Greenhorn Seeking Suggestions

claymoan

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Hey everyone,

I am new to the dashcam world, and would like to hear your suggestions/advice on which dashcam/setup to get. I drive a 2018 Honda Accord LX.

Someone recently removed my Honda Sensing Sensor (located in front grill of car), and the worst part of it was that I didn't know when it happened or who was responsible for it.


Any recommendations on what set-up would be a good fit? Ideally, I would want it to be able to capture front & rear during drives (to guard against irresponsible drivers/unforeseen instances which could help with insurance claims), and also act as a security "CCTV" (day + night) when not driving my car.


I have heard great things about the BlackVue DR650S-2CH, and I wanted to hear from the experienced community before making a decision. I read some reviews claiming that the BlackVue has some wifi/battery/power draining issues as well...


P/S: I live in Austin, TX. Based on Google search: Austin averages 16 days a year when temperatures reach 100 °F or more. Heatwaves with temperatures in the 100s typically occur anytime from June to September. Most summer days get to a least 90 degrees. And from April to October, Austin's temperature typically never goes lower than 40 °F.




Look forward to your valuable insight.

Cheers,
Clement
 

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I'm sure blackvue are capacitor cams which is good for high heat, and as for battery draining I think you can get a CellinkB or something similar that automatically cuts off when the car's battery drops to a certain voltage.

Is wifi a feature you actually need?
 
I'm sure blackvue are capacitor cams which is good for high heat, and as for battery draining I think you can get a CellinkB or something similar that automatically cuts off when the car's battery drops to a certain voltage.

Is wifi a feature you actually need?

Thank you for your response, DashcamDPR. Does CellinkB function the same as the Power Magic Pro (since Amazon offers that as a bundle for the BlackVue)?

I am not too sure if wifi is a feature that i actually need. I just hope that the car will be monitored even when asleep/away, so that I can have a peace of mind.
 
Power Magic Pro is so you can power the camera and have a safety cutoff to avoid your vehicle battery going flat, the cellink is intended to be used instead of the vehicle battery
 
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Power Magin Pro is so you can power the camera and have a safety cutoff to avoid your vehicle battery going flat, the cellink is intended to be used instead of the vehicle battery
Thank you for sharing, jokiin. I noticed your name popped up in several other threads in this forum. May i hear from you what you would recommend for someone looking for those needs to be fulfilled?

Priorities: Parking Mode. Able to see plates. Easy file transfers. Dual cam.

All that said with the functions coming out the box, not having to purchase add-ons.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
 
In that heat you need a cam powered by super-caps; a battery will die quickly. Blackvue has a good parking mode and are generally reliable, but aren't a good value otherwise. Might still be a good choice as you have parking mode as a top priority :) Plate capture is hit-and-miss with all dashcams and none are significantly better than all the others in this regard, though some are less good when traveling at highway speeds. File transfers and viewing are best done by pulling the card and using a PC or laptop. This is much faster than any other method for dashcams; wifi has not yet matured with these. It may be useful to view one file but beyond that just pull the card ;) Some form of extrnal power or battery discharge protection (BDP) is probably a good idea for overnight cam use, though in my experience isn't always necessary. I've been running 2 cams in 2 vehicles 24/7 without seeing any signs of problems as long as the car is driven for at least 20 minutes every morning. There are a lot of variables in this so I can't recommend you follow suit, Best to play it safe :cool:

Whichever cams you're considering there is probably a forum for each here on DCT. You'd be well advised to read those and see what the owners of those cams have experienced, and to closely study vids from those cams in all lighting and road conditions, The perfect cam has never been made but at least this way you will know what to expect before spending your money and it will help you avoid cams which won't suit your needs. And welcome to DCT (y)

Phil
 
In that heat you need a cam powered by super-caps; a battery will die quickly. Blackvue has a good parking mode and are generally reliable, but aren't a good value otherwise. Might still be a good choice as you have parking mode as a top priority :) Plate capture is hit-and-miss with all dashcams and none are significantly better than all the others in this regard, though some are less good when traveling at highway speeds. File transfers and viewing are best done by pulling the card and using a PC or laptop. This is much faster than any other method for dashcams; wifi has not yet matured with these. It may be useful to view one file but beyond that just pull the card ;) Some form of extrnal power or battery discharge protection (BDP) is probably a good idea for overnight cam use, though in my experience isn't always necessary. I've been running 2 cams in 2 vehicles 24/7 without seeing any signs of problems as long as the car is driven for at least 20 minutes every morning. There are a lot of variables in this so I can't recommend you follow suit, Best to play it safe :cool:

Whichever cams you're considering there is probably a forum for each here on DCT. You'd be well advised to read those and see what the owners of those cams have experienced, and to closely study vids from those cams in all lighting and road conditions, The perfect cam has never been made but at least this way you will know what to expect before spending your money and it will help you avoid cams which won't suit your needs. And welcome to DCT (y)

Phil
Appreciate for your well-written response, Phil. I notice you have a great presence on DCT.

For a first-time buyer, would you say the Blackvue Dr650s-2ch will fulfil those needs? Still sitting on the fence because the reviews/threads on the blackvue seems to have both positive and negative feedback.

Thank you!
 
Every cam has it's quirks and drawbacks. Blackvue is no different. They build good reliable cams and their parking mode is as good as that gets, but that is all which I like in them. They require you use only the SD cards they sell- no others will work reliably in every cam- and those, like their cams, are IMHO overpriced. Older models still have a 720P rear cam, a standard from long ago, and old or new they all have a low bitrate which keeps the hardware fro, reaching it's full potential of video quality. And God forbid you need post-sales customer service from them- theirs is bad on it's best days and can go a lot lower from there.

As you can see I m not a fan of Blackvue. But if you like what their cams do and the price is acceptable they are not a bad choice. I'd look closely at the vids which owners post, especially in low-light and at speed in any light, before settling on this one. If you find them good enough and parking mode is high on your list of needs this could be the best cam for you. I would not be worried with this cam in my car, which is more than I can say for a lot of other cams ;) And if Blackvue tried harder to satisfy it's customers I'd think a lot more highly of their products.

Phil
 
I'm no fan of Blackvue although I do like their form factor and if you want some type of remote access they have the cloud functionality, for parking mode though I don't think it's the best solution, lots of complaints of them either being too sensitive and recording constantly or not sensitive enough, very hard to find a good balance, for parking mode the Thinkware products are doing it better as they have a 3 wire power supply and can better control which mode the camera should be in
 
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