get_schwifty
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2018
- Messages
- 3
- Reaction score
- 1
- Country
- United States
Hello, I am in the market for a dash cam, and have found the selection overwhelming. I would like to turn my situation over to you fine subject matter experts to see if my line of thinking makes sense, and if there is any advice you have for me. Please pardon the long post as I want to provide as many details as possible, and thank you so much for your time!
I have a 2018 WRX STI I purchased three weeks ago. I purchased this car because the vehicle I purchased three months prior was destroyed when I was rear-ended by another driver. Considering the vehicle's cost, and how I am pretty anal about a car’s finish, and how people are often inconsiderate of others, I would like a dash cam. While value is good, I am most interested in the product/setup that best meets my needs.
I feel the things I am looking for include:
Initially, I was interested in several of the higher-end offerings from BlackVue (750) and Thinkware (F800), loved the profile of the BlackVue, and am attracted to the Starvis cameras. However, reviews for these cameras are inconsistent, and the reports that they often have issues using 3rd party (even high-end MLC NAND) cards concerns me (because other devices I have personally used that have been finicky with higher-end MLC flash have been finicky and inconsistent devices all-around in regards to data integrity - not sure if that is the case here, but it worries me nonetheless.) What I do not want is to make a big investment in a camera, have someone hit me, and then go to retrieve the footage only to find that the camera has failed to perform its primary duty.
Installation-wise, I am unsure whether I would hardwire this into the fuse box or use the hidden outlet in the center console + an external power supply for parking mode. The BlackVue PMP seemed very attractive and that was one of the things that interested me in the brand. I’m not opposed to professional installation, and I am not opposed to purchasing something like an Optima Yellow Top battery to better extend parking mode function time. I have more reading to do in this area, but it seems what direction I should go in will depend on the camera I choose.
So, all of the above led me to your wonderful site, where I’ve read about various options. From what I can tell, the Viofo A129 seems to meet most of my needs (alternatively, two A119S’s would as well), and appears to have a solid reputation for reliability and function. It’s got front and rear Starvis cameras, would provide 280-degree coverage between the two cameras, supports 1080p, has Wi-Fi, a G-sensor and parking mode capability, and supports microSD cards up to ¼ TB.
So, does the 2-channel Viofo A129 unit (or two 1-channel A119S units) sound like the best choice for my situation? If not, where would you recommend I move towards from here? Thanks again for your time!
I have a 2018 WRX STI I purchased three weeks ago. I purchased this car because the vehicle I purchased three months prior was destroyed when I was rear-ended by another driver. Considering the vehicle's cost, and how I am pretty anal about a car’s finish, and how people are often inconsiderate of others, I would like a dash cam. While value is good, I am most interested in the product/setup that best meets my needs.
I feel the things I am looking for include:
- Front and rear coverage while driving in the event of an accident with sufficient video quality to record license plates (I am assuming 1080p or greater quality)
- Cameras capable of detecting and withstanding shock (it appears all decent units check this mark)
- Parking mode function that is extremely reliable
- Widest angle possible that a 2-camera system can provide, to best account for if someone hits the car while parked on the sides
- Reasonably good quality in low-light situations (enough to make out incidents and license plates)
- The ability to deal with a climate that can range from 0F to 100F
- The ability to accommodate a high-end [MLC] Transcend Ultimate or HE, or Samsung PRO microSDXC card in at least 64GB and preferably 128GB+ capacity
- The ability to transfer videos via WiFi would be nice, but is not absolutely necessary
- I do NOT need cloud capability, an internal IR camera, a LCD, mobile apps, voice control, lane departure warning, speed warning, or GPS. If the unit has any of this, that’s fine…but it is not necessary as I probably will not use these
Initially, I was interested in several of the higher-end offerings from BlackVue (750) and Thinkware (F800), loved the profile of the BlackVue, and am attracted to the Starvis cameras. However, reviews for these cameras are inconsistent, and the reports that they often have issues using 3rd party (even high-end MLC NAND) cards concerns me (because other devices I have personally used that have been finicky with higher-end MLC flash have been finicky and inconsistent devices all-around in regards to data integrity - not sure if that is the case here, but it worries me nonetheless.) What I do not want is to make a big investment in a camera, have someone hit me, and then go to retrieve the footage only to find that the camera has failed to perform its primary duty.
Installation-wise, I am unsure whether I would hardwire this into the fuse box or use the hidden outlet in the center console + an external power supply for parking mode. The BlackVue PMP seemed very attractive and that was one of the things that interested me in the brand. I’m not opposed to professional installation, and I am not opposed to purchasing something like an Optima Yellow Top battery to better extend parking mode function time. I have more reading to do in this area, but it seems what direction I should go in will depend on the camera I choose.
So, all of the above led me to your wonderful site, where I’ve read about various options. From what I can tell, the Viofo A129 seems to meet most of my needs (alternatively, two A119S’s would as well), and appears to have a solid reputation for reliability and function. It’s got front and rear Starvis cameras, would provide 280-degree coverage between the two cameras, supports 1080p, has Wi-Fi, a G-sensor and parking mode capability, and supports microSD cards up to ¼ TB.
So, does the 2-channel Viofo A129 unit (or two 1-channel A119S units) sound like the best choice for my situation? If not, where would you recommend I move towards from here? Thanks again for your time!