First Dashcam for personal use, looking at Blackvue

[brianweb]

Looking for a dashcam for my 2015 Mazda M3 for personal use. I drive 1.5 hours each way in New Jersey and am constantly in traffic, heavy merges, drivers being stupid etc and want some piece of mind in case something happens.

I have been looking at the Blackvues because I like the small form factor, leaning towards the 650S-1Ch with the wifi and app, but the price point concerns me a little as overkill. Always on/parking mode is not critical for me, I park in a garage at home and a private garage at work. I am torn on 2 channels, leaning towards not getting it to save some money and not thinking it is that beneficial for my scenario.

In the end, I am not a fleet drive or Uber driver etc, so not sure I need 2 cameras, gps etc. But I want a nice quality camera I don't have to think about. Looking to spend $200-$300 or so soft limit. Thanks.

 

[Moon]

Howdy ... and welcome to DCT

STREET GUARDIAN - SG9665GC V3 64GB micro SD card

Not that I'm an expert around here ... only I'd recommend the SG mainly due to what you said about not having to think about it (you will, at times) however, if you want no stress if things go wrong, you are way better off with jokiins Street Guardian Service for a no hassles lightening quick fix.
It is Street Guardian USA over there - lightening fast as well.

You will receive assistance around here regardless of whatever Brand you get.
Having said that - it is better to opt for a more popular brand that members are more familiar with.

 

[jokiin]

GC is single channel, dual channel models start shipping this month, he's in the USA though so pricing is different.

 

[Deleted member 46308]

Welcome to DCT @brianweb. Street Guardian products are solid with the best service and support.

 

[Moon]

GC is single channel, dual channel models start shipping this month, he's in the USA though so pricing is different

Oh yeah ... hmm? In the US How did I miss that?

Might go back and clean that up

 

[jeez123]

I'm currently using the 650S-2ch, and if i had a chance to redo the purchase, i would definately NOT be buying the CLOUD-version, due to the fact i never will be using these features.

Wifi on the 650S is, for me, a bit of a muckup! It's great to be able to set settings on the mobile, but for watching the recordings, i'm NOT satisfied at all. Buffering, lagging, not showing the video in the Blackvue App, disconnecting the Wifi, not being able to connect to the wifi from the camera, etc. etc. etc.

I purchased the 650S-2ch because off the Wifi-functionality, because i thought it could do the copy of clips to phone in a snap, well... that ended up being a big bummer. Because most of the times, it works, but then it doesn't and the clips are only trasnfered 60-70% in total, you can the go shut down the camera, the app, the wifi and try again, and cross your fingers to hope it works the second time around... which it often does, but then again, not always..

That left me to do the copy of clips the old fashion way, going manual.. Removing SD-card, getting to the PC, managing the files from it and re-inserting the card, when finished, into the dashcam, once again.

If i was you and looking on a Blackvue, i'd go with the DR490S-2ch which has dual FHD-cameras instead of going FHD+HD on the 650S. The 490S is a no-cloud camera and therefore a bit cheaper, but nonetheless otherwise, same specs as 650S

 

[jokiin]

Apologies to jokiin for goofing up ... those US prices did look a lot more impressive than the Aussie ones when I took a squiz ... Godammit

look I know it wasn't intentional, no harm done