Help, Pls. Suggestions for a Dash Cam

[mystang52]

I'd appreciate suggestions for dash cam for my car. Features to look for, features that are not needed, any brands or models to avoid, etc. Last week I was in a car accident (no injuries). Damage to my 3 year old car made it a constructive total.
Other driver conceded his fault to the police officer. But if there is ever a next-time, I want video evidence. If you have any suggestions for dash cam, I'm all ears to your reply, and you need not read further. If your curious about the accident, feel free to read on:

Other driver ran a stop sign while looking right, but he made a sharp LEFT turn.....smack dab into front end of my car. I was already slowing down to turn, so air bags did not deploy. Alas, his was a big Ram pickup and crumpled my Q5's front end. The front of the engine took some damage and that's what ultimately caused the valuation as a total.
Besides no injury, I guess I was lucky: 1) I got a quick and very fair value from my insurer, making shopping for a replacement much easier. 2) Police report included the other driver's concession, and my comments about the the driver looking opposite of how he was turning while running a stop sign. 3) Other driver was also insured; nowadays that's not a sure thing. 4) I am 100% confident that my insurer will get full recovery from the other insurer. I'm also in contact with the driver's insurer, and told them I will be pursuing them to reimburse my insurer. 5) Based on police report, my insurer told me this has been classified as a not-my-fault accident.

 

[Sunset]

I have 2 which I paid $25 each.
I have one for the front and one for the back.

What I have learned is the maker's lie about the quality of the image so read reviews carefully.
The little screen if they have one, is really only good for aiming the camera, don't think you are going to look at the movie on it.
Get a fast flash card class 10 and size 16 Gb or 32 Gb
Make sure it will turn on automatically when plugged into lighter socket, so you never have to think to turn it on/off, it turns on when the car turns on (this is pretty standard, but check).

I'll be watching this thread to see if any excellent ones are suggested as I'd like to get a real HD or higher one for the front.

 

[braumeister]

i've been happy with this one:
https://www.falconzero.com/products/falconzero-f170hd-gps-dashcam-1080p-170-viewing-angle-32gb-microsd-card-included-full-hd

I paid around $80 for it on Amazon. Nice wide angle and very good clear video.

 

[jonat]

I’ve had several dash cams over the years. My preference is for the “lipstick” style that mounts inconspicuously at the top of the windshield using adhesive, not suction cups. I don’t need a display nor GPS. I’ve had two Blackvues that had underwhelming performance. The one I have now is a Goluk T2 and it works very well.

You’ll want to consider permanent wiring and thus a “battery saver” device.

 

[T-Minus]

I’m glad you started this thread. I’m also in the market, but want the ability for it to store energy in some sort of capacitor or battery, so that when the car is turned off, it keeps recording motion for about an hour or so. I’ve had two people scrape my car over the past year in various parking lots...and depart without leaving a note.

 

[jonat]

I’m glad you started this thread. I’m also in the market, but want the ability for it to store energy in some sort of capacitor or battery, so that when the car is turned off, it keeps recording motion for about an hour or so.

You won't find any that will record that long on their own. The dashcams usually have an internal battery or capacitor to let them flush recordings to memory without corrupting the card, but even the ones with a battery can record for just a few minutes beyond that. (And these have issues in hot weather.)

What you need is to hardwire the dashcam to 12V power through a "battery saver" box (PowerMagic is a popular model, but I prefer the Vico-Power Plus - I have used both.) These shut off the power after a set time (6 hours, for example), and when the car battery voltage drops below a defined threshold.

 

[mystang52]

Follow-up question: Some dash cams come with a Lane Departure Warning feature. I would think this is a good additional safety feature. How does this feature work? An alarm sound of some sort?
I saw a few user comments that criticized this feature because of too many annoying alarms. So I'm not sure of this is just a useless gimmick, or something I should look for in my selection process.

 

[Sunset]

Follow-up question: Some dash cams come with a Lane Departure Warning feature. I would think this is a good additional safety feature. How does this feature work? An alarm sound of some sort?
I saw a few user comments that criticized this feature because of too many annoying alarms. So I'm not sure of this is just a useless gimmick, or something I should look for in my selection process.

And they can detect alien life forms...

Are people really that gullible, so please explain how the manufacturer ensures you mount the camera pointing at preciesly the correct horizontal and vertical axis and how did they calibrate this for the country you will be driving in ?

Do they sell a Left and a Right hand road version ?

Obviously it's a useless gimmick.

 

[Brat]

My new Garmin has a dashcam and warns of lane departure. DH can't stand either feature.