Most Important Elements in DVR

[drdogs]

Hi guys

Just curious, what elements do you feel the most important, as part of a car DVR. I'm considering going into business selling them, and would be interested to get actual user feedback as to what is regarded as the most important "things" users are looking for in a device.

I understand people will be different and have different reasons for getting one, but I'm sure a common pattern will start to emerge.

Cheers.

Dr.

 

[niko]

Hi guys

Just curious, what elements do you feel the most important, as part of a car DVR. I'm considering going into business selling them, and would be interested to get actual user feedback as to what is regarded as the most important "things" users are looking for in a device.

I understand people will be different and have different reasons for getting one, but I'm sure a common pattern will start to emerge.

Cheers.

Dr.

ALL ( and I mean ALL ! ) parts have importance. You are not the first who is planning to start "this" business and asking similar questions. Later we can see ( in many cases ) failure, like this guy HERE.
If you want to get into reseller business, you need more deep understanding of dash camera inside-out. Nobody can ( and will not ) write you in one post all small things you need to know, - it's too complicated.
My suggestion for you to take time off ( about 2 weeks ) and read every day 3-5 hours going trough different threads. Only this way you will educate yourself, so you will be able to make right choices on what to resell.
Buyer trust those resellers who knows their goods inside-out ( like @FoxOffer @spytec, @jokiin, etc).

 

[drdogs]

Fantastic response, thanks. I understand being leery about anyone coming along voicing their thoughts about selling product. My consideration was more along the lines of going OEM - developing my own product/brand to my own specs, and getting it manufactured.

From my admittedly limited research so far, it seems like there are 2 segments to the market - the uber cheap products that tend to be in the $20-$60 price range from no-name brands, and tend to be of questionable quality (although admittedly there seem to be some diamonds in the rough), then there are the "up-market" products in the $200-$400 range (the bulk of which seem to come from South Korea), whom are still no-name (no name in the fact that they aren't "Sony" or "Panasonic" etc), but generally have better features.

My thought was that it's possible the market would be open to a player in the $100-200 price bracket, that can offer a much better quality product compared to the cheaper variants, and simply focus on getting the some core "right", without needing all the "bells and whistles" some of the more expensive versions have. Some thoughts in this regard:

- Excellent video quality in both day and night/low light conditions (1080 at 30fps would be a good place to start)
- Integrated WIFI to sync with smartphone (with included free app) for quick viewing of files, saving footage etc. This saves having to have a screen integrated in the unit.
- Accelerometer & GPS
- Auto On/Off + motion sensing when car is off.
- Small footprint
- Good English language manual....

I think it would also be pretty handy if the unit could transmit GPS location data in a "call home" feature integrated in the app, in the event the car (or unit) is stolen, but that's likely putting the unit in the "up-market" bracket, and therefore out of the price-range I was thinking of targeting. Same for the consideration for having a "dual" setup, for a second camera pointing out the back of the car.

As you can probably tell, things are at a VERY early stage right now....my question would've been better served drawing up a proper survey, and as you suggest, also doing more in-depth research prior to approach. However at this stage I'm simply dipping my toes in the water.

 

[jokiin]

Fantastic response, thanks. I understand being leery about anyone coming along voicing their thoughts about selling product. My consideration was more along the lines of going OEM - developing my own product/brand to my own specs, and getting it manufactured.
.

You're talking about ODM, if you talk to anyone about OEM they'll assume you just want to put your name on something they make

My thought was that it's possible the market would be open to a player in the $100-200 price bracket, that can offer a much better quality product compared to the cheaper variants, and simply focus on getting the some core "right", without needing all the "bells and whistles" some of the more expensive versions have. Some thoughts in this regard:

- Excellent video quality in both day and night/low light conditions (1080 at 30fps would be a good place to start)
- Integrated WIFI to sync with smartphone (with included free app) for quick viewing of files, saving footage etc. This saves having to have a screen integrated in the unit.
- Accelerometer & GPS
- Auto On/Off + motion sensing when car is off.
- Small footprint
- Good English language manual....

what you're thinking could be built within this price range, being able to retail something within this price range with this functionality though is pushing it

 

[drdogs]

You're talking about ODM, if you talk to anyone about OEM they'll assume you just want to put your name on something they make

Well the thought isn't for me to manufacture it myself - I'd be outsourcing to a manufacturer, but using my IP and brand, so I perhaps it's a bit of both.

what you're thinking could be built within this price range, being able to retail something within this price range with this functionality though is pushing it

Yeah that's what I was worried about. Anyway, will read over your posts because I can see I'll get a wealth of info from them, so thanks for posting in my thread

PS. Are you a manufacturer or reseller?

 

[jokiin]

Well the thought isn't for me to manufacture it myself - I'd be outsourcing to a manufacturer, but using my IP and brand, so I perhaps it's a bit of both.

I realised you wouldn't be making it yourself, what I meant though is if you contacted a manufacturer and talked about an OEM project they'll think you want to stick your name on their product, that's referred to in the industry as OEM, 99% of people you are likely to ever speak to about this are not native English language speakers so getting the terminology right makes a difference, if you want something manufactured to your own design and specification that's referred to as ODM

PS. Are you a manufacturer or reseller?

Manufacturer

 

[sludgeguts]

Maybe consider making a range of cams - sub $100 for basic cam without all the frills...
remote lens - so no need to worry about how tiny the actual DVR is.
Best resolution available
Decent night footage
And if you could still retail at less than $100 - dual remote lens
And maybe chuck some cheapo LCD (heck, they must be pennies since even the $20 dashcams have a flip down screen!) to help with positioning the lens.

As you move up the range, then you can start introducing the bells and whistoles - GPS, smartphone connectivity etc etc

 

[jokiin]

if you want to make your own the point where you recover costs is typically about 10,000 pieces

 

[drdogs]

I realised you wouldn't be making it yourself, what I meant though is if you contacted a manufacturer and talked about an OEM project they'll think you want to stick your name on their product, that's referred to in the industry as OEM, 99% of people you are likely to ever speak to about this are not native English language speakers so getting the terminology right makes a difference, if you want something manufactured to your own design and specification that's referred to as ODM

Gotcha, and yep, I know what you mean about dealing with ESL speakers. My current business revolves 100% around dealing with people from different nations, and sometimes it's a simple misunderstanding on a word or phrase that *really* screws things up....!

Manufacturer

Very cool, may need to PM you for more info etc, but presuming I won't be able to do that just yet due to low post count. Besides, don't want to waste too much of your time as yet - I still need to do my due diligence.

Maybe consider making a range of cams - sub $100 for basic cam without all the frills...
remote lens - so no need to worry about how tiny the actual DVR is.
Best resolution available
Decent night footage
And if you could still retail at less than $100 - dual remote lens
And maybe chuck some cheapo LCD (heck, they must be pennies since even the $20 dashcams have a flip down screen!) to help with positioning the lens.

As you move up the range, then you can start introducing the bells and whistoles - GPS, smartphone connectivity etc etc

Some interesting points, thank you. The issue is though, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like the sub $100 price-range is already fairly "flooded" with product (judging from what I'm seeing in Alibaba/Aliexpress/Amazon etc etc). I doubt I'll be able to compete on price point (and in all honesty, I don't think I want to), which I guess brings me back to my point of finding just the right elements to really get right, and basically be best in class

if you want to make your own the point where you recover costs is typically about 10,000 pieces

Not too surprising, although it's a tough one to deal with....my last business was started with $300 and scaled to 6 figures in a years time.....

 

[Jedd]

Compete on the concept level. So far no one produced a decent price/performance unit with remote cams to keep dvr in the glove box/center console etc. Give it BT or WiFi for upstreaming/positioning and you'll have something unique.

 

[jokiin]

Not too surprising, although it's a tough one to deal with....my last business was started with $300 and scaled to 6 figures in a years time.....

there's a bit more to it than that, basically you need to do 10,000 pieces to pay out your tooling costs versus what it costs working with someone else's tooling, if low volume then it's not practical to justify the tooling costs, it's not a business you could start for $300 but I'm sure you appreciate that already, that's not to say you need funds to start with 10,000 pieces either, you certainly can start much smaller, this is probably not an appropriate place to discuss though

Very cool, may need to PM you for more info etc, but presuming I won't be able to do that just yet due to low post count. Besides, don't want to waste too much of your time as yet - I still need to do my due diligence.

I'm happy to talk to anyone and it doesn't need to be about dealing with us, but you are right, a bit of due diligence goes a long way and you've got a ton of reading to do, plenty of info here on this site for starters

 

[jokiin]

Compete on the concept level. So far no one produced a decent price/performance unit with remote cams to keep dvr in the glove box/center console etc. Give it BT or WiFi for upstreaming/positioning and you'll have something unique.

that's not a $100 to $200 product unfortunately

 

[drdogs]

Compete on the concept level. So far no one produced a decent price/performance unit with remote cams to keep dvr in the glove box/center console etc. Give it BT or WiFi for upstreaming/positioning and you'll have something unique.

Going to show my ignorance here - but what's BT? I tried searching, but the search string is too short, so I get nothing.

In regards to remote cams - presumably you are referring to a unit that sends signal to a "base unit" (that possibly has a screen) that is stored in the glovebox/console area, correct?

there's a bit more to it than that, basically you need to do 10,000 pieces to pay out your tooling costs versus what it costs working with someone else's tooling, if low volume then it's not practical to justify the tooling costs, it's not a business you could start for $300 but I'm sure you appreciate that already, that's not to say you need funds to start with 10,000 pieces either, you certainly can start much smaller, this is probably not an appropriate place to discuss though

Yep understood - it's fairly typical to have run requirements like that to cover for the tooling/dies/stamps/casts (name seems to change depending on industry).

I'm happy to talk to anyone and it doesn't need to be about dealing with us, but you are right, a bit of due diligence goes a long way and you've got a ton of reading to do, plenty of info here on this site for starters

Thank you, I appreciate it!

 

[drdogs]

Oh duh, just occurred to me "BT = Blue Tooth"

 

[jokiin]

Yep understood - it's fairly typical to have run requirements like that to cover for the tooling/dies/stamps/casts (name seems to change depending on industry).

tooling is the term used here that everyone will know

 

[sludgeguts]

Some interesting points, thank you. The issue is though, and correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like the sub $100 price-range is already fairly "flooded" with product (judging from what I'm seeing in Alibaba/Aliexpress/Amazon etc etc). I doubt I'll be able to compete on price point (and in all honesty, I don't think I want to), which I guess brings me back to my point of finding just the right elements to really get right, and basically be best in class

I agree, the sub $100 market is flooded - but with cameras that manufacturers want us to buy, not what we want.
I'm still seeing a lot of big plastic boxes with a central lens - and manufacturers are still expecting us to fill our screens with these things.
The only option for a 'discrete' install is to have one of the recently introduced mini cams (mobius et al) - which seem fraught with their own problems - and not really produced with the car cam in mind.
I believe the main reason these things are still selling is because people want a great camera & figure it's 'hobson's choice'.
Instead of investing in a new product, why not see if you can take what is already out there & adapt? Maybe someone has thousands of old satnav/mobile phone or dashcam cases they can't get rid of?
Over the years I've seen plenty of tech where a company has used someone else's old cases, put in their own stuff & put it on the market as a new product.
I believe the dashcam industry is going down the wrong road when they try to squeeze more and more into smaller & smaller packages (the mobile phone industry went down that route & has now gone the other way, producing larger phones).

 

[jokiin]

Instead of investing in a new product, why not see if you can take what is already out there & adapt?

I thought about doing something like this a while back but it's full of problems, by the time you adapt you end up doing more work than starting from scratch if you really want to fix things

 

[drdogs]

I thought about doing something like this a while back but it's full of problems, by the time you adapt you end up doing more work than starting from scratch if you really want to fix things

Was thinking the same thing. Anyway, lots to think about....thanks to everyone that posted in this thead.

 

[sludgeguts]

I thought about doing something like this a while back but it's full of problems, by the time you adapt you end up doing more work than starting from scratch if you really want to fix things

True enough.
However, if you were talking about a remote lens dashcam, you could drop your circuit board into a Tupperware box and it wouldn't matter since this bit is intended to be hidden away.
How much of the actual cost of a new release is eaten up by fancy case etc?

 

[jokiin]

True enough.
However, if you were talking about a remote lens dashcam, you could drop your circuit board into a Tupperware box and it wouldn't matter since this bit is intended to be hidden away.
How much of the actual cost of a new release is eaten up by fancy case etc?

how many people would be ok with spending all their money on something that came in a Tupperware box? (I know you were not suggesting we actually use a Tupperware box) The case is not so expensive to produce, the tooling required to make the case though costs big money, there's a lot more involved than the outward appearance might suggest