Dash cams

[Smeghead]

Any opinions as to what's the best ones on the market? 

 

I want one for local use mainly, but it will need enough memory to record about 30 hours of driving on annual trip to the mountains and back.

[Minimoke]

I use a Mobius. Good price and small. Reliable. Good support via an excellent user forum.

Not sure it can record 30 hours though and it only has fairly basic features.

Look at the techmoan website for useful unbiased reviews.

[Huskoda]

Mobius is the one to get.

 

If you want 30 hours, you're going to have to compromise somewhat on framerate and resolution.

 

Why do you need to keep so much video, though? They do loop and if something happens I expect you'll be able to stop and deal with it, so its not as if it needs management.

[Neily03]

Mobius is the one to get.

 

If you want 30 hours, you're going to have to compromise somewhat on framerate and resolution.

 

Why do you need to keep so much video, though? They do loop and if something happens I expect you'll be able to stop and deal with it, so its not as if it needs management.

 

This, also handy to keep a spare SD card in the car, then if needed you can swap it.

[Smeghead]

Mobius, it is then I guess.  Looks nice and small and takes decent sized SD cards.  Can you power it from the USB port to keep it going?  You're right about looping as it's really only for recording 'incidents'.

[Minimoke]

You can power it from the USB port but I think some people have reported issues with using the USB purely for charging/powering devices???

I use the fag lighter via a power distribution unit from Ring Electronics. That unit provides 2 USB power points + 2 fag lighter connections.

Or you can hardwire it to a switched live in the fusebox. This is described comprehensively on other threads on this forum. I didn't go that route as I couldn't face wrestling with the awful fusebox cover.

One final point - make sure you get the correct extender cable. Don't use any old USB cable. The Mobius vendors normally offer these for sale.

[Smeghead]

You can power it from the USB port but I think some people have reported issues with using the USB purely for charging/powering devices???

I use the fag lighter via a power distribution unit from Ring Electronics. That unit provides 2 USB power points + 2 fag lighter connections.

Or you can hardwire it to a switched live in the fusebox. This is described comprehensively on other threads on this forum. I didn't go that route as I couldn't face wrestling with the awful fusebox cover.

One final point - make sure you get the correct extender cable. Don't use any old USB cable. The Mobius vendors normally offer these for sale.

Thanks. Actually, the glove box cover is easy when you get the knack. I replaced a fuse yesterday (tyre pump blew the 12V socket fuse). I was dreading it after the 1st attempt but it was a doddle to remove.

[Diango]

I run a DOD LS460w with a 64gb SD card, but it will also take 128gb. Both cards have to be pre-formatted as FAT32 with a special tool, otherwise the cam won't take them.

 

On top settings it will do up to 20 hours on a 128gb card, so 30 hours is certainly doable. And it's a kicker cam too. Crisp images, easy to use, lots of features.

Edited 10 November, 2014 by Diango

[xnoruk]

Mobius has a new video timelapse function in the latest firmware... you could reduce framerate to extend the recording time (depending on what you want?)

 

 

Step3 Firmware - major function upgrade 

v2.10 - Moved many global function toggles to each video mode for greater versatility 

         - Added Boot Mode Default toggle: Mode 1, 2 or 3 (Photo mode).  Photo Mode works with (or without) auto-record and time-lapse functions turned on.

         - Added Date Format toggles for local country standards.  

         - Added additional 50, 25, 20, 15, 10, and 5 fps video playback frame rate options.  

         - Added Time lapse Movie Function, with fixed 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 5, 10, 30 sec. frame capture delay options, or a Custom (hrs:min:sec.) frame capture option.  Recordings will play back at the selected video playback frame rate giving native timelapse videos.  

         - Added AVI and MP4 movie file format options.  AVI is non-standard format and cannot be edited without re-packaging or re-encoding. 

         - Added WVGA (848x480) Photo frame size option 

         - Changed 60s fixed Time-lapse Photo delay to a Custom setting (days:hrs:min).  Camera goes to standby condition with delay >= 5 sec. to conserve battery charge. 

         - Added Date Stamp display toggle for Photo Mode 

         - Added Audio-only recording mode (voice recorder - no video).  Clip length settings do not affect audio recording, which is always continuous recording (unless manually stopped) for 16 hours (with external power) before it will S/S/C to avoid the 4GB file limit.  Recording file size is about 3.75MB/min.

         - Added toggles for Web Cam Rotatation (180 deg.) and Web Cam Video Mode (H.264 compression with audio or MJPG without audio).  H.264 also offers much smaller file sizes, less latency, and possibly smoother playback on some older display devices.

 

The Mobius also supports 128GB cards.  The online manual says the camera will format a 64GB+ card as FAT32, but I think it now supports exFAT.

[FlyingGecko]

See this thread - http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/311956-show-your-octavia-iii-dashcam-setups/