Dash cams
 

Today while driving home from work on a regular city street, a car in the oncoming lane crossed over the line and hit the guy in front of me. The impact slowed him down just enough to give me time to dodge out of the way. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the guy at fault also stopped.

I wish I could say this is not typical but for whatever reason, drivers here have become more aggressive in the 14 years I've lived here and I've had my share of other close calls. I've been thinking of getting a dash cam anyway, and now I really want one.

Does anyone have one they really like? I'd like to keep the price reasonable but a good recommendation goes a long way.

Thanks,

Unfortunately that is what the world seems to be coming to.

I know the tech guru radio host Kim Komando pitches one on her web site. Not sure if it's a good deal or not.

Try driving here where we get 4.5 million tourist a year.....you talk about dangerous....I also get creamed at least twice a day....and every other day almost take out a herd of tourist just randomly deciding to cross in the middle of the road....plus we have the navajo's here that live on the reservations and have no idea how to drive their monster trucks in town....I thought San Francisco traffic was bad...

I have this in my daily driver. Content soon coming to an Austin traffic blog I'm starting...


http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00FONBG1A?cache=8a876df3f73938b61a5acccc3c437b19&pi=SX200_QL40&qid=1401932450&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1

I have one called an "e-prance" which is about $80 on amazon. It was sort of a gamble because there were few reviews when I got it . It is excellent! Great vid quality (1080p), accelerometer, wide angle lens and sturdy mount. It is also very small. The only problem is it shipped straight from china and the instructions (and box) were all in Russian so figuring it out was a little tough. On screen displays and stuff are English though.


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I've been looking for one for some time. I highly recommend you take a look at dashcamtalk.com. Bottom line is the industry for making these is extremely immature and they all have some serious Q/A issues. One of the main things is most tend to stop working permanently in temps exceeding 90-95 deg F.

Dkr.

I've been thinking of getting 1 for the vehicles and also for my bike helmet. Our sheriff gave this clown Officer of the Year and a riders have been knocked off their bikes by aggressive drivers.

4th of July DUI Checkpoint - Drug Dogs, Searched without Consent, while Innocent - YouTube

As it is not always necessary to film my travels, I use a GoPro3+BLK with a RAM Products suction mount, and let her rip. Not that difficult to pull videos off later on, beautiful capture... doesnt like the heat though... >120 it shuts down.

As a more permanent solution, I like the Vico line of products: http://www.vicovation.com I am waiting for the Marcus5 to the the shores. The Marcus 3 is sweet, and I assume the 5 will be just as if not even more bettah. Rated to 165*F!

A US source for Vico stuff is Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/storefront/index.html?ie=UTF8&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sellerID=A2229280Z271T8

Roadhawk. Comes over from the UK where dash cams are becoming very big.

Does full GPS tracking, G-force recording, speed logging, "event" recording, etc.

http://www.amazon.com/-Timetec-Windshield-Dashboard-Camcorder-Microphone/dp/B00CXB186Y/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1401994926&sr=8-5&keywords=dash+cam

I didn't spend that much. eBay is your friend on this one.

I have more or less the same model. Does great in sunlight, mediocre in the rain or at night. You can read plates in the sunlight, and can make them out 50% of the time at night if the reflection isn't too much.

Since I bought it all the crazy crashes around me have stopped :D

Pick up a refurb we go pro. They are all good for a dash cam.

It seems everybody in Russia has one. When the meteor flashed by last year, many dash cam videos caught it. The news said drivers there use them to counter shake-downs by police.

Yeah, lots of options. As with anything else, you get what you pay for.

The $60 option was good for me. If my Austin traffic blog starts to make money, I'll invest more.

Probably should move this out of DD?

We have two dash cams - a cheepie $80 one which works fairly well, and a $200 one with GPS and speed logging that works great :)

Here's a nice discussion w/ sample videos over at TDIClub: Anyone w/ dash cam? - TDIClub Forums

Anything VeeDubTDI posts is discussing the cameras we have.

The Wirecutter has a pretty decent article on 'em that might help with shopping: The Best Dash Cam | The Wirecutter