Blunt first purchase advice.

roadrash

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In November, my car was hit by my next door neighbors work truck, causing $6000 worth of damage. The responding officer was not willing to give an opinion, even with tracks in the snow, and my paints chips on the trucks bumper. I am currently in the process of taking my neighbor to court. Following this experience, I heard about dash cams with the coverage of the meteor in Russia, and it got me thinking.

I woke up this morning, and a deliver truck or something, must have performed a 3-point turn, and I am guessing it did around $2500 worth of damage to the other side of my car, including breaking my side mirror.

I am sick of being screwed. I want a quality dash cam system in my car that is always running, covering front and back, and as much of the sides that is reasonable.

I am a full time student, and I definitely want to make a wise purchase that isn't over the top, but with what has happened, I am pretty willing to go the length for a foolproof system.

I have read a bunch of the reviews on this site, and I am seeking some input:

1. 24/7 coverage. Meaning that it has to have an awesome park mode.
2. Low profile so that it is not noticeable, and therefore not an object of interest for theft.
3. Coverage of front and back. I do not care if it is a system, 2 of the same camera, or a mix. I just want it to work.
4. It absolutely needs to be a night performer.
5. I live in Edmonton Alberta Canada, so it has to be able to survive/function in -40'C weather.


Off the hip, I am currently thinking of:

- Livue LB100, best bang for your buck, but it is larger than I would prefer
- Lukas LK-7900 for overall quality and size, but the cost is hard to swallow when I can't just return it to Costco/Best Buy if anything goes wrong.


I know that I am kinda asking "what is the best", but I just want a system that works, and keeps working, while working well...

However, I am quite irritated right now, and more sane/knowledgeable minds are very welcome to make any recommendations they believe best.



Thanks.
 
I think is better to wait about 2-3 weeks.
Livue will release a 2CH camera. I don't know the price.
808 will release a 1080p camera called 808 #26. The price will be maybe about $60 and the actual #18 is about $35 and the #16 about $40.
How it looks:

Day recording:
Night recording:

Consider the 808 are not dashcams but if you want the smallest possible camera the original 808 have the best quality for 720p until now and 1080p in the future. You must to make the mount.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
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Lot's of good cameras coming out but if you are looking for something that is more proven, consider the Itronics ITB-100HD as well. The LB100, ITB-100HD and the LK-7900 are all good choices. I am not convinced that the LK-7900 has great night quality though.
 
Lots coming this year, mostly good, any that do well at night trade off some daytime performance to do it, that may improve as the software gets better but that's generally a time consuming process and will take a while I think before we see real innovative results, we're getting there, headed in the right direction at least
 
I am definitely willing to wait for better options, but I would prefer to have a working system inside 2 months. My car is already past protecting. Currently I want to protect myself from liability and unfair prosecution. Doing so, I want to find a great system to protect my next car from the same fate... :lol:


@ mtz - Is the idea behind using the 808 #26 to leave it running continuously, 24/7, while driving and parked? Does it have the capability to add the date/time/speed stamped on the video for evidence? If it cannot provide that info, it looks like a great add-on to a functioning system as affordable quality side monitoring. As long as you sync an incident with the date/time/speed stamp of your true front and rear dash cams, that would be great.


Any additional info on the upcoming Livue 2ch HD? I am guessing this is the old model:

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/IT-ON-Livue-LB20 ... 3f1e7c8e64

If DashCamMan finds it as equally impressive compared to the Livue LB100 HD, quality wise and value, I would definitely be interested. I appreciate the price point of the Livue LB100 HD!

However, I am leaning towards getting the best that I can, to hopefully avoid headaches, and have the best chance at successful protection. So I would definitely defer to your continued suggestions as these new products are released in the next month or so, to either go with new or old, whichever is best.

Thanks for your replies!
 
Another quick question:

Is it a definite yet whether the LK-7900 has pretty poor night capabilities?

I was initially interested in the LK-7900 due to the features, apparent ease of use, operating temp of -20'C, and storage temp of -30'C. Even though this is not low enough for the lowest of days here, it was still lower than anything else I have come across. Is this a big determining factor or does the cold not really make too much of an impact?

I like the idea of a clear best fit, but it never seems to be that simple.

Thanks
 
You can't use date or time or speed in court. Only the video evidence can be accepted. If you don't believe this, please search to not go offtopic here.
GPS can be used only for fun when you will watch on PC a cursor which indicates where you drove.

LB200 is the old model.

Look here to see a screenshot comparison between Lukas and FIneVu and more discussion about what is making nice a night recording.

Livue LB100 have the best price for a good korean camera. You can buy the GPS also, but is expensive and will be not printed on the video.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
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@ mtz

In that case, I would be very interested in the 808 #26 if it simply recorded nonstop 24/7. It appears to be a very affordable, small package. A lot more discreet than other options.

Maybe I can get two of those, and a choice of either a Livue LB100 HD or a FineVu CR-500HD, and see whether I find them worth it or not.

Either way, I am going to wait and see what you guys think of hands on performance of the new 808 #26 and Livue LB200 HD models before deciding.

Thanks for your feedback. Looking forward to some reviews!
 
Mtz said:
You can't use date or time or speed in court

Don't want to press the issue too much, but I believe each State or Country has their own laws.

And when it comes to laws, judges and lawyers, pretty much everything can be made as evidence.

For example, this Law Firm from Missouri (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qja-9WDiFT8) states at around the 2M mark, that videos and info from that video (which might possible be GPS coordinates and/or Speed) could be used in court.

Canada could have backdoors aswell.

Also, don't forget that trials could have a jury (in more serious cases, like a road fatality). Even if the judge rules the evidence out, it might still influence the jury.
 
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Definitely take your time deciding which cam to get. Research it carefully and make sure you watch enough user videos until your convinced it's the camera for you.
Try not to base your purchase on marketing videos, you will most likely be disappointed.
 
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