Guy from Houston, TX, USA; very glad to join this great forum

jmegner

New Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Messages
21
Reaction score
7
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Country
United States
Dash Cam
Lukas LK-7900 ACE, G1W, DVR-207GS
To give some background on myself...

My father bought a G1W for ~USD50 and tried it out some. He liked it, but rarely drives and decided to give it to me as a gift (around 2013 December, I think). I loved it, and I regretted that I didn't get into dash cams earlier. I feel the biggest reason that almost no one in USA has a dash cam is it's just not a thing. Many people here don't even know that such a thing exists as a specialized consumer electronic device with its own industry.

I then bought a DVR-207GS, and even though it's still an amazing device for ~USD50, the G1W seemed superior in every way. I then bought a Lukas LK-7900 ACE because I wanted an all around better camera with good temperature rating. Now I have the ACE in front and the DVR-207GS in back. I live in Houston, TX, USA, and our summers are very hot, so I wonder how long the DVR-207GS will last.

Perhaps I should have gotten a Vicovation Vico-TF2+ Premium, but at the time the ACE's built-in GPS won me over. Funny story: as a result of the ACE's GPS, I discovered that my speedometer is inaccurate by ~7%.

I am very much looking forward to the release of the Vico-Marcus 5 Dual and of the various GuardTrak models, as I am itching for a high quality dual channel camera with excellent temperature rating. Very cheap cameras with the ability to survive Houston summers also have my interest (G1W-C?). It'd be great if I can leave my cameras mounted, baking in the hot sun, without worrying.

I would like to express my deep thanks to the people that make this a truly great forum, rather than just a good one:
  • DashCamMan: Thanks so much for this site, and your contributions to this forum.
  • jokiin: I love reading your comments that are full of expertise and knowledge. I eagerly await the release of your dash cams and wish you much success. You are a great asset to this forum.
  • Niko: I very much appreciate your reviews and other insights that you very graciously share with us.
  • JazJon, CheckYourLights, Mtz, Jazzist, Dashmellow, Gurkha9, GJHS: you are excellent contributors, and I am glad you are active here.
edit: Of course, there are many others worthy of mention, but I have only read a small portion of all this forum has to offer. I'm thankful to all great contributors to this forum.
 
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Greetings from Cornwall UK.
Nice intro ;)
 
Welcome to DCT !
 
Welcome on bord jmegner :)
 
Hi, I was study TX rice university, so my email use txrice. So glad to hear TX people here. On high temperature, panorama2 can endure. Take your time on this forum.
 
Welcome to DCT jmegner

Thank you for including me. I know other people are more of an expert than I, but being a car person as well as having dealt with the headaches of both being in an accident that I did not cause and dealing with some junk cameras passed off other places as being better quality than they really are I find myself having a real passion for getting good information out to keep drivers safe on our roads.

I'm glad you were able to find this place were able to get the information you needed to get a good camera that fit your needs. Enjoy your stay here and good luck with all your current and future cameras.
 
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Thanks, guys, I feel very welcome here. Also, now I feel very silly as it now occurs to me about all the people that are worthy of mention, but didn't make my list because I have only read a small portion of all that this forum has to offer.

Hi, I was study TX rice university, so my email use txrice. So glad to hear TX people here. On high temperature, panorama2 can endure.

I've only heard good things about Rice; I hope you enjoyed your time there. Thanks for the info on the Panorama II. Also, as I look through your previous posts, you seem to be yet another treasure trove of insight and knowledge in this forum.

Thank you for including me...I'm glad you were able to find this place were able to get the information you needed to get a good camera that fit your needs. Enjoy your stay here and good luck with all your current and future cameras.

Thank you. Yes, the dash cam offerings are so mind-boggingly vast, mere humans like me are very grateful for the guidance and expertise of others.
 
Regardless of how many people may be able to answer a question every user is valuable to the success of a forum, without people asking questions we'd never get anywhere
 
Welcome @jmegner, thanks for the compliment. Sounds as if you have yourself a nice collection and some good knowledge yourself. Thanks for sharing your story.

Was the jump from the G1W to the Lukas a big jump in quality or features? How do you like it so far?

I think we can all appreciate the heat worry. I get nervous leaving any electronics a hot car siting in the sun on a 90 degree day.
 
Welcome @jmegner, thanks for the compliment. Sounds as if you have yourself a nice collection and some good knowledge yourself. Thanks for sharing your story.
Was the jump from the G1W to the Lukas a big jump in quality or features? How do you like it so far?
I think we can all appreciate the heat worry. I get nervous leaving any electronics a hot car siting in the sun on a 90 degree day.

Thanks.

The Lukas LK-7900 ACE was a big jump. The G1w was kind of finicky with micro SD cards, while the ACE was flawless with the first SD card I chose. The ACE is a lot smaller, which is really nice, and the video quality and audio quality is better, though the G1W still amazes me in that a ~USD50 device can deliver a reasonable 1080p video. I like the ACE's new slide-out mount (versus the older twist-out mount). I really like the GPS and g-sensor data of the ACE, but I wish the Lukas ACE viewer was better. I can't maximize the video nor is there any map window to show the location while you watch the video.

I don't think my ACE is suffering from the blurriness issues in some ACEs, but I'm also not 100% satisfied with the video quality, especially when it comes to reading license plates. That's one of the biggest things making me think maybe I would have been happier with a Vicovation Vico-TF2+ Premium; Vicovation models seems to have top-notch video quality based on what I've read.
 
Thanks.

I really like the GPS and g-sensor data of the ACE, but I wish the Lukas ACE viewer was better. I can't maximize the video nor is there any map window to show the location while you watch the video.

I don't think my ACE is suffering from the blurriness issues in some ACEs, but I'm also not 100% satisfied with the video quality, especially when it comes to reading license plates. That's one of the biggest things making me think maybe I would have been happier with a Vicovation Vico-TF2+ Premium; Vicovation models seems to have top-notch video quality based on what I've read.

Have you tried Registrator Viewer to view the files? I have been successful zooming in to get plate numbers using it.
 
Have you tried Registrator Viewer to view the files? I have been successful zooming in to get plate numbers using it.

VLC media player also allows zooming, and I've been using that when I want to do detailed viewing.
 
http://www.registratorviewer.com/index_en.html
Registrator also shows GPS info. Give it a try

Yes, I also had great hopes for Registrator Viewer, but it takes some work to convert the Lukas's GPS info into something that Registrator Viewer can deal with, and I haven't taken the time to figure it all out yet. My dream is to first figure it out and work through the GPS info conversion process manually, then whip up some program (or hopefully something that already exists) to automate the whole process.
 
After watching some Vicovation Marcus 3 footage, I'm now thinking better of my Lukas LK-7900 ACE video quality. I guess my standards were too high, likely spoiled by many hours of viewing dash cam compilations which mostly have the very large Russian license plates. I'm still looking forward to the Marcus 5 and jokiin's dual-channel GuardTrak model. I'd love to have a very discrete and high-quality dual-channel camera.
 
latest version registrator viewer 5.7 is up and running Ipol
 
What version of Ipol is it running? :p
 
High GJHS these days I get overtaken by tortoises so running is certainly out of the question for me :eek: Ipol yep I see now I missed a full stop I told you I was slow even slower than that donkey of yours :p
 
Now that I put racing stripes and a wing on her, she feels faster. Though I am having problem keeping my video smooth. She won't keep her head still at that speed. :D
 
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