Experience with mirror cam...

Tuesfutu

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Recently, I was going through AliExpress and found one of these dashcams for a relatively low price of ~$40. So I went on a whim and purchased one. After a 50 day wait, it finally came in and I installed it, running all the wires the proper way (through the head liner, down the A-pillar, D-pillar for the backup cam, etc...)

I did this because in hand, it looks very promising. I should have took it for a test drive though before spending an hour to fish all the wiring. The mirror shakes horribly, almost to the point of motion sickness. And to boot, I checked the video quality, and boy is it disappointing; it may say 1080p, but does definitely not indicate that the video is remotely reviewable (not a word, I know). The only way to make out a clear license plate is if both vehicles are stopped completely. I do like the idea, but the design is flawed. Even when closing the door on my wife's Yaris, the device would move the mirror out of place (I assume because of weight).

Has anyone had one of these cams that produced decent quality video and managed to stay secure to the actual car mirror? Anyway, just trying to see peoples experience (if any) with these devices. Below are some pics after the install for ****s and giggles.

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Buying generic ones from Chinese sites like aliexpress... or even from ebay... is a minefield!

along with a few other designs of dashcams, there are manufacturers that use a few of these well known styles of dashcams but with cheap internals.

I think the Auto Vox M3 isn't bad for a rear view mirror cam, there are clips on youtube. and i'm sure there are probably many more decent ones of that style. I'd suggest returning the one you have, doing some research on here and on youtube for proven quality rear view cams, because i'm fairly confident that even if you have to pay a little more, it will literally be only a little more, for a good one!
 
Yep, agreed. I figured it was $40 so I gave it a shot. I actually took it apart to see the internals.

I think that I'll stick with a dedicated dashcam for the Yaris. I have a Viofo 119 in my truck and it's excellent.

Funny thing is I waited almost two months for it and had it mounted in the car for less than a week.
 
I did the same with my first 4 dashcams, just bought cheap unbranded, all different ones boasting decent quality, only to see they were all awful. Then I basically just looked for the brands of dashcam that were giving decent quality footage on the "bad driver" compilations on youtube and started shopping around!
 
Haha, that's a great idea, your own quality audit.
 
its probably the best way... find the best quality footage, then search for the user reviews on here to find out if the cams are as feature-packed as you require them to be, and if they actually last a while!
 
its probably the best way... find the best quality footage, then search for the user reviews on here to find out if the cams are as feature-packed as you require them to be, and if they actually last a while!
Don't forget to factor in manufacturer and vendor support.
 
Some ones put your steering wheel on the wrong side of the car ha ha!!
 
If you understand what you will probably get, any of the cheaper cams can be worth trying. That is how I discovered my 'cheapo' side cams which come very close to equaling any cam costing twice as much, and bettering most of those. Then there was the step down from there with another cam which landed me barely usable junk. I still consider myself to be ahead of the game overall ;) There is much to be said for the concept of mirror cams, but so far no really good ones have emerged :(

If things go well I'll be getting a similar cam soon and no I haven't lost my mind :p I have a plan for it once the electronics die and I can use an inside mirror anyway though I'll have to fabricate the mounting. No more on my top-secret project till then :cool:

Phil
 
Some ones put your steering wheel on the wrong side of the car ha ha!!

Haha, I got it checked out and found out it isn't covered under warranty. I think I'll just leave it on that side for now.
 
I laugh as my canadian mate sometimes still gets in the drivers side of my rhd car, even though he's been here 15 YEARS, mind you it is usually when he's had a few, he hates being called a yank though ha ha.
I was really surprised a lot of my friends think canada is part of the usa!!
 
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