Newbie looking for suggestions

[brightstar]

Hello, I've been researching at the Dashcam Talk website for a couple of days now. I am still confused and have difficulty to select which dashcam to buy. I would highly appreciate all your help, guidance, advice, and suggestions.

My background:
I got into a major accident (Rear-ended) at the beginning of 2015 and my car was totalled. Luckilly the person who hit me had insurance and even though i was out of pocket by around 2 to 3k, I was atleast compensated and bought a new Toyota Corolla last March. I was again hit in the rear last week and the person never even stopped to look what happened. It was a hit and run. Even though I gave them a chase for a few miles through freeway, service road and interior roads, I lost them. All I got was the hit person's TAG/License plate number and with that information I lodged a police compliant and not sure if it will progress without any material evidence.

I started trying to use the DailyRoads Voyager on my samsung s4 android phone with a phone mount, but it has the following issues.

a) too much vibration resulting in the camera getting out of focus
b) many times the phone gets heated up and the apps gets shut down automatically without any warning.

I am damn serious to buy a dash cam.

My Considerations:
1) Car Model: Toyota Corolla 2015 is the model of the car I have.

2) Temperature: I live in Texas, USA. Everyone know how hot the Texas summer can be. It can go upto high 110's and think that the temperature will be much hotter inside the car. I don't have a garage to put my car in, even though there is some shaded parking. In winter, it can get very cold too... The vehicle will experience these extreme temperatures. I believe that I should definitely restrict to capacitor models and understand that A118C, Transcend Pro200 are the available capacitor based models. Not sure if we have any other capacitor models. Due to the high temperature

3) Front/Rear Channel: As I have been hit twice in the rear, I Would prefer to have a rear-view camera as well.

4) day/night capability: I am looking for something with good night quality as both the accidents happened in the night. I am hearing about SG9665GC which has Sony CMOS Lens and which is expected to be superior.

5) Vibration: I believe that mount is one of the key criteria and with my experience mounting the camera onto the dashboard, it vibrates so much that many times, the camera becomes out of focus on the smartphone and not sure if it is the same issue with the dash cam's as well. This is a very important criteria for me. Does sticking the dashcams onto the windshield help to stabilize the video? Is A118C reliable?

6) GPS. Not a must for me.

7) Reliability: I bet this is the most important one for every member of this group. Does name brands more reliable than lesser known brands?

8) Cost: I'd like to keep this as low as possible without compromising quality. Started with a low budget but as day passes, willing to consider more for better reliability and quality. At the end, I am willing to pay what it is worth and not on features which are not of prime importance.

9) Would prefer a discreet cam if possible or atleast which can be removed to prevent break-in's/ theft.

10) Voice messages would be preferred but not must.

Hope this helps you all to guide me and i would like to thank in advance for your time.

 

[dash riposki]

The A118C is ok, but the night video isn't good.

Name brands mean very little in dash cams. (Assuming you mean Garmin, Cobra, etc)

You'd probably want capacitor equipped dash cams to handle heat better, longer life with less problems for the cams.

Unless you get very silly, most of the mounts that come with dash cams won't have vibration problems. Suction cup, adhesive, etc. (I'm in a tractor trailer)
The adhesive backed mounting plates some use aren't that bad to deal with, remove/reinstall, etc. Suction cups work ok, but sometimes the cam falls off, usually when sitting in the sun, and after it's been there a while. (weeks/months)

Discrete? Varies. Ease in removing? Also. You can range from 'they can't see the damn thing' to 'WTF is that in his windshield'.
Many of the common ones most will suggest here are easy to remove.
If you're keeping the car for a while and feel like tinkering, there are some cams you can really hide pretty easily. Hide the wiring, most of the cam, etc.

I won't spout off the usual suspect models. Just nose around, see what looks interesting, read some posts, watch some videos.

 

[CheckYourLights]

I don't mean to derail the thread, but you have 1,115 post and I just now realized your username is dash riposki
my head said it as Dash Rip-off-ski
Thanks for the chuckle. Sorry it took me 1,115 post to enjoy it. Man have I been running slow for awhile.

 

[dash riposki]

(When I was setting up a google account to use for dash cam stuff, most of the 'dash' names/emails were taken. It was early morning....I was brain dead, don't remember if dash riposki was suggested by google, or what? I think I was trying for 'dash riprock' and google offered variations...somehow ended up with riposki. OH, I remember now, google asked for my real name, and had to make up something on the fly that sounded like the email address I created.)

 

[Module 79L]

I don't mean to derail the thread, but you have 1,115 post and I just now realized your username is dash riposki
my head said it as Dash Rip-off-ski
Thanks for the chuckle. Sorry it took me 1,115 post to enjoy it. Man have I been running slow for awhile.

(You're not alone, my friend, you're not alone. My brain still does it, even though it realized quite a while ago it wasn't ripoffski. )

 

[brightstar]

Hi Dash Riposki, Thanks for your views.

I am now veering towards Blacksys cf-100 and have a couple of questions on that.
1) How good or bad is the rear end camera of Blacksys cf-100 in day and night?
2) Is it easy to install?

I saw that Gibson99 had posted a lot in this forum and will go through the same to get an idea. By the way, I am also from Houston.

 

[kamkar]

The rear camera is only 720p, but thats still leaps and bounds better then a 480 tv line camera.
The rest i wll have to leave to the guys that actually have one.

 

[dash riposki]

Gibson is not only a houstonian, but a toyota guy, so maybe you speak the same language.

The corolla is popular enough there may even be some dual dash cam install pics or hints somewhere online.

 

[Proghound]

Hi Dash Riposki, Thanks for your views.

I am now veering towards Blacksys cf-100 and have a couple of questions on that.
1) How good or bad is the rear end camera of Blacksys cf-100 in day and night?
2) Is it easy to install?

I saw that Gibson99 had posted a lot in this forum and will go through the same to get an idea. By the way, I am also from Houston.

I recently got a Blacksys CF-100 as my first dashcam. They're selling them off cheap now they're an old model, but what you get for the price (currently just £60 in the UK) is amazing - dual channels, capacitor power, quality components including Sony sensor on the front cam, it feels well-made and I'm confident it should be long-lasting. You even get pre-buffered parking mode, if you also buy a hardwire kit with battery discharge prevention. The front cam is generally OK, not as sharp as it could be but perfectly sufficient. That Sony sensor gives very good night/low-light footage, you can certainly see what's there.

For minus points, the mounts (and the extra GPS module) have light grey adhesive which is very visible on your windscreen. Without a screen or wi-fi you have to take the card out of the camera to view files, so it takes a little while to get the alignment completely straight. Then, you'll want the front swivel mount to go tighter to stop the camera moving so easily when you remove or replace the card, but you can easily mod that. Anyway it's fine over the bumps, and my car is a convertible so scuttle shake is also a factor: the camera shows it, but stays put in its alignment on the move. The viewer software is poor, but if you get the GPS you need it to view the map locations. Otherwise, you'll have seen Gibson99's script to split out the front & rear channels into separate files for full control (minus GPS) in the far superior VLC player. However VLC really shows up the camera's tendency for blocking when there's a lot of detail in the frame!

To answer your specific questions, I've got to be honest the rear camera isn't wonderful, particularly at night. It's enough to show you what happened, but no huge amounts of detail and it does darken a lot in low light or against a bright sky. But depending on closing speed you should get a readable plate as the car behind closes up within a car's length, more so by day but also when its plate gets illuminated by the reflected light from its own headlights bouncing off the back of your car at night (your brake lights will also help). The front is much more reliable for clear plates at 1-2 car lengths, especially directly in front of you, including at night, as long as they're not overwhelmed by your headlights.

I found the install easy using the supplied power adapter in the 12v socket, but with no permanent roof on my car, the rear cam lead goes down the other side of the windscreen then under the door-sill and round the back seat, to the nearside rollover hoop. I got all of the leads nicely routed & hidden just using my fingers. Your experience with roof-liners etc. may vary! Anyway the 12v adapter really isn't a huge lump and its lead exits at 90° (flat), so it doesn't get in the way even though the socket on my car is down on the console by the handbrake & gear-lever. All leads were plenty long enough.

Long-term I'm planning to upgrade to one of the forthcoming Street Guardian dual channel systems when they've bedded in, but I'm sure the Blacksys will still be going strong and I intend for it then to live on in the other half's hatchback.

Hope this helps!

 

[brightstar]

Thanks Proghound for the detailed helpful review and guidance. Congratulations on your first dash cam and this gives me great confidence to buy Blacksys CF-100.
Thanks kamkar1 and dash reposki for your helpful guidance as well.

I have a few more questions to Proghound. Do I need to order any other utilities for installation of the dash cam including but not limited to 3M Tapes, wires, connectors etc., I hope that this is included a package and is there a list to know what is included in the box?

 

[Proghound]

Thanks Proghound for the detailed helpful review and guidance. Congratulations on your first dash cam and this gives me great confidence to buy Blacksys CF-100.
Thanks kamkar1 and dash reposki for your helpful guidance as well.

I have a few more questions to Proghound. Do I need to order any other utilities for installation of the dash cam including but not limited to 3M Tapes, wires, connectors etc., I hope that this is included a package and is there a list to know what is included in the box?

The box contains everything you need to run the setup drive-time only from the 12v socket - all cables, connectors, mounts and 3M sticky pads. You even get 5 sticky cable clips to help you route the leads in places where they can't be tucked away behind trim panels, and a 16GB microSD card with SD adapter. This is for use in the camera but also contains the viewer software to install on your PC. Finally there is a printed manual in good English with all the installation instructions.

If you want the plug-in GPS module you have to order that as a separate accessory. Likewise, if you wanted to power the camera direct from the car's fusebox instead of the 12v socket in order to use its parking mode, you would need to order a separate hardwire kit with a battery discharge preventor.

IIRC, while the rear cam already had its 3M sticky pad attached, the pad for the front cam was in the bag with the cable clips. The light-coloured adhesive on both is visible from outside the car, but stealth isn't an issue for me so I just went ahead and used them. If it's an issue for you, you may want to see if you can source some with darker adhesive.

 

[RIMD]

For minus points, the mounts (and the extra GPS module) have light grey adhesive which is very visible on your windscreen. Without a screen you'll want the front swivel mount to go tighter to stop the camera moving so easily when you remove or replace the card,

I too looking closely Cf-100. I did see the same minus points. I review some threads in DCT, where folks talked about missing minor footage on rear camera. Did you face those?

Do you mean removing SD card impact/hinder the fixed mount?

Do you mean VLC viewer is better without GPS module and with GPS is poor?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Proghound]

I too looking closely Cf-100. I did see the same minus points. I review some threads in DCT, where folks talked about missing minor footage on rear camera. Did you face those?

Yes, whenever the camera starts writing a new file to the card, you do lose about half a second of footage from the rear camera. But this isn't a problem, should there be an accident. That half-second of rear footage was recorded, it just wasn't transferred to the card from the processor. The processor always holds the last 10 seconds of footage from both cameras, waiting to be written to the card. When the G-sensor is triggered, the camera immediately closes off the current file it's writing, and starts writing a new "event" file. In the event file, yes the first half-second will be missing from the rear camera. But the actual event that triggered the sensor occurs 10 seconds into the file, so you will get the full footage of the event from both cameras on the card.

Do you mean removing SD card impact/hinder the fixed mount?

The camera is attached to a swivel ball joint on the mount, which doesn't tighten up very much. When you insert or remove the card, if you're not careful it's easy to move the camera on the ball joint by mistake, which changes the angle it's pointing at. The mount stays stuck to the windscreen just fine.

Do you mean VLC viewer is better without GPS module and with GPS is poor?

No. You can't see the GPS speed and map location in the VLC viewer at all, you can only see that with the BlackSys viewer. But the VLC viewer gives you a much clearer view of the footage the cameras recorded, than the BlackSys viewer does.