Hi guys, new member and long-time lurker here. I'm just starting to narrow-down which features or attributes I might need, for both a top-end/ dual camera system for myself, and a lesser quality (middling) single camera for my Dad.
I am revisiting the idea of buying dashcams having not looked at the market for around 18 months/ 2 years, and the last time I looked I thought Wi-Fi would be a good idea, although it wasn't available then. By that I mean the ability to transfer footage to a laptop while sat in the car, perhaps using the house's WiFi signal. Or even to just leave the ignition on with the car safely in the driveway, and sit in my lounge and watch/ transfer footage, even though the signal would obviously be weaker at distance. The latter seems quite ambitious, but is any of this feasible? Just to be clear, I only want to transfer, not monitor the cam continously.
The reason I ask is because in my experience of owning (cheap/ crap) dash cams on a swivel suction mount, when you go to remove the SD card to view footage it is fiddly, plus the camera moves negating the careful positioning done to get the best view etc. The upshot? I never watched any footage, which is fine if you have one purely for accident purposes, but not if you want to revel in the better footage of a decent-quality cam. Also, if you never watch anything, you don't know when the cam has stopped working.
So, I definitely do not want to view footage on a small screen on a camera fixed to my windscreen; it either has to be on my laptop or at least on a mobile phone, and preferably while I'm sat comfortably in my lounge. Should I prioritise Wi-Fi therefore, or look for something else where I have to remove the SD card but the cameras are remote so doing-so won't affect their positioning?
I'm thinking of something like the K1S by Koonlung here from a couple of years back, where you could mount a central unit somewhere in the cabin, and both the front and rear cameras were on the end of cables and were tiny. What do you think? Do you have any advice, going by your own experience? BTW, I may compromise on ultimate picture quality to get other desirable features, but I'm not worried about budget.
I am revisiting the idea of buying dashcams having not looked at the market for around 18 months/ 2 years, and the last time I looked I thought Wi-Fi would be a good idea, although it wasn't available then. By that I mean the ability to transfer footage to a laptop while sat in the car, perhaps using the house's WiFi signal. Or even to just leave the ignition on with the car safely in the driveway, and sit in my lounge and watch/ transfer footage, even though the signal would obviously be weaker at distance. The latter seems quite ambitious, but is any of this feasible? Just to be clear, I only want to transfer, not monitor the cam continously.
The reason I ask is because in my experience of owning (cheap/ crap) dash cams on a swivel suction mount, when you go to remove the SD card to view footage it is fiddly, plus the camera moves negating the careful positioning done to get the best view etc. The upshot? I never watched any footage, which is fine if you have one purely for accident purposes, but not if you want to revel in the better footage of a decent-quality cam. Also, if you never watch anything, you don't know when the cam has stopped working.
So, I definitely do not want to view footage on a small screen on a camera fixed to my windscreen; it either has to be on my laptop or at least on a mobile phone, and preferably while I'm sat comfortably in my lounge. Should I prioritise Wi-Fi therefore, or look for something else where I have to remove the SD card but the cameras are remote so doing-so won't affect their positioning?
I'm thinking of something like the K1S by Koonlung here from a couple of years back, where you could mount a central unit somewhere in the cabin, and both the front and rear cameras were on the end of cables and were tiny. What do you think? Do you have any advice, going by your own experience? BTW, I may compromise on ultimate picture quality to get other desirable features, but I'm not worried about budget.
Last edited:
