Frustrated with the dashcam

[shybri1968]

Hey all, so wifey bought me a Garmin 66W for Xmas yay, everything works as it should.

My vehicle does not have Wifi

If I am at work and want to review a video or segment of my drive, I open the app and it says it cannot find the device. So I need to actually go down to my car, start up the cam then open the app. That seems kinda dumb that anytime I want to see any of the videos I need to physically go to my car and start up the cam.
As it has no wifi and my car has no wifi, I am guessing it can't just shoot it to "the cloud" and do the same on my phone (search to "the cloud") and view the videos at anytime, anywhere.

Clearly I am no techi, but is there not a dashcam out there that has that ability? Maybe all dashcams work in the same mannder, it's unfortunate as this is a nice dashcam, decent video, it's small, etc.

Any advice or possible suggestions of other makes that have that ability would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[Ralph2]

Evidently.. from the https://buy.garmin.com/en-CA/CA/p/661787 it has
Built-in Bluetooth® and Wi-Fi®
Built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi make it easy to wirelessly view, edit and share captured media using the Garmin Drive app.

But.. it has limited range and obviously does not reach far enough. I suspect all dash cams have this limitation.

 

[shybri1968]

Ah poop, okay, just checking the little bugger does run very hot, could pretty much cook lunch on it (if it was a very small lunch) I was standing about 10 feet away from the van and got nothing, and found the video, in both settings was quite difficult to see license plates. I may return and research further, and I have no clue how it would do when it actually gets cold up here, right now it's near zero so it's almost hot Thanks again for the reply, appreciate it.

 

[SteveFL]

Hey all, so wifey bought me a Garmin 66W for Xmas yay, everything works as it should.

My vehicle does not have Wifi

If I am at work and want to review a video or segment of my drive, I open the app and it says it cannot find the device. So I need to actually go down to my car, start up the cam then open the app. That seems kinda dumb that anytime I want to see any of the videos I need to physically go to my car and start up the cam.
As it has no wifi and my car has no wifi, I am guessing it can't just shoot it to "the cloud" and do the same on my phone (search to "the cloud") and view the videos at anytime, anywhere.

Clearly I am no techi, but is there not a dashcam out there that has that ability? Maybe all dashcams work in the same mannder, it's unfortunate as this is a nice dashcam, decent video, it's small, etc.

Any advice or possible suggestions of other makes that have that ability would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Try getting a mobile wifi hotspot; that is how I solved my exact same problem of not having wifi in my car.

 

[shybri1968]

That's a good idea, but I am curious what units you guys have and why you like it, from what I am seeing in videos, but you have to be careful what you watch and where, the Sony actually seems to show better, especially at night then the Garmin.

 

[jokiin]

camera needs to be on for you to access it, that's a given, you can't just access from the cloud, it's not that kind of dashcam

 

[shybri1968]

BUT, if I got into the car, and had my phone and it uploaded every time it had a connection, automatically, then at any time when I hop on my phone would I not be able to see what it had uploaded? (my apologies for my ignorance here) (Not too happy wit the Garmin, lane departure keeps going off and I have not been drinking, definitely staying within the lines, also the impact goes off and I have it set to the least amount of sensitivity, just slamming the door will do it) So I am trying to research and getting more confused by the moment, I think I am down to either the Viofo A129 Pro, Blackvue DR900S or the Thinkware F800 - price isn't really an issue, but I do live in a cooler area we can hit minus 20, sometimes 30. Just trying to make the right choice and it's confusing for me.

 

[jokiin]

doesn't work like that anyway but the files are huge, you'd never get them all uploaded

 

[kamkar]

You should not use those "smart things" like lane departure ASO, in dashcams it is mostly a gimmick.
And to constantly upload your recordings to the cloud ( instead of or alongside a memory card ) you will probably need a unlimited data plan ( costly in Denmark ) and you will need to pretty much always have 100% 4G connection or faster.
So if you venture away from a mast and drop to a slower 4G connection, you will need to buffer on the memory card before it can be uploaded again when the connection allow for it, but then if you are still driving you have what you have buffered + the actual video you record right now, necessitating a even faster connection to the cloud to catch up.
And a regular 1080p / 1440P camera crank out 100 - 130 MB of data every minute ( for each camera in the system ) and even more if the cameras are 4K, so you could have a system that require you to upload 200 MB or more every minute you drive.
+ you will need to pay for the cloud plan also with unlimited data or a lot of it depending on how much you drive every day.
So all in all that cloud route will be expensive, at least if you are a Dane, and mobile / data plans are not outrageous expensive in this little country.

O and you also have to buy the actual 4G access point for the car, which also use power, so that will just decrease further the time you can use things like parking mode.

On the other hand, i don't think dashcams with a SIM tray build in to the camera itself are far away.

I think a unlimited 4G mobile data plan will cost the same as i pay monthly for my 1 gbit internet on cable. ( 37 USD/mo )
Just googled and i can get a unlimited 4G data plan for 20 USD/Mo from the cheapest provider, but #2 cheapest are the 37 USD i mention above.

 

[shybri1968]

okay wow, lots of info to absorb for sure lol thanks for all of that!

 

[kamkar]

Yeah with around 12 GB of data generated for 1 hour of driving, then you don't have to drive that much on a monthly basis before you reach a pretty substantial amount of data.

And really you don't need to save everything, just the bits you want to save as it is cool / funny or idiotic, and those moments you can lock safe and sound on the memory card with a press of the event button.
i have full coverage in my car, and every month i take about 2-3 minutes of bad drivers i share on youtube, but thats after i have trimmed the video in my editing software, my camera deal in 3 minute video segments and i have a few of those over a month in the Read Only folder, but trimmed down it is just a few minutes of the actual footage.

 

[Nigel]

Your phone does not have enough storage and the link to the cloud is too slow and unreliable, none of the cameras you list will be able to do what you desire.

If you want proper lane departure, get a car that has it built in, then it can be effective, but it will cost a lot more than any dashcam. Lidar sensors, autonomous braking systems, haptic warning systems etc. do not come cheap, but are easily available these days. Of course if you concentrate on your driving they should not be necessary, and if you don't concentrate on driving then you are putting everyone on the road in danger even with decent lane departure warnings.

 

[shybri1968]

Simply stating that the lane departure doesn't work well, definitely do not need it, just as the impact sensor seems extremely sensitive even set to low, and my phone has lots of storage not worried about that, but I agree that loading ALL of the footage is not necessary.

 

[Nigel]

and my phone has lots of storage not worried about that,

How much is "lots"?

My last journey more than filled my 128GB memory card, and I had the camera set for reduced bitrate since 4K resolution on the Viofo A129 Pro generates huge file sizes! My phone also has non-replaceable memory, so when it wears out I will need a new phone, I'm not keen to wear it out with huge video files, 99% of which I will never watch.

 

[shybri1968]

1TB, and my commute is only 5 mins. But still who would want to sit and watch the entire thing, as stated, I agree just catching those "choice" moments would be the most important.

 

[shybri1968]

I have spent the day researching via forums, and reviews of the features that I am looking for and I have made my choice, I want to thank all of you for your info, again, I appreciate it!

 

[kamkar]

You should not use G-sensor while driving, cuz that just lead to a lot of false event recordings caused by potholes ASO, the camera should always record while you drive, and then you can save little events with the manual event button.
There is a reason there are no dashcam that don't record at all unless there is a event, it is close to impossible to tune, and when you have finally gotten it to only 1 or 2 events on a 1 hour drive ( if your camera allow for you to set custom values for X-Y and Z axis )
Well then you might risk having sensitivity so low that a small scrape with another car don't register with the camera.
And then after your drive you just get a dashcam saying you have had 48 events,,,, and not a single of them are a actual event.

Just get a plenty large memory card, then even if you get knocked out bad, the first thing respondents should / would do it turn off your car, and so stop the camera recording and risking it overwriting your event.
I have 16 hours or so from each camera, so i will have to sit there unconscious for a long long time before recycle delete that part in the regular footage that are not protected.
And as i said all the small stuff you just press the button to manually locking it away.
G - sensor are fine for when parked, if it can be set sensitive enough, motion detect don't work for parking unless you park in a place where nothing happen, cuz in a regular car park everything passing by would create a motion detect event then,,,,, even a bird flying by or rustling leaves on a bush / tree.

And just using camera wifi to transfer footage to the phone, well you can do that for a file or two, but for bulk transfer you cant do it anytime fast as the cameras have fairly slow wifi in this generation of cameras.
And so transferring a 3 minute video to your phone might take you 2 minutes, so moving 43 of those files will take its sweet time, most likely not something you have patience to sit and wait for.

 

[Kicker0927]

Hey all, so wifey bought me a Garmin 66W for Xmas yay, everything works as it should.

My vehicle does not have Wifi

If I am at work and want to review a video or segment of my drive, I open the app and it says it cannot find the device. So I need to actually go down to my car, start up the cam then open the app. That seems kinda dumb that anytime I want to see any of the videos I need to physically go to my car and start up the cam.
As it has no wifi and my car has no wifi, I am guessing it can't just shoot it to "the cloud" and do the same on my phone (search to "the cloud") and view the videos at anytime, anywhere.

Clearly I am no techi, but is there not a dashcam out there that has that ability? Maybe all dashcams work in the same mannder, it's unfortunate as this is a nice dashcam, decent video, it's small, etc.

Any advice or possible suggestions of other makes that have that ability would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

Without reading all the replies, I think I understand your concern. I’m kind of a new tech nerd and even I was a little naive when I began looking at cams. We are so used to having devices connected to the cloud and WiFi at home and we are able to connect via our phones from work or outside of the home. When I began looking at cams I assumed when they advertised all the great cloud functions and notifications that I could sit in my office at work and download videos or view cam footage over the cloud. However, you must remember that the only reason we can do things like that with the tech we have in our homes is because all those devices are connected to our home WiFi...so it’s the same for the car...the cam must be connected to WiFi in order to transfer data to the cloud or your phone. So a mobile hotspot is your only option. This will run you approx. $30 a month to add to your wireless plan. Even if the cam had 4g/LTE built-in you would have to add the device to your wireless plan and the amount of data needed each month to use it would probably raise your monthly bill by $50+. If you’re looking for a great cam with cloud features, go with the ThinkWare U1000, not the Blackvue...imho. Let us know me what you decide!

P.S...the only cam I know of that has 4g/LTE built in at this time is the Owlcam. However, there were a few models introduced at CES last year. The biggest hurdle is all the data these cameras require...I would imagine a 4K camera with 4g/LTE functions would cost a fortune, especially initially...but I think they’ll start showing up more and more soon.

 

[Johnnyboi]

Okay so after all the researching and head scratching and hair pulling, as I was not happy with the Garmin, I went with the Blackvue DR900S-2CH. Although it's only been a few days and I was a bit scared with all the negative reviews of Blackvue's Android app, I actually found it quite easy to use. All the updates installed correctly, opened a Cloud account, ya, didn't have one of those yet lol wiring was also quite easy even the one all the way in the back window. Kinda creepy when I playback videos of either the front or rear to hear myself talking to myself, I know I can turn that off, I may need to, if any event happened that pissed me off I wouldn't want my kids to hear what I was saying lol All in all, so far, very happy with the clear videos, nice sound, easy install, and co-operative app At the time of my purchase I managed to also get the Magic Pro for the same price as the cameras alone.