Price is not really an issue. 2 Channel with parking mode

[abrown3mtg]

I've gotten absolutely fed up with the incredible number of door dings, front and rear damage from people that don't know how to parallel park, and seem drawn to my black sedan which I park at the furthest corner of any lot at every opportunity that is allowed. I've literally even had scrapes on the trunk and hood from people setting their belongings on it. Recently, the last straws were someone backed into it while parked hard enough that I can tell the hood isn't perfectly aligned. Someone also scraped the rear side of the bumper pulling out of a parking spot on the street. In addition (to a half dozen door dings), my next door neighbor likes to spray paint things outside and the overspray has gotten on my car twice (Police will do nothing without evidence). I love my Mercedes, but I hate paying for other people's neglectful actions.

Now that my rant is done,

I've looked extensively through options of cams online. My priorities are 2ch, discrete (small and/or aesthetically pleasing). Good/great parking mode. Night performance in low light would be beneficial due to where I am forced to currently park.

Things I would like, GPS and wifi or bluetooth connection to my phone to review clips if an incident was reported while I was away without pulling the micro sd card.

I don't care if there is a screen on the unit. As I would prefer small, I feel this is almost a negative.

Basically I keep running into the blackvue dr650s and dr650gw. Is there another option that is even worth considering? Similar parking performance, size, etc? I have hear mixed reviews on the actual video quality. I am preparing to pull the trigger but thought I would post up here and get some responses.

Also how would you rank the 650s vs 650gw?

I read through the best of threads, and other peoples questions, but the size/form factor, image quality, purpose, and semi lack of budget (clearly I'm not going to spend a couple grand), but don't require staying under 100-200 either).

My other purpose would be to document idiot drivers, and occasionally some fun Radar/Lidar detection videos which I also enjoy.

Thank you in advance.

 

[jokiin]

2 channel with parking mode there isn't a lot to choose from, the Blackvue's you've mentioned or the Thinkware F770 are the popular choices currently, no product is perfect for everyone so it's about seeing what works for you I guess

 

[abrown3mtg]

Thank you. I was actually just reading more on the f770 when I saw you responded here. Which of the two have a better parking mode? It seems the image quality is better on the thinkware, size is better on the blackvue, prices are pretty similar. I will continue my research!

 

[jokiin]

the power management is built in on the Thinkware and seems to work quite well, the Blackvue's have some cloud functionality, its about weighing up what's most important I guess and see which suits your needs best

there's a Lukas (QVIA) model which might be worth a look also

 

[abrown3mtg]

I don't really care too much about the cloud functionality (at least not at this point having not used it). Perhaps that would change having had first hand experience with it and it's utility. The F770 certainly is a contender. I would love to get feedback from people that have first hand feedback on each with the pluses and minuses. While money isn't a real concern on this, the dr650s-2ch+pmp can be had for 302 shipped vs around 400 for the thinkware from what I've found so far. I appreciate you insight sir! It's been helpful thus far.

 

[flip9]

Was in the same scenario as you the other day. After doing my research i ended up ordering a Thinkware F770. Heres a good review on it:

Blackvue has so many unhappy customers. My local alarm guy also stopped stocking them because they had to RMA so much.

 

[abrown3mtg]

Was in the same scenario as you the other day. After doing my research i ended up ordering a Thinkware F770. Heres a good review on it:

Blackvue has so many unhappy customers. My local alarm guy also stopped stocking them because they had to RMA so much.

I actually just finished watching that video! despite the disadvantage of size, I'm becoming inclined to go that direction. I wish I could physically see them side by side to test fit in my car (not mount but visually determine location and how discreetly it can be hidden.

 

[jokiin]

I actually just finished watching that video! despite the disadvantage of size, I'm becoming inclined to go that direction. I wish I could physically see them side by side to test fit in my car (not mount but visually determine location and how discreetly it can be hidden.

it's more discreet than you might think when it's mounted

 

[kamkar]

Yeah i saw a F770 in a car stopped beside me not long ago, i had no problem spotting it thru the side window of the SUV as a dashcam addict, but it is indeed a stealthy camera, even more so if you have a dotted area on top that can hide most of the camera and then just have the lens peek out below the dots.

Sizewise the front main camera is like 2 matchboxes, and if you have the dotted area on your windscreen only 1/3 - 1/2 of it will peep out below the dots.

Size: 110 mm wide - 31 mm thick - 41 mm deep
http://www.thinkware.com/Products/Dashcam/F770

 

[abrown3mtg]

I think with the F770, I'll have to mount it next to the rear view mirror. The 650s, I BELIEVE would have fit in between the rearview and the windshield without sitting too far or if at all below it... That said, I'm excited to have at least found another option.

 

[jokiin]

I think with the F770, I'll have to mount it next to the rear view mirror. The 650s, I BELIEVE would have fit in between the rearview and the windshield without sitting too far or if at all below it... That said, I'm excited to have at least found another option.

it's hard to tell when looking at just the product, the F770 is smaller than it looks, likewise the Blackvue takes up more room than it looks, check some pics of it installed to get an idea, better if you can look at both though if possible

 

[abrown3mtg]

I actually did notice that when watching some video reviews and comparisons of the two. Right now I'm doing a small debate as to whether or not the price difference offsets what I will acquire. (I know I said price isn't an issue but if performance is a trade off and they are very close, perhaps it's worth factoring). I can get the 650s with pmp for 302 shipped from an authorized retailer. The cheapest I've found the f770 is around 390-419.0

 

[jokiin]

if night video is a consideration the F770 does a lot better, if that's not an issue then you can save some money with the Blackvue

 

[peterharvey]

Jokiin is right.
The DR-650S's rear camera has a smaller resolution, and the bit rate is lower, hence rear dashcam night video is compromized.
One of the reason the F770 does so well is maybe because the box is a bit larger than its competitors.
Thus it will be interesting to see the remote lens dashcam designs that mount the PC box in the glovebox, front center armrest bin, or under the front seats etc to avoid solar thermal damage, because at the same time, the PC boxes can be larger for a quicker and hotter processor, for superior video quality...

 

[jupiter84]

I actually did notice that when watching some video reviews and comparisons of the two. Right now I'm doing a small debate as to whether or not the price difference offsets what I will acquire. (I know I said price isn't an issue but if performance is a trade off and they are very close, perhaps it's worth factoring). I can get the 650s with pmp for 302 shipped from an authorized retailer. The cheapest I've found the f770 is around 390-419.0

Did you get the F770 in the end? How does the parking mode fare at night?

 

[peterharvey]

F770 has much sharper video than SG9665GC, however the size of F770, plus no built-in LCD & need to wirelessly connect to iPhone or Android led me to buy another two SG9665GC V3's for parents front & rear dash cams.

F770 front, F770 rear, 2x CPL filters & 2x memory cards costs about the same as 2x SG9665GC V3, 2x Sandisk 200 GB mSD cards, & Vicovation Vico Power Plus.

Remember that F770 has built-in power management, while 9665GC V3 has bundled CPL filters.

I bought 2x 200 GB Sandisk mSD & Vicovation Power Plus for the 9665 V3 so that it can record at FULL video while parking, while Vico controls the power management.

CPL filters on ALL dash cams is a must!
Dashboard reflections are a nuisance.
CPL barely affects low light performance.

V3 I feel is a good around package, but master of none.
F770 I feel excels in video sharpness, but bulkier size blocks my vision as I prefer to mount on-center directly below rear vision mirror RVM, rather than mounting higher up, in front of, and to the left or right of the RVM, with the RVM blocking dashcam access. F770's no built-in screen & need for an iPhone or Android is also a fussy big draw back...

 

[peterharvey]

Just as well I bought 2x more 9665GC V3's!
F770's wifi is a pain in the butt:
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/thinkware-f770-vs-iroad-v9.26354/

 

[jupiter84]

Just as well I bought 2x more 9665GC V3's!
F770's wifi is a pain in the butt:
https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/thinkware-f770-vs-iroad-v9.26354/

How did you wire both to the Vico? From your other post, I thought you only had 1 hooked up.

Also, wont both FULLY on all the time kill your battery/record way less in duration and therefore reduce your parking mode duration overall

 

[peterharvey]

Just buy one of these 12 volt car socket splitters.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/182073199840

Also be prepared to buy these 16 foot 12 volt car adapter extension leads.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/291892371603

If you're skilful, you can actually splice those bulky adapter plugs and sockets off, and join the wires together directly using wire nuts, or barrel connectors, or by soldering like an auto-electrician.
http://www.ehow.com/how_7492280_connect-12-volt-wires.html

Having two single channel dashcams recording simultaneously on full resolution and full frame rate will certainly use more power than just a single dashcam, or one with a buffered parking mode, but the car's 12 V battery is big, and it's not drawing power like the vehicle's air conditioner, hi-fi system, nor headlights.

If you're someone who parks 8-12 hours per day, and five or six days/week etc, then I would certainly invest in a dedicated 12 volt battery like a Cellink B in your trunk.

However, recording at full resolution and full frame rate gives perfect video, and misses out on nothing.
All movement or force activated and buffered parking mode recorders will constantly miss movement and light forces, and they may record NO audio at all.
All parking mode recordings are a compromise.
Now ask yourself if your bank or building society uses full recording mode, or they use motion activated buffered recording in their surveillance camera systems???

On a Street Guardian SG9665GC V3, a Sandisk 200 GB mSD card @ less than $100 each, records for something like 26 hours!
A Samsung Evo mSD 256 GB @ something like nearly $200 each, records for something like 35 hours.
Someone provide the exact duration here please?
Obviously, it is not worth paying double for the 256 GB card only to get another 56 GB.

Because there is a separate 9665 V3 front and rear, with two separate micro SD cards front and rear, I find that the cards store about a month of footage depending on how many hours an individual drives and parks per week.

If only one memory card is used to stored front and rear footage like the F770, it obviously won't store much.
Furthermore, in a single memory card system, if there is a memory card fault, we lose video both front and rear.
Whereas in a twin camera system, if one camera or memory card malfunctions, we still have the other dashcam and other memory card working.

In a twin channel system, the CPU must process front and rear signal, so gets really hot and compromised video quality.
In two single channel dashcam system, there are two CPU's, one CPU processing the front video, while the other processing the rear.

Now, before you start saying that you must buy 2x 9665GC V3's for front and rear, and you must also buy 2x Sandisk 200 GB memory cards for front and rear, and Vico Power Plus, just remember this.
A Thinkware F770 front and rear is darn expensive; more than twice the cost of a single V3.
Worse, the 9665 V3 comes with 2x CPL filters bundled to reduce dashboard reflections, with little loss of low light performance.
Do you know how much an optional Thinkware F770 front and rear CPL filters are???

9665GC V3 has built-in buttons and built-in LCD screen, so that you can press buttons while driving or at the traffic lights etc.
F770 has to connect to your cell phone; what a nuisance that is - you can't just start pressing buttons on your cell phone at the traffic lights - the cops will get you.

Finally, the F770 is more than twice as big a foot print on my front windscreen beneath the rear vision mirror, compared to the 9665 V3.

Joikiin must pay me for this...

 

[jupiter84]

Thanks for the detailed response, think what you suggest makes a lot of sense. Before I go down the 2 cam route, its prob worth waiting to see how the new dual cam from Street Guardian will fare in comparison.

One other thing to prob bear in mind, the 9665GC V3 doesnt give notification if there are problems recording so unless you are checking each time, you might miss them recording anything. Also not sure how these do (along with mem cards) when recording constantly too