First time buyer - Picking the right dashcam?

brother ali

New Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2018
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Country
United States
So here is what I have gathered that I would like
-Capacitor (hot climate)
-Front/rear recording
-Good image quality
-Will wire direct into fuse box

What I dont think I want?
-GPS (yes I speed)
-Audio recording (dont see the point of this other than taking more space in the recordings, am I wrong?)

From my research its seems like the A129 is a popular model, do I need to watch out for fakes, I see one on ebay for $109 (no GPS).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/132725446552
Any other models or features I should look out for? I mainly want this because people have crashed into my car while its parked on multiple occasions (luckily they left their insurance info).
 
My two cents - VIOFO is heavier that Street Guardian. Go for the former only for more features (if there are) and less price. I would have gone for SG.
 
Price does matter, but using a known reputable seller is the better option, as the after-sales service will be there should you need it. Ebay's return and complaint resolution policies can be balky and slow so I wouldn't rely on that as a substitute for good seller support.

Phil
 
-Audio recording (dont see the point of this other than taking more space in the recordings, am I wrong?)
If someone knocks your wing mirror off, they will almost certainly be recorded on your front and rear cameras, however you don't know which car/person/bike it was since you don't even know which hour it happened. If you have audio then the audio gives the time it happened accurate to a millisecond and the front+rear video gives you the people who were passing at that time accurate to 1/10th second so you then know who it was.

If someone rear ends you and damages your bumper, the video may just show that they got very close, the audio will confirm that they hit. Without the audio you are lacking proof that they caused any damage unless they hit hard enough to visibly move the car.
 
If you have audio then the audio gives the time it happened accurate to a millisecond and the front+rear video gives you the people who were passing at that time accurate to 1/10th second so you then know who it was.
.

yep, you then know who it was, you just can't prove it
 
yep, you then know who it was, you just can't prove it
Might have difficulty getting their insurance to accept it, but the court probably would.

How about a road rage incident, the other driver comes up to your window and attacks you, the microphone will confirm your story while the front and rear camera can only tell that they came to see you, possibly for a polite conversation.

Or since the OP is in USA, the microphone will record the gunshots while the front and rear cameras just see a firearm being waved about with no record of any firing.
 
parking dents aren't going to go to court, the gunshots maybe

for the record I agree that having the audio recorded is worthwhile regardless for the extra supporting evidence it may capture
 
Yep audio are fine, if its something fun you want to share on the internet you can always strip it out in post production.
I use to mute my cameras, but not anymore, even in spite of my longshoreman foul language.
 
I am leaning towards getting a dashcam but I am reluctant because I do enjoy driving spirited (lots of open and well light highways) and I have heard it can work against you if someone else hits you but you were speeding. I know I would turn GPS off but this finding makes me wonder about it. Looks like I gotta do more research, when I started thinking about this issue I went looking for the most discrete camera but seems most discrete options are obscure (like taking a camera apart and separating the components).

Like this old thread describes:
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/a-dash-cam-can-not-only-help-you-but-it-can-hurt-you.2957/
 
I am leaning towards getting a dashcam but I am reluctant because I do enjoy driving spirited (lots of open and well light highways) and I have heard it can work against you if someone else hits you but you were speeding. I know I would turn GPS off but this finding makes me wonder about it. Looks like I gotta do more research, when I started thinking about this issue I went looking for the most discrete camera but seems most discrete options are obscure (like taking a camera apart and separating the components).

Like this old thread describes:
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/a-dash-cam-can-not-only-help-you-but-it-can-hurt-you.2957/
The dashcam will help to ensure that blame is apportioned fairly. Do you not want a fair result?
 
A dashcam is like a double-edge sword; it can cut both ways. Wielded well it's your defender but wielded poorly it will hurt you mercilessly. It's all up to you how you wield that sword, and if you're not going to wield it well you're better off without it.

Phil
 
The dashcam will help to ensure that blame is apportioned fairly. Do you not want a fair result?
Agreed. If excessive speed is a partial cause of an accident then you should accept responsibility for that - with or without dashcam evidence from either party. If excessive speed has no relationship to the incident then I don't see why it should count against you, although that could be hard to prove.
 
Agreed. If excessive speed is a partial cause of an accident then you should accept responsibility for that - with or without dashcam evidence from either party. If excessive speed has no relationship to the incident then I don't see why it should count against you, although that could be hard to prove.
Even if your excessive speed doesn't cause the incident, increasing the impact speed from 5 mph to 50 mph will increase the amount of damage considerably, if your speed is unreasonable then you should be paying for the extra damage. If you are going to drive excessively fast then you must be prepared to brake excessively fast when someone pulls out of a side road ahead of you thinking they have time when they don't.
 
Turning GPS off will do nothing for you, your speed can always be determined in the time it take you to cover some distance you can go measure, so if speed are a concern you should not be recording video in any form.
In regard to people noticing your camera at all i find that most people see absolutely nothing, at least not with a suitable well mounted dashcam ( top and center of windscreen )
Actually many cameras often come off as a factory sensor array of some form.
I do speed myself, or should i say i do my best to not drive less than the posted MAX speed, and so being in a cheap car with no speed pilot i do some times drift a little over the limit, but i doubt that will say anything here in Denmark,,,,,, but with my tainted outsider view of the American system it might actually be so over there.
But here if a case go to trial,,,,,, which pretty much never happen with traffic cases, then i am sure no one would argue " if A dident go 4 MPH over the limit for the past 5 miles, then he would not have reached the accident spot in time and so my client B would not have T-boned him when he ran the red light"
But if you are over the limit and using your footage, then you might have to take a speeding ticket, but that might also well be worth it if some idiot pull off a major thing in front of you.
Rules are rules, and if caught you got to pay up, that's just the nature of things when you chance it in a functional justice system, or are just completely unaware.

Of course as i have said many times in here, i would never say anything about my cameras on site, i will wait until i get home and then evaluate my footage in peace and quiet and decide if to submit ( to insurance company that then might share with police if there are false claims / document fraud being committed by a part ) or not.
No one here can demand to get my recordings, they can ask politely for it, but its still up to me if i want to share them.
That is also why Danish police have just asked all shop keepers and private people with CCTV cameras to register their cameras, so they know who to ask in case something happen in the area.
Fully knowing that many of these cameras are actually illegal as they are recording public grounds, and you cant do that without a permit which no one bother with.
And as my friend was told in court by a judge " it is illegal to record, but please don't stop doing that"
 
Last edited:
What does wiring direct into fuse box accomplish?
 
Back
Top