A139 Pro Smash and Grab!

hrdc69

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I am thinking of buying the a139 Pro but have one concern. In my neighborhood there are lots of car break in’s and the last thing I want is to find my windows smashed and the a139 Pro taken. I have also been considering the Vantrue N4 Pro as their sticky mount has a magnet on the base to hold the camera. The fact it also holds magnetically to the dashcam is a plus as it allows one to easily remove it whenever needed.

I would prefer to get the a139 Pro so if anyone knows if it can be removed and taken out of the car similar to the N4 Pro and other dashcams let me know. Thanks.
 
I am thinking of buying the a139 Pro but have one concern. In my neighborhood there are lots of car break in’s and the last thing I want is to find my windows smashed and the a139 Pro taken. I have also been considering the Vantrue N4 Pro as their sticky mount has a magnet on the base to hold the camera. The fact it also holds magnetically to the dashcam is a plus as it allows one to easily remove it whenever needed.

I would prefer to get the a139 Pro so if anyone knows if it can be removed and taken out of the car similar to the N4 Pro and other dashcams let me know. Thanks.
The DVR can be easily removed from the GPS platform. It remains only to disconnect the power connector and the camera.
 
...In my neighborhood there are lots of car break in’s and the last thing I want is to find my windows smashed and the a139 Pro taken...
Over the years I've been a member here there have been a number of people expressing this same concern, but there's never been any reports of it actually happening. At least where the dash cam was the reason for the break in. I recall one instance where a car was vandalized and the camera broken but not stolen. Thieves break into cars to steal things that can be sold and there's really no market that I know of for used dash cams, therefore there's no motivation to steal them.

Bottom line it's more of a very remote possibility than a likely probability.
 
The rear and internal camera cables are very thin and thus a bit fiddly to reconnect. As a single camera, then yes it is easy to remove and replace, but I wouldn't want to do it everyday for a 3 channel version. Probably more reliable than most for regular removing since the power doesn't go through the mount, that is only for the GPS.

But like DT MI says, we never hear about dashcams getting stollen, and the A139 is one of the least obvious, so they are likely not to see it, or just leave it alone anyway if they do spot it, even if it is recording them in infrared at the time! And if they spot it from outside, they are probably going to move on to another vehicle since they don't want the risk of being recorded. You need to know your cameras well to know which are safe, and having a close look to work out what it is would be a very bad move, unless you have an excellent disguise.
 
I remember a old Russian smash and grab on a dashcam that recorded it all, including the thief dropping it in the end as i recall, so it was probably a battery system of some sorts.

I cant really recommend the A139 models for a scenario where it would be frequently removed from the car, solely down to the connector the remote camera / cameras use, CUZ i dont think these little plugs are meant for frequent plugging in and out.
Here a system with a USB style plug for remote cameras would be much better.

My own car was broken into a while back, and the roof mounted mirror was torn off as there was a cabin camera on it, but the thief did not steal any dashcam ( 4 of them in the car at the time ) or memory cards in the cameras or loose memory cards i have in the center console for backup.
sadly no camera in parking guard mode, and at the time the CCTV camera i use to have on the parked car was broken, and i had been without for a year or so, so i quickly got a new camera to put on my balcony door to cover my parked car in the back yard.

I assume the idiot was looking for a gas card which seemingly many idiot Danes have lying in the car, and as gasoline prices here are second to none, or if so then very very few, well getting to tank free gasoline would be nice for any Dane.

I just put 3.07 US GAL / 14 liters on my car, it cost me 29.6 USD / 200 DKk, and right now gasoline are not terrible expensive in my area, could be worse for sure.
 
I remember a old Russian smash and grab on a dashcam that recorded it all, including the thief dropping it in the end as i recall, so it was probably a battery system of some sorts.
This video?
There the DVR was very noticeably hanging on the windshield, and, it seems to me, was visible from the neighboring yard)
And 139 can be unobtrusively placed on the windshield. Especially if you have a tinted strip or silkscreen on top area of the glass.
 
Yes thats the one, i was not able to find it myself on youtube

And yes the A 139 mount very well on the shade area of a windscreen if you have it ( i do )
Only negative i can say about the A 139 is its hybrid shape ( mix of barrel and wedge camera ) as it make it wider than a traditional wedge camera, this still mean something to me personally even if its just the bottom half of the camera visible in my car.
 
Yes thats the one, i was not able to find it myself on youtube
I'm a very long time ago used this video on our local forum as an illustration of the fact that the DVR should be barely noticeable from the outside. But 10 years ago, the DVR in the car was still an outlandish gadget. And it drew attention to him. My friends had several cases of theft of the DVR from the car salon. Now, I look around, the DVR is in every second car and a lot of people leave them overnight in the car and don't worry about them. Even if the DVR is very visible from the outside.
Apparently, everyone is used to the DVR in the car, both drivers and thieves)))
 
This video?
There the DVR was very noticeably hanging on the windshield, and, it seems to me, was visible from the neighboring yard)
And 139 can be unobtrusively placed on the windshield. Especially if you have a tinted strip or silkscreen on top area of the glass.
That's excellent video quality for 1970!

How come the thief managed a change of clothing during that?
 
Probably the old pickpocket switcheroo, where the loot are quickly handed over to another person
 
I had my car broken into, very few days after i got the A139 from Viofo, as the interior camera was on the mirror stalk the thief ripped it ( mirror and all ) off and so trashed some wires / plugs.
Nothing was stolen in my car, i assume thief was looking for gasoline card, which some / many stupid Danes have in the car + the PIN code.

Vifo very kindly sent me another A139 to continue testing on :cool:

Dashcams are still pretty new in Denmark, and i doubt even the most strung out junkie would bother stealing one, the one that broke into my car, he could at least have walked away with 4 X 256 GB in memory cards.
But otherwise smash and grab are not uncommon here, but then its laptops ASO that is the target.
 
Well i am too old to fight - too slow to run, but i still shoot pretty well.
Actually one of my rifles are in the bedroom, always loaded in case someone break into my car and i find out while he is there, at least the windscreen exploding with holes from .177 pellets should make him think about leaving ASAP.
And i would advise him to run CUZ if he is just strolling away, i can hit a ping pong ball from 100 M with little problems

And if its my hard hitter, well that is upwards of 50 foot pounds of hitting force, i am not putting any part of my body in front of that.
Normally though its about 30 foot pound of force i shoot, also not putting my ass in front of that, it easy make a hole in a modern car door.
 
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I am thinking of buying a car but have one concern. In my neighbourhood there are lots of cars stolen and the last thing I want is to find broken glass on the kerb and the car taken.
 
I am thinking of buying a car but have one concern. In my neighbourhood there are lots of cars stolen and the last thing I want is to find broken glass on the kerb and the car taken.
Just make sure that you get a car that has an immobiliser as standard equipment, which should be all cars these days, then make sure the thieves can't get hold of the keys, then the thieves are not going to attempt to steal the car! Unless they are towing them away?
 
Just make sure that you get a car that has an immobiliser as standard equipment, which should be all cars these days, then make sure the thieves can't get hold of the keys, then the thieves are not going to attempt to steal the car! Unless they are towing them away?
Nigel, you are far too intelligent to have missed my sarcastic play on the opening post, I'm going to have to assume you were enjoying an afternoon bottle of red.
 
Nigel, you are far too intelligent to have missed my sarcastic play on the opening post, I'm going to have to assume you were enjoying an afternoon bottle of red.
You were supposed to reply by suggesting that the OP should buy a dashcam with an immobiliser!
 
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