Basic £100 GoPro - Anyone used it as a dashcam?

T

tsutton

New Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2013
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Country
United Kingdom
With the GoPro announcing the lower cost GoPro at £100 - has anyone used it as the dashcam? What was your setup? (i.e. how do you get it to power on when turning on engine, etc)

I am aware it's not out in the UK yet but it's released elsewhere and am hoping someone here have it set up. :)
 
The instruction manual for the Hero doesn't show the Hero having loop recording nor auto power on record. There is also no ability to change the battery nor view files via wifi or OTG cable and an app on the go. All in all it doesn't seem suitable to being a dash cam.

For $93 bucks, the SJCam SJ4000 WiFi with car mount, loop recording, wifi and an LCD screen seems a better deal with equal video quality. I have been using the SJ as my rear window cam without issue.
 
Last edited:
I'm sure the GoPro is a very good action camera, but its not been made to act like a DVR so you'll be using a very good action camera for something it was never intended to be used as and will be a let down compared to one made to be a DVR, the main priorities (for me anyway) of a DVR is that apart from loop recording and display date and time, it will be a fit and forget, switch on and off with the ignition, not me having to do a thing,
 
Putting an Action Camera that has an extra large battery in a Green House Heat Amplified vehicle is a bad idea. They are not designed to record in a car all day every day. The best DashCam products have supercapacitors with Parking Mode.
 
Pier28 said:
Putting an Action Camera that has an extra large battery in a Green House Heat Amplified vehicle is a bad idea. They are not designed to record in a car all day every day. The best DashCam products have supercapacitors with Parking Mode.
Click to expand...

The SJ4000 can work using external power, without the battery installed. Does that count?
 
Pier28 said:
Does it corrupt the last file being recorded when power is suddenly disconnected?
Click to expand...
No, you only lose the time settings, which some don't display anyway. The setting remain and the last clip is saved. It works just like a super cap dash cam.
 
GJHS said:
No, you only lose the time settings, which some don't display anyway. The setting remain and the last clip is saved. It works just like a super cap dash cam.
Click to expand...

Is it easy to put the battery back in if you want to use it double duty as a part time action camera outside of the car?
 
Pier28 said:
Is it easy to put the battery back in if you want to use it double duty as a part time action camera outside of the car?
Click to expand...
Yep! 90 minutes of record time for all your extreme sports. When the battery is done, remove it for the dash cam ride home :D
 
Cool Might be good then, but.........
Let's hope you don't miss an important moment of truth event on that day you forget to install back into the window. (or accidentally leave it at home when you're in a rush)
So while nice you have double duty, kind of risky. I prefer a true set it and forget appliance you never touch myself.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top