Need A Better Dash Cam After Car Being Hit On Christmas Eve

[No1VIPER]

Here's all the details. As I was initially thinking of getting the VIOFO A129. But for my use I think the Nextbase 522GW will be a better fit.

Need A Better Dash Cam After Car Being Hit On Christmas Eve

I woke up Christmas morning to find that my car had been hit. Not a very Merry start to my Christmas [emoji35][emoji22] To make things worse my current dash cam, the Aukey DR02 D, which I've only had since July, didn't capture the incident. So now I'm looking for a new dash cam. I've done...

dashcamtalk.com

The main reason I'm leaning towards the Nextbase 522GW is for the "Intelligent Parking Mode". But I can't really find a lot of information or user reviews/videos talking about it, or showing it in action.

Any help information or help would be greatly appreciated.

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[jokiin]

The A129 parking mode still needs some fine tuning, that said even in its current state it's still a better option than the Nextbase

 

[No1VIPER]

The A129 parking mode still needs some fine tuning, that said even in its current state it's still a better option than the Nextbase

But the A129 doesn't have an equivalent to the Nextbases "Intelligent Parking Mode". Which is the feature I need really.

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[jokiin]

I'd question just how intelligent it actually is, plenty of feedback from owners suggest it's less than ideal

 

[No1VIPER]

Are there any other dash cams around the same kind of price range that have G-Sensor only parking modes? The only ones I've come across are the Nextbase ones as well as the more expensive Thinkware and Blackvue models.

I just need one that has 1080p front and rear, but most importantly G- Sensor only parking mode. As motion detection based ones just active far too frequently and easily, causing rapid battery drain.

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[jokiin]

G-Sensor only is really only useful if the video is buffering which is also going to be power hungry, having video that starts up after the event is too late, technically you may know who or what hit your car going by what is in frame afterwards, you still don't have proof of the actual hit though

 

[kamkar]

I would not fall too hard for whatever name nextbase slap onto a pretty mundane feature, cuz what hardware are inside their cameras it is often the same as in competing brands.
And all are held back in what features the SOC maker give,,,,, and i don't think they keep some out of the good stuff ASO, so really all should have the same chance with the same hardware, and then just make the best of it within the options you have.

 

[joe384]

Are there any other dash cams around the same kind of price range that have G-Sensor only parking modes? The only ones I've come across are the Nextbase ones as well as the more expensive Thinkware and Blackvue models.

I don't know about any other manufacturers, but since the blackvues parking mode is buffered it is using a lot of power and will not last the ~ 12 hours you need without using an external battery, and that starts to get expensive.

I think the nextbase is a good compromise, yes it is not buffered but at least you have a chance of catching "something" without spending a fortune on a dedicated battery setup. If I hadn't already gone down the rabbit hole that is dashcam batteries, I may have given the nextbase models some consideration myself.

As always do as much research as you can and weigh up the factors

 

[No1VIPER]

G-Sensor only is really only useful if the video is buffering which is also going to be power hungry, having video that starts up after the event is too late, technically you may know who or what hit your car going by what is in frame afterwards, you still don't have proof of the actual hit though

Ideally I would prefer a buffered mode, but it just won't last long enough for my needs. The only other option really other than this is getting the expensive battery packs or looking into radar enabled dash cams. But both of those options are very expensive.

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[jokiin]

I'd suggest reading up on what sort of results people have been getting with the Nextbase parking modes, low battery behaviour, issues when running a rear camera with it etc, they may not give you what you want and you may need to look at some sort of power source anyway, better to research and make an informed decision

 

[kamkar]

I think the cameras with radar ( the new thinkware ) well its just sort of a go between G-sensor and motion detect, as i understand it the radar only detect things up close, so if the wake up time are long it might still not be cool.
But i really don't know, only 1 or 2 persons on here have gone with the radar add-on too, and i cant recall any feedback on those.

 

[M8TJT]

If the radar is to wake anything up it has to be on, which implies either a large internal battery or an external battery.
Problem with the Nextbase (and others) solution is that there is no video buffering, thus you only get the 'culprit' driving away with no proof that he hit you. And that's of course only if he is in the view of the cam anyway. So to catch someone actually hitting your car, you need video buffering. The Blackvue cams do this, but of course they consume current all the time so need to be powered on. The Blackvue Power Magic Pro will allow this and protect the car's battery from excessive discharge. Another solution is to get an external battery pack such as the B124, but these things cost an arm and a leg for what they are.

 

[No1VIPER]

If the radar is to wake anything up it has to be on, which implies either a large internal battery or an external battery.
Problem with the Nextbase (and others) solution is that there is no video buffering, thus you only get the 'culprit' driving away with no proof that he hit you. And that's of course only if he is in the view of the cam anyway. So to catch someone actually hitting your car, you need video buffering. The Blackvue cams do this, but of course they consume current all the time so need to be powered on. The Blackvue Power Magic Pro will allow this and protect the car's battery from excessive discharge. Another solution is to get an external battery pack such as the B124, but these things cost an arm and a leg for what they are.

From what I've read radar doesn't use much battery. That's one of the advantages.

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[joe384]

I think the cameras with radar ( the new thinkware ) well its just sort of a go between G-sensor and motion detect, as i understand it the radar only detect things up close, so if the wake up time are long it might still not be cool.
But i really don't know, only 1 or 2 persons on here have gone with the radar add-on too, and i cant recall any feedback on those.

Yeah the radar wakes the cam out of sleep mode and it starts buffering footage, then if there is an impact it will save as normal.

 

[Kicker0927]

I believe the Nextbase 522GW has cloud capabilities too, for which the Viofo does not. (If that’s important to you). I’ve been looking at the ThinkWare U1000 and the Viofo A129 Pro. I’d get the Viofo for the price point compared to the ThinkWare, but no cloud capabilities. ‍

 

[Nextbase Support]

Hi there,

I thought I'd pitch in to tell you how Parking Mode functions, and then you can make your own informed decision.

Parking Mode is a feature that we've built into all of our Series 2 Dash Cams, which uses a separately programmed G-sensor within the Dash Cam. When an incident happens that exerts force onto the vehicle (such as someone hitting your car, breaking a window etc), the G-sensor will be activated and will then turn the Dash Cam on. The Camera will then record the scene for a set period of time (adjustable in the settings) after the incident. This should capture the other driver/ car driving away/ any aftermath. This footage will be write protected and stored as a Protected File onto the micro SD in a separate Protected File folder.
We'd recommend having the Dash Cam plugged into a power source to prevent the Dash Cam's battery from being drained; we'd recommend a Hard Wire Kit, with the end fuse plugged into a Permanent Live fuse socket. This will stop the Dash Cam's battery from draining, while the voltage cutoff on the Hard Wire Kit will prevent the car's battery from being drained.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask.

Regards,
Millie- Nextbase