one for each car, and had to return both.

I got the $65 DVR 027 720p, which is highly rated in the DashCamTalk review section, and I was careful to buy it from the recommended Ebay vendor.

Unfortunately, it didn't work very well. The video quality alternated between clear and blurry, every couple of seconds. I tried a couple of different memory cards and settings, emailed back and forth with the vendor, but could not get it to work.

I finally returned it. To be fair, they refunded me promptly and also paid my shipping costs.

The other one was a $29.99 "120° 720P Car Dash 2" TFT HD DVR Single Camera Cam Recorder IR Night Vision", also on Ebay. It seemed to get some good reviews. But unfortunately, this one also had horrible video, blurry and missing some colors (all blue no red). These people also refunded the cost plus shipping.

I just don't understand how these vendors can make a profit when the quality control is this bad. Anyway, I'm at a loss for what camera to get. I am getting the idea that you need to spend upwards of $100 to get something decent, better yet $200, and these inexpensive cams are just a random kind of lottery; if you're lucky you get one that works.

 

[niko]

I recently bought two cams, one for each car, and had to return both.

I got the $65 DVR 027 720p, which is highly rated in the DashCamTalk review section, and I was careful to buy it from the recommended Ebay vendor.

Unfortunately, it didn't work very well. The video quality alternated between clear and blurry, every couple of seconds. I tried a couple of different memory cards and settings, emailed back and forth with the vendor, but could not get it to work.

I finally returned it. To be fair, they refunded me promptly and also paid my shipping costs.

The other one was a $29.99 "120° 720P Car Dash 2" TFT HD DVR Single Camera Cam Recorder IR Night Vision", also on Ebay. It seemed to get some good reviews. But unfortunately, this one also had horrible video, blurry and missing some colors (all blue no red). These people also refunded the cost plus shipping.

I just don't understand how these vendors can make a profit when the quality control is this bad. Anyway, I'm at a loss for what camera to get. I am getting the idea that you need to spend upwards of $100 to get something decent, better yet $200, and these inexpensive cams are just a random kind of lottery; if you're lucky you get one that works.

Sorry to hear about bad luck.
Actually its simple universal formula: price reflects quality and risks. In 90% this formula works. Other 10% is just a luck.
I have few cheap ones from 2-3y back and they still working well ( I gave them to my friends ). So you never know. Its just like lottery.

 

[extraoneya]

niko is correct, the odds r against u if u shop for the cheap end of any merchandise.
I suggest u bite the bullet, pick u'r highest price u r willing to pay for a higher-end product & go w/ an established dealer (since the higher price doesn't guaranty u won't have probs).

I'm happy w/ my 2 Finevu Pros. They weren't cheap (but less then others), but I feel I've gotten my money's worth.

 

[GJHS]

I would disagree a little. So many, including myself, have spent under $100 and have been happy with their cameras. I own and can confidently recommend the Mobius. There is nothing bad to say about it. The few complaints I have heard about it were about when there were SD card compatibility problems. The video quality is excellent, their is a huge support group (2 forums), steady and continued firmware improvements, and sellers who have proven to stand by their products. Oh and there are no known clones yet. The buying system with a developer verified seller list is a good part of it. Yet at that price there are very few cameras.

Remember as Jokiin just repeated, in China R&D, means Remember & Duplicate and Copyright, means the 'Right to Copy'. I think the best defense is these forums, peoples experience and a good amount of reading. Another safe bet is to never buy a highly cloned cheap camera (even from a "reliable" seller) or an unknown camera at any price.

Yes, spending around 200 on GT2S, Panorama2 or a TF2+ will ensure quality and less problems, because there is a company behind it with a proven record. Maybe for you, after being bitten twice, that may be your best bet to just relax and enjoy your camera.

 

[Blisterpeanuts]

I'm still open to a cheap cam. It's just a lot of extra hassle when it doesn't work right, and annoying besides

Are you referring to https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00DP1WYD2 ? Looks interesting, although lacks a display.

I've heard a number of stories of people showing an instant replay to a police officer at the scene, thus saving everyone a lot of trouble. Without that feature, the dash cam is less useful. I guess the police trust the video since you haven't had time to doctor it. Anyway I'm pretty convinced I need a display.

I got a Raspberry Pi to make into a dash cam, which would be sweet because it's high quality video and quite inexpensive (albeit also lacks a display) but now I'm discovering certain limitations, namely that powering it off without telling it to properly shut down can corrupt the file system. Until that problem can be solved, it will be more useful as a home surveillance cam that's always on, than as a car cam that's cycling on and off several times a day.

 

[niko]

I'm still open to a cheap cam. It's just a lot of extra hassle when it doesn't work right, and annoying besides

Are you referring to https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00DP1WYD2 ? Looks interesting, although lacks a display.

I've heard a number of stories of people showing an instant replay to a police officer at the scene, thus saving everyone a lot of trouble. Without that feature, the dash cam is less useful. I guess the police trust the video since you haven't had time to doctor it. Anyway I'm pretty convinced I need a display.

I got a Raspberry Pi to make into a dash cam, which would be sweet because it's high quality video and quite inexpensive (albeit also lacks a display) but now I'm discovering certain limitations, namely that powering it off without telling it to properly shut down can corrupt the file system. Until that problem can be solved, it will be more useful as a home surveillance cam that's always on, than as a car cam that's cycling on and off several times a day.

Mobius can be connected to Android tablet or mobile and from there you can do with it many time-s more stuff than with any other dash cam in same price range.
I recommend you to take time off and read minimum 1 week MOBIUS sub-forum and I am sure you will find that for thsi budget this is the best choice price / value / size / specs / quality / options.
Go trough as many threads as you can there, until you get all questions answered from Mobius sub-forum.

 

[Byr0n]

If you do go for the Mobius, it can be bought here for $25 less @ http://www.banggood.com

Using this code for 5% off

http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/5-discount-banggood-for-forum.4917/

 

[Xybone]

In my experience/reading all these threads, I think I've come up with a good thing to keep in mind when buying dashcams:
$80+ will get you quality
$60+ will get you decent video
$150+ will get you both + (sometimes) WiFi
$60- is a waste of time

 

[CamFreak]

In my experience/reading all these threads, I think I've come up with a good thing to keep in mind when buying dashcams:
$80+ will get you quality
$60+ will get you decent video
$150+ will get you both + (sometimes) WiFi
$60- is a waste of time

Sorry about the defective dashcams. However, there should be some caution using higher prices as a sole guide for quality. Watch out for some unscrupulous vendors who copywrite a name, then import inexpensive dashcams and ad their own created name to sell with inordinate markups.

These almost scams can usually be spotted because they appear to shy away from mainstream reviews such as DashCamTalk. Instead they offer a lot of claimed customer testimonials. Who knows what validity those have.

These marked up dashcams often appear to be connected to pushers who join special interest forums to backdoor sell to other forum members. Of course, it's hard to determine if these persons are unwitting fools with no company connection, or if they have some business deal. Regardless, they can be usually be spotted as they are always over the top for their particular product.

Careful searching of this and other forums for posts and threads regarding a brand name will reveal what others think and what reviews have determined. Not foolproof to prevent buying a low QC model or an overpriced model, but it should help most of us to make an informed decision to reduce the liklihood of being taken for our money.

 

[kamkar]

I think the 027 need to be removed from the list here, there are far better alternatives out there today, even in the same prize range.

 

[DashCamMan]

The DVR-027 was removed from the "best" list over a year ago.

 

[kamkar]

well i just outed myself as to where i dont come often.

 

[Deleted member 46308]

I am new, inexperienced and suffer from time to time from "paralysis by analysis. I purchased an SG95665GM Street Guardian from @Pier28 manufactured by @ jokiin, and found this camera to be very stealthy in installation, and works perfectly without any problems so far. Most importantly though, I am confident that should something come up regarding this cam the support will quickly justify my decision to buy from them. I am not affiliated in any way with either the Seller or Manufacturer. I echo what others have said about price. It does not always equate to quality either way, up or down. Good luck and I am sure you will enjoy some great opinions both ways on this forum. Nice group of contributors.

 

[Malodave]

I got a Raspberry Pi to make into a dash cam, which would be sweet because it's high quality video and quite inexpensive (albeit also lacks a display) but now I'm discovering certain limitations, namely that powering it off without telling it to properly shut down can corrupt the file system. Until that problem can be solved, it will be more useful as a home surveillance cam that's always on, than as a car cam that's cycling on and off several times a day.

Mausberry Circuits makes two models of the shutdown switch for a PI. I need to get one myself but they are currently sold out.

http://mausberry-circuits.myshopify.com/collections/car-power-supply-switches

Malodave