Dash Cam recommendations?

Exoth3rm

Exoth3rm

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Boulder, Colorado
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Dash Cam
Smart Cam HD2
Hi there, so recently I got my new car, a 2013 Chevy Camaro, and I wanted to get a nice quality dash cam, but that's not SUPER expensive. My price range is anywhere from $50-100. I would like a camera that can record well at night time, and also in the day. I used to use a Cannon Powershot before but it was not reliable at all. Any suggestions would be cool.

Thank you!
 
Exoth3rm said:
Hi there, so recently I got my new car, a 2013 Chevy Camaro,
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Alright i'm finally not the only one around here anymore. WooHoo

Exoth3rm said:
I used to use a Cannon Powershot before but it was not reliable at all.!
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Great minds must thing alike I used to do this as well.

Anyhow to stay with in your budget the mobius is a good choice. The G1W is the tried and true budget camera. The G90 is sort of the bleeding edge budget camera that still needs a few kinks worked out.

I know budgets can be tight, but I always recommend to anyone who drives a nicer car unless you are waiting for Guard Trak to release, but want something in the mean time I would try to budget around 200 dollars and grab a good high end camera.

The Panorama from RoadCam or something from VicoVation.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies and great suggestions. I think I've found my new dash cam:
Looks pretty cool, and the quality seems really good for night/day.
 
A quick heads up. I can't place the SmartCommander FHD, but the other models on the DashCamUSA site are just renamed cameras posted about here before at least in terms from casing. I took a quick glance and chip sets where not mentioned.

The SmartBox HD looks like a G1W
The SmartCam FHD Galaxy Traveler looks like a HP F210
The SmartForce FHD300 looks like a LS300W or so.
 
CheckYourLights makes a good point. There are so many identical clones on the market using lower cost and lower quality components it is best to avoid buying from a vendor who won't state up front what DSP and sensor is in the camera. Even if they are the "Real McCoy", DashCamUSA seems to be asking top dollar for cameras available elsewhere for less. If you've come to DashCamTalk looking for advice and information, the best thing to do is spend some time learning about who the trusted vendors are and buy from one of them. Not only will you end up with a better quality camera, likely at a better price but if there is a problem these are vendors who are known to stand behind what they sell.
 
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Since you are in the USA and looking to keep with in a budget I would look at what SpyTec has to offer. They sell a great version of the G1W as well as the Mobius.
A118 HD
G90
for 105 they have the GT680W and if you want GPS they have the Mini 0801 witch is really popular with a lot of drivers here.

Dashmellow said:
There are so many identical clones on the market using lower cost and lower quality components it is best to avoid buying from a vendor who won't state up front what DPS and sensor is in the camera. Even if they are the "Real McCoy", DashCamUSA seems to be asking top dollar for cameras available elsewhere for less.
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This is why a red light instanlly flashes for me when a seller takes all the time in the world to list specs, but does not say anything about the chipset.
You might end up burned like some members here were.
See here
 
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After seeing what people have just posted about Dash Cam USA, and remembering my own experience I had with them.
See, I have purchased from Dash Cam USA once before... it was the Smart Cam HD2, and it was a couple of years ago, but when I received the product from them after a couple of days it had some issue when I would connect it to my computer no matter what I did it would not read the camera. I tried many different methods and different PC's to see if it would work, it still did not. At that time, I did not have a USB SD card reader. But I didn't really care, at that time I liked to just hook up my camera and get the videos straight from the camera. So I tried to return the product about 5 days after and then they told me that the product was not returnable do to it's condition. They said there was circle scratches where you hook it up to the windshield mount. I was never rough with the camera while trying to screw it back in. It was just the windshield mount thing that got it scratched! At first, he wasn't going to give me a refund or a replacement. I finally kept telling him that it was the mount that scratched the camera, then he finally sent me a replacement. I'm always careful with my electronics. I haven't broken or lost one electronic device in my whole life. But anyways, thanks for the tips. I'll go ahead and check out the Mini 0801 and a few other ones that you guys mentioned. - Another thing about the different "clones", but I thought that's how a lot of those camera's worked? They just add a few new features and named it something different? Sorry if I'm wrong...
 
But I still might keep the SmartCommander in mind, it's only for $100 and I think they give you an SD card with it too. But I'll still keep my options open. I always give places a second chance.
 
Dashmellow said:
For 100 dollars plus 7 bucks shipping you can do MUCH better and end up with a "known entity" camera. Do your homework here at DCT....you'll see.
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I'll second this. I am usually slightly less persistent, but I simply can not let a fellow Camaro driver go by the way side here.
Someone who stands behind their product would not try and write you off.

Also they charge 40 dollars to add a micro SD card to your order when you can find a good one on Amazon for $25

I've gone through a few knock offs and cheap cameras before. Trust me and save yourself the hassle and money. Read up twice, buy once and be happy.
 
map said:
Looks like the AT500 from Foxoffer

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I knew i seen it before, but could not place it. Thanks for finding it.
 
Exoth3rm said:
Another thing about the different "clones", but I thought that's how a lot of those camera's worked? They just add a few new features and named it something different? Sorry if I'm wrong...
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jokiin said:
A lot of factories do this model and there's a variety of solutions used, some are decent, some not so much
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jokiin can probably explain better then I can, but from my understanding. It is a public model and a lot of different factories can take it and put the parts inside they choose to.

Like with the G1W some take the casing and put cheaper parts in it making video look bad in the day time and next to useless at night and sell it for 45 dollars, and more trustworthy sellers stock models with higher quality parts giving us the tired and true good looking G1W and sell it for 55 dollars.

Or a seller could stock a cheaper version look alike G1W lie about the specs or not know the difference and sell it for 60-65 dollars to make more money.
 
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Thank you for all your help! It makes a lot of sense to me now. I guess there's a lot more to dash cams then I thought.
 
In your budget there are a few great ones. One being the Mobius. You won't believe how sharp the video is out of this little camera and I have yet to hear someone regret buying one.

There is a lot of info here. Ask and ye shall receive great info which will lead to a great camera.
 
I finally bought the Mini 0801! Great timing since I'm moving to Florida from Colorado... ugh going to be one hell of a drive.
 
Exoth3rm said:
I finally bought the Mini 0801! Great timing since I'm moving to Florida from Colorado... ugh going to be one hell of a drive.
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In the heat of the Florida climate, you'd be better off with a camera that uses a capacitor rather then a battery. Examples... G1W-C, Transcend DrivePro 200, Mobius with $6 SuperCap kit, etc.

Too late to change your order?
 
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