Dashcams - what have you got?

[fezman]

Morning All, 

I hope you all had a pleasant and festive Christmas. 

I'm in the market for a new dashcam. I don't really fancy the "Lexus" nextbase one - seems quite old / low specced, and at ~£400 fitted is pricey for what you get. 

I'm considering the Nextbase iQ or the 622GW - does anyone have these and what are your opinions? I'll be getting the rear cameras too. 

For fitting next base offer a service from RS Connect. Now I have seen this post 

 

which does put me off a bit, but I guess every company can mess up. Any positive recommendations out there for RS Connect fitting dashcams? 

While I'm at it, I was also thinking about hiding an apple airtag in the RX. Anyone else done this - do they work ? If it got stolen would it track? 

 

Cheers

Ian

 

[LenT]

 

55 minutes ago, fezman said:

I'm in the market for a new dashcam.

Well, you’ll get many different recommendations!

Personally, I’ve always had BlackVue  -  and its footage helped pay for my Lexus when my previous car was written off!

You’re right to go for the two channel versions - and I would also recommend a Battery backup, such as the BlacKVue Pro Magic, that keeps the camera able to respond even when the ignition is off ie parked!
If you’re budgeting for less than £400 then you might be interested in the BlacKVue Outlet offerings.

https://blackvue.co.uk/product-category/outlet/

My only other advice is to reformat the SD card at regular intervals to avoid rewriting errors - and to buy the largest one you can afford.  Keep the original in the car as a spare so that in the event of an incident you can swap it for the SD card with the recording on, so keeping the evidence secure!

As regards fitting, this should be well within the abilities of an competent local auto electrician.

[DavidCM]

I(and a few others here)have viofo cameras which are both excellent quality and reasonably priced.Make sure you get front and rear coverage.

Fitting...either an auto electrician,or as I did ,hardwire it in yourself.As Frank Spencer was modelled on me...if I managed it... anybody could.

[fezman]

Thanks for the couple of responses. By way of a quick update. 

I ended up going for the Nextbase 622GW. It does enough for what I want. I decided against having it installed by RS Connect after seeing the horror story above. Contacted Lexus Sheffield and had it installed by them for 1.5 hours labour charge for front and rear cameras, hardwired so it starts recording when the car starts. So slightly more than RS connect. They did a perfect job at the dealers, really pleased with the result.   

[LenT]

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10 hours ago, fezman said:

hardwired so it starts recording when the car starts. 

I’m sure you’ll be very pleased with the camera, Ian.  And very relieved if you have cause to call on it as evidence.

However, while you would expect it to start recording when the car starts, it’s equally important that it can record when the car’s parked.  As I mentioned earlier, your car is just as likely to be damaged or stolen - possibly even more so - when it’s parked.

It should either have a Battery backup so that it can operate when in parking mode, or something like BlackVue’s Power Magic Pro which provides a live feed from the Battery when the ignition’s off, but regulates the current drawn so that it cannot drain the Battery.

 

https://blackvue.co.uk/products/power-magic-pro/

 

[fezman]

Thanks Len. It does that too. I tested it yesterday, gave the car a little nudge  on the front wing, settings are the default medium sensor, and it recorded front and rear. I believe the Battery in the camera provides the sensor power, with recording activated and drawing vehicle Battery power 

[Tom,]

I won't comment on the dashcam because mine is an old one and this is the third RX it's been fitted to. It's a single forward facing one and was dead easy to fit. The thin 12v wire can easily be concealed behind the windscreen edge rubbers with the aid of a wooden ruler, round behind the inners of the glove box and the plug goes nicely into the cigar lighter socket under the sliding lid compartment.

As regards Air Tags,I have fitted one to my single key that Lexus have provided me with as I am paranoid about losing it. Regardless of the non-availability of integrated circuits, I do not think Lexus should be supplying cars with just one key.