Too many options............recommendations?

[Rob99]

Hi All

Newbie here, and have to say what a great site..........glad i found it

Am looking to buy either a 2 channel dash cam or 2 separate ones front and rear. I had no idea how many different ones there were and the range in types, features and prices is staggering....!!!

My requirements are generally it must be good video quality front and back, not bothered about LCD screen as I want wi-fi link to my phone. Would prefer something discreet that mounts neatly to screen, so no big sucker style hanging mounts.

I also want parking mode (been hit before!) and I guess G sensors are standard on all cams.

I'm looking for an all-in cost of up to £80. if that's too tight for a dual channel or 2 cams then I would just go for a decent front one for now.

Recommendations/comments appreciated.

Cheers
Rob

 

[Deleted member 46308]

Welcome to DCT Rob

 

[SawMaster]

Welcome to DCT Maybe above budget, but check out the Mini 0906. Read well the parking mode operation in these forums as it may or may not be to your liking Nextbase may have something to offer; they seem to be popular over there but we don't get them here so I can't comment on those. Good that you know your priorities which should go far in narrowing down your choices

Phil

 

[Rob99]

I've looked at the mini 0906, a bit more than i wanted to pay but does seem to have everything i needed, except for wifi connection which i thought would be really useful to have for quick review of videos and for programming with an app.

Anyone any further thoughts..........maybe something like the mini 0906 and with wifi ??

 

[spaceballsrules]

Check out the BlueSkySea B1W. It's a single cam, but it fits your budget and has WiFi. https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/blueskysea-b1w-dashcam.31173/

 

[Rob99]

Thx. Have taken a look and wasn't overly impressed with the B1W compared to the 0906 although i did like the wifi app.

Maybe i'm just getting too hung up on the wifi thing having drooled over the Blackvue 750 dashcams (way outside my budget....!!!!)

 

[kamkar]

the wifi in dashcams are pretty much useless for anything but changing a setting now and then and aim the camera if it dont have a screen, so dont put too much in the fancy smancy features some claim.

Sure you can also Dl a 3 minute video file to your phone, if you have 10 minutes to spare while it download.

 

[spaceballsrules]

Thx. Have taken a look and wasn't overly impressed with the B1W compared to the 0906 although i did like the wifi app.

Maybe i'm just getting too hung up on the wifi thing having drooled over the Blackvue 750 dashcams (way outside my budget....!!!!)

Yeah, WiFi is definitely an unnecessary feature. Maybe in future models, it will serve a greater purpose.

I installed a Mini 0906 a few months ago and I could not be happier. It has all the features I could ask for at a price that is just too good to pass up. Way better than the FineVu that I bought 2 years ago for over $400. The Mini 0906 is just an all around really good piece of kit.

 

[SawMaster]

It's beyond my understanding how the B1W does so well with it's low bitrate but it does, and that's all that matters Wifi hasn't matured in dashcams yet and maybe never will. At present it's good for aiming a cam, adjusting settings, and viewing one or two files if you have the time that will take. Cloud storage isn't totally reliable yet, isn't economical, and for most of us isn't really necessary- it's all on the card anyway.

If the 0906 is to your liking otherwise it's good choice and consider yourself lucky that you only have one point where compromise was needed. Most of the time you have at least a few compromises to make to get the features you want most The perfect cam has never been made and never will be; some compromise is always going to be involved

Phil

 

[Rob99]

@BMbler
Interesting thoughts but the Xiaomi Mijia is just too bulky for me as I'm really looking for something a bit more discreet.
@SawMaster
No wifi does actually seem like a very small compromise for what is a very good all rounder in the 0906. After all, I'm not going to be looking at the videos except when I need to, like when some careless person in a car park thinks it's OK to drive off when they have damaged your car (why do people do that!!!).

 

[kamkar]

Indeed why do people do that i think its cuz they can and have been used to getting away with a lot.
For instance today many agree on littering are bad, but if they see some one do it they dont confront the person about it, and so the person have gotten away with it.

And why do people instantly want to look at the footage in the dashcam right then and there in the parking lot, i would just drive home and take a look on the memory card in my computer.

 

[Nigel]

the wifi in dashcams are pretty much useless for anything but changing a setting now and then and aim the camera if it dont have a screen, so dont put too much in the fancy smancy features some claim.

Sure you can also Dl a 3 minute video file to your phone, if you have 10 minutes to spare while it download.

Since the B1W only uses 12Mbps for its recordings, the recorded files download as fast as you can watch them, using the wifi works really well!

Try the same with the Gitup F1 with it's 70Mbps recordings and your 3 minute file takes about 6 times 3 minutes before it stops buffering!
Unless your phone can manage 5GHz wifi in which case talking to the F1 is a lot faster, although I think by the time wifi gets fast enough for 70Mbps we will be using 200Mbps cameras!

For setup I prefer using the wifi to a tiny LCD screen, on my 8" tablet I can read all the options and clearly see the live view. The B1W is really easy to set up, the Gitup F1 is also good, the mini 0906 with it's LCD screen and no wifi is OK until I hide it behind the mirror, then I end up using a magnifying glass to be able to read it and pressing the buttons is more difficult. However you only need to set them up once so either method is fine. I think the B1W is better without a screen because it makes it so small. The F1 has a screen as well as wifi, but it is a very small screen and so it is also small, smaller than the B1W when looking from the front. If you really want to watch the videos while away from a computer, best option is always to remove the memory card from the camera and plug it into a phone/tablet. And don't buy a phone that has no way of reading memory cards!

 

[Rob99]

OK, so having looked at a lot and read the advice from you all I've ordered a mini 0906 from Combi. I'll let you know how I get on but will no doubt be asking for advice again soon.......
Have a great Christmas everyone........

 

[kamkar]

My phone can do 5 ghz just fine, at least i think so it can see my home 5 ghz wifi if i turn it on, but i too prefer to use my tablet for wifi work in relation to cameras.

And i am also not that happy about the little LCD screens, but that's founded in my eyes not working that good with little text.

The 0906 worked fine for me in early testing, but it did die on me after a short while.
But the basic features seemed good and the IQ wasent bad at all, got me hooked on seeing more dualchannel cameras with the new hardware.

 

[Rob99]

I think in some ways, dashcams are becoming almost like mobile phones in the sense that they are now more mass market than say 10 years ago and also, at relatively modest cost people will "upgrade" to newer models to gain more features etc.

I also think that, sometime in the not too distant future, most car makers will incorporate dashcam technology into their infotainment systems especially now that some cars have internet connectivity and apps etc to control stuff. It's a logical next step.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah, no doubt you can get the extra liability / insurance savings option on the car soon, here in Denmark such a package will probably be slapped with a hefty extra cost.