Good and reasonable priced dash cam? (1 Viewer)

westy77

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I'm sure this must have come up before, but after taking the van out for a run on the motorway and having a car drive past, then purposely let of the gas pedal so we were having to slow down, then after waving arms at me brake I want a dash cam so I don't have evidence for the police for people being stupid. I know there will be real cheap rubbish and very expensive bells & whistle stuff. But is there some thing that's good for around £50 ish area? Decent picture and recording time. I guess starts automaticity? Would I really need gps? Something that can be taken out easy to prevent theft of unit? Maybe easy to swap to another vehicle?
 

joncris

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clear  night view.jpg

This is my iPhone with the Save Drive app. It'll download onto any smart phone
 

markh

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Nextbase incarcam 402g professional, recommended by which, see the reviews on the halfords website

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I had one from Jaws but didn't get on with it: he kindly refunded my money. I then bought one from Roys of Wroxham (nearest one to Essex is Sudbury) but that was before Xmas. It cost £30 complete with 8Gb SD card and a 2y guarantee, and has worked perfectly. My son was impressed that it was identical to one recommended on TechMoan 18months ago, which he ordered from China for £35, but which broke down after 11 months (he's not prepared to pay postage to try and return it for a refund).

I had a dashcam previously which also broke down after 11 months, so I suggest that you consider what you will do in a similar situation - Gordon
 

Puddleduck

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I got an ePrance before I knew Jaws had them.

No GPS on the ePrance but that's fine.

I leave the camera on the windscreen but unplug it, have had people looking round the van and then seen the camera and scarper :)
 

Cal54

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I got one from Jaws and I'm very happy with it, does everything I need and was easy to set up.
 
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Also got one from Jaws, simple to use, idiot proof! for a tad under £34!

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westy77

westy77

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So Jaws has the EPrance cameras? Like in the Amazon link I posted?
 

Wickolad

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While searching I see EPrance comes up a lot for cheaper cams. This seems to have mostly good reviews. A few bad ones but a lot of those are people who cannot set it up, this doesn't mean it's a bad system.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MIOT8WC/?tag=mhf04-21

That looks identical to my dashcam apart from the price. Check this, seems to do everything it says, good picture and has all features I need....
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=191374327389
Doesnt come with the 32gb TF card but you can pick up a quality one for less than £10, making full set up less than half price of Amazon.(y)
 
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Yep, I got one from Jaws. I do note though the playback screen is smallish. I have saved a a particular segment and then get a full screen on the laptop, BUT, I then lose the GPS and speed display so it seems they are only displayed on the playback programme.
Any one else or am I doing something wrong?

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SMB

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While searching I see EPrance comes up a lot for cheaper cams. This seems to have mostly good reviews. A few bad ones but a lot of those are people who cannot set it up, this doesn't mean it's a bad system.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00MIOT8WC/?tag=mhf04-21

Also got one of these, cheap n cheerful, starts recording when the engine is switched on, stops when engine shut down. Good image quality but haven't tried it at night..

Whoops sorry I have an E-Prance but not this one, its an earlier more basic model that I have

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KBVQG8I/?tag=mhf04-21
 
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westy77

westy77

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That looks identical to my dashcam apart from the price. Check this, seems to do everything it says, good picture and has all features I need....
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=191374327389
Doesnt come with the 32gb TF card but you can pick up a quality one for less than £10, making full set up less than half price of Amazon.(y)

Looking at the photos opinion both ads they seem to be the same unit! Maybe internally they are different?
 

Wickolad

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Possible... But I have tried mine and quite happy. The G shock definately works as I set it up in the menu before turning off the unit. Put the camera down and it turned back on in record mode. Turned it off again, put it down and it turned on again. Doh... Realised it was the tap of putting it onto hard surface that activated the G Shock mode and began recording.
As with most tech items, they all tend to be made in a particular place by specific manufacturers and get rebranded. So its anyones guess really. :)

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I bought this one the Transcend Drivepro 200 after looking at most of Mr Techmoans reviews and downloading video samples

Pros: very good in low light (significantly better than the eprance).
wifi to your smartphone, sounds like a gimmick huh, but its not, and very good for quick reviews, changing settings and making a quick emergency in the field backup of any video files to your smartphone memory.
Feels well built & branded manufacturer

Cons: video not quite as sharp as the eprance.
Quite visible with silver markings, I used a felt pen to hide it better.
No GPS.
I also bought the additional suction cup system so you can transfer it to other vehicles and its very solid on attaches well.
A bit over your price range but a good cam

I bought from techmoans Amazon link, but the first camera I was sent was clearly secondhand and had a video of someone in their dressing gown on the card!!! However I used amazons new returns process and was sent a new sealed camera a couple of days later.
 
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scotjimland

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Like most things in life, you get what you pay for.. to be used as evidence, the camera must have GPS and G force recording.

I suggest you have a browse on this site.. Broken Link Removed

Low end priced dash cams / in car cameras are great for capturing the general ‘what happened’ to show to your mates, it may be argued by a defense barrister that the footage is totally insufficient to use as evidence in a court of law. Bear this in mind, before you spend your money.

My choice is the RoadHawk HD.. I'm buying this for my new motorhome

good deals on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B11WQ22/?tag=mhf04-21

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wingman

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Here's a post that I wrote in April 2014. Hope it helps? Bit lengthy I'm afraid.

Where in Essex are you?

Here's the post.....
I've been umm-ing and arr-ing for a while on whether to buy some form of 'Dash-Cam' for the MH. Despite having a penchant for gadgets and boy's toys, there was the serious side of having video evidence of any incident. Last year, I got rear-ended by a guy in France (before I get the 'lucky you' comments, it was the MH:roflmto:). All was kosher, BUT what if he had said that I reversed into HIS vehicle? Wouldn't have a leg to stand on eh?

So the question was, what sort of camera would I get? I made a mental checklist of priorities:-


  • Not expensive - not too cheap
  • No adhesive mount stuck on the windscreen
  • No suction mount that would decay and fall off
  • A unit that I could easily remove
  • A unit that couldn't easily be seen from outside the vehicle
  • Something lawfully compliant that wouldn't obscure the driver's view
  • Didn't want one with integral GPS
  • Didn't want one with Bluetooth


Eventually, I avoided the cheap ones on ebay (no offence if anyone has one) and started watching endless videos on the Techmoan website. However, almost all on the website had some limitation or other, either price or functionality.I finally opted for a rear-view mirror mounted jobby.

Beware though; some of these mirror-mounted cam's have their lens fixed and are only suitable for L/H drive vehicles because the lens will only move in concert the mirror angle. Mine has its lens projecting down from the main assembly and is rotatable - almost to 360deg. (you can turn off the video screen and just use it as a mirror when driving. It will just record covertly)

It satisfied everything on my wish list and after a week of using it, I have to admit to being impressed. The main feature that appeals is that it's swappable between vehicles. (At the moment, I've been testing it in the car). It has approx' 2m of 12v cable, terminating with a cigar plug. I've just loose-laid the cable at the mo', but eventually, I will tuck it into the trim when in the MH.

The video quality is pretty good too. Although it can go 1080P HD, I found that to be a bit 'juddery' so I just leave it on 720P which is smooth and captures everything I need. Should also get some nice video of the hols this year.

I bought it from Amazon, (in case I needed to back-it easily!). It is currently on offer at £42.99 (reduced from £78.99). It's made by E-PRANCE and model is, 4.3" 1080P Car DVR Driving recorder/rear view mirror. Takes about 10 days to arrive and the instructions are crap, but easy to set up anyway.

Oh, and you'll need to buy a Micro SD card to go in it. I bought a 32Gb card which gives approx 5 hrs of video. Don't be tempted to buy a cheap card - needs to be a good make and 'Class 10'. I paid 18 quid (which included the larger adaptor) at a local PC World because I couldn't be bothered to shop around!
 

joncris

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When in Dash Cam mode my iPhone will not only automatically record the previous few seconds before your crash but if the G-meter has been activated it'll phone the emergency services and another 3 numbers you have preloaded into its memory giving your location plus send emails to your chosen friends + Tweet to your followers
 

MattR

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The problem that I have found with using my phone as a dash cam is that it gets hot, runs down the battery and crashes too often. Also the field of view is not very wide. I have two cameras from Jaws and one recommended from Techmoan - the latter is slightly better picture wise but does not have the gps which is useful.

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westy77

westy77

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Wingman, I'm near delightful Harlow.

I did wonder about if gps would be an advantage or not, I can see both sides with that.

With my van I do have a rear view mirror, but the bathroom is at the rear so pointless! So anything that can fit there is good. Or on top of dash behind the notepad thing Ducatos have. At first I was thinking of just having it in the motorhome, but now I'm thinking in the car on long journeys and we have an old American car so could use it in all.
 

mentaliss

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I'm sure this must have come up before, but after taking the van out for a run on the motorway and having a car drive past, then purposely let of the gas pedal so we were having to slow down, then after waving arms at me brake I want a dash cam so I don't have evidence for the police for people being stupid. I know there will be real cheap rubbish and very expensive bells & whistle stuff. But is there some thing that's good for around £50 ish area? Decent picture and recording time. I guess starts automaticity? Would I really need gps? Something that can be taken out easy to prevent theft of unit? Maybe easy to swap to another vehicle?

Here in Morocco where there's hundred's of French, ( mainly) & German vans we have not seen one vehicle that has a dash cam, the conclusion to this point is my belief that the Brit dash cam 'must have' is a Paranoia that has been created by several funsters after all have you ever seen anyone ever involved in an confrontation that's been used as evidence video...no we haven't'.... either but we still went out and bought one!!!!!!!...talk about the ram leading the sheep:D:D:D:D:D
 

MattR

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Here in Morocco where there's hundred's of French, ( mainly) & German vans we have not seen one vehicle that has a dash cam, the conclusion to this point is my belief that the Brit dash cam 'must have' is a Paranoia that has been created by several funsters after all have you ever seen anyone ever involved in an confrontation that's been used as evidence video...no we haven't'.... either but we still went out and bought one!!!!!!!...talk about the ram leading the sheep:D:D:D:D:D

It is not a "must have" but pretty useful to have as evidence; my cousin's wing mirror was smashed by an on coming lorry which was possibly further over onto my cousin's side of the road than the driver wanted to admit. A £30 dash cam could have provided evidence to avoid the "knock for knock" insurance
verdict and saved him £300 for repairs. He has one now.

You may have seen a number of news reports of lorries drivers that were accused of dangerous driving etc but the drivers were able to show that they were not at fault through their dash cam footage.

http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/motori...iltering-ford-smash-into-lorry-11363904460694

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Oct 5, 2012
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Here in Morocco where there's hundred's of French, ( mainly) & German vans we have not seen one vehicle that has a dash cam, the conclusion to this point is my belief that the Brit dash cam 'must have' is a Paranoia that has been created by several funsters after all have you ever seen anyone ever involved in an confrontation that's been used as evidence video...no we haven't'.... either but we still went out and bought one!!!!!!!...talk about the ram leading the sheep:D:D:D:D:D

Couple of weeks ago a taxi driver I know told me a dash cam story.....basically guy pulls out in front of him damages taxi & passengers then later goes to the police to accuse him of GBH. Upshot is all was recorded on the dash cam & police charged other bloke .It only needs one incident to frig up your life & insurance, better it be on camera.
 

just wandering

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Broken Link Removed is the type I bought. Various prices, sometimes depending on whether a Micro SD card is included.

Thanks for the link!

Will it keep recording when the engine is switched off if the key is still in the ignition. It would be handy should one be pulled over at the roadside.
 
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GJH

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Thanks for the link!

Will it keep recording when the engine is switched off if the key is still in the ignition. It would be handy should one be pulled over at the roadside.
I normally have it plugged into a lighter socket. On my car that is permanent live so it does stay on until unplugged when it automatically turns off. It has a rechargeable battery so can be used without external power.

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