Next Base Dash Cams

[airscool]

Morning.

 

Does anybody have any experience of Next Base dash cams. They seem fairly reasonably priced and I have a 25% off voucher.

http://www.nextbase.co.uk/dash-cams/

 

[blueR36]

Yes mines great, works fine, good clear images :clap:

[EoinM]

I've got a 312G, its a mid range one. Can't really complain. It does what it does, works well and has a clear image day and night. A friend has the 512 and it's noticeably better quality but I wasn't so sure if it was worth the price difference (in Ireland) at least given the cheaper one did what I wanted - catch a reg plate if needed.

[Skully]

I have a 402G which I bought refurbished from eBay. £70

 

Haven't fitted it yet but will do soon.

[Wet Kipper]

i have the 402G, got it about 18 months ago.

Picture quality is great when you look at it on the computer, not sure how much YouTube compresses it when you upload:

only gripe is the size of the suction mount+holder, means it hangs down quite far from the windscreen

[Damo]

Happy with mine. 312 with Wi-Fi.

 

Can't fault it for 90 quid.

 

Easy to use, great picture quality, what more do you want

[fgaffney]

Another thumbs up for the 402G, which I too bought using a 25% voucher last year.

 

Have a look on Halfords web site as well as in store as the voucher is valid for click and collect and sometimes their web prices are cheaper (as was the case with me).

 

It's not the most discrete dashcam, but some black electrical tape over the branding helps a lot

 

 

I have a circular polariser filter glued onto the front of mine, whereas the 512G (Sony sensor) comes with one as standard. This improves picture quality significantly.

[Wet Kipper]

i tried putting mine in front of the rear view mirror like that, but couldn't get the suction cup to stay on the darkened section, and couldn't reach the buttons to turn it on/off

[fgaffney]

i tried putting mine in front of the rear view mirror like that, but couldn't get the suction cup to stay on the darkened section, and couldn't reach the buttons to turn it on/off

 

 

I cleaned the surfaces with a 15% IPA solution and made sure the sucker and ring matched up perfectly before I clamped it down. Solid as rock and hasn't moved.

 

My camera is hardwired into fuse 47 so it automatically switches on with the first ignition click and goes off when the ignition is switched off. I never need to touch it unless I'm wanting to take footage from the SD card.

[octaviaconvert]

I've dealt with a next base 402-g "professionally" following an RTC.  Myself and my colleagues were very impressed by the quality of the footage (although the UI could be slightly more intuitive at the roadside) and it certainly saved its owner a trip to court, a few hundred quid and some penalty points (he now needs a new microSD card though)!!

[Garnett]

I have a 512g as it is one of the few that dont interfere too much with the DAB on an estate. Nice unit.

[fgaffney]

i have the 402G, got it about 18 months ago.

Picture quality is great when you look at it on the computer, not sure how much YouTube compresses it when you upload:

 

only gripe is the size of the suction mount+holder, means it hangs down quite far from the windscreen

 

 

Lizzie Bryce roundabout... I know it very well!!!

 

Can I offer you a little tip... your image would be greatly improved if you filmed 1/4 of sky and 3/4 of road, bonnet & dashboard. Try tilting your camera down a little so it's not exposing for the sky and the important stuff will be much clearer and more usable.

 

Also gluing one of these over the front of your lens vastly reduces the reflection of your air vents onto the inside of your windscreen, as well as other external light sources such as sunlight, vehicle reflections and lens flare.

 

 

Edited 17 May, 2016 by fgaffney

[Phil-E]

I have had a 202 lite for well over a year now.

It's been good and the picture quality is good.

The only I had was the mount was rubbish but it seems the newer models come with the better one. But I just bought one today from maplin:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/nextbase-dash-cam-windscreen-mount-a49tx

[Guest]

If you buy your Nextbase from Halfords they will fit it for £30. I asked in my local store if that meant drilling into trim etcetera, they said that wouldn't be a problem.

I didn't chase it up any further as I already have two non Nextbase cameras hardwired into my vehicle. It may be worth chasing up by others who are interested in having these installed just what the Halfords fitment involves.

As a baseline, I paid £50 & £108 to have mine hardwired in by two reputable and highly recommended garages.

I know people slag off Halfords for their standard of work, but I've used them twice and my current Parrot system is still going strong after six years.

From my experience of Skoda ownership, they are no worse or better than Skoda 'technicians'.

[fgaffney]

As a baseline, I paid £50 & £108 to have mine hardwired in by two reputable and highly recommended garages.

 

 

It's really not that difficult to do yourself and there's no need to remove any trim. The trickiest part is removing the glovebox to access your fusebox but there's a Youtube guide on how to do this and I actually found it much easier than the bloke who posted the video.

 

 

Rather than buy an expensive hardwire kit I used the following, which came in under £5 all in, to piggy back fuse 47 (the rear wash/wipe).

 

 

 

 

There's an in depth tutorial on how to hardwire a dashcam elsewhere on Briskoda if you do a quick search... only took me 15mins start to finish.

[ToffeeMRD]

I have a 512g as it is one of the few that dont interfere too much with the DAB on an estate. Nice unit.

Do many cams interfere with DAB or is this a next base specific issue? Looking to invest in one when my new Octavia arrives and don't want to lose DAB signal!

[fgaffney]

Do many cams interfere with DAB or is this a next base specific issue? Looking to invest in one when my new Octavia arrives and don't want to lose DAB signal!

 

 

Some people overcome any interference by using a Ferrite Bead at the 'hot end'  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrite_bead 

 

I was initially worried about possible interference with my 402G, however I've not experienced any loss of DAB reception. The Nextbase units are generally well built and as I use the supplied power cable (with the above hardwire accessories)  I'm guessing the build quality extends from the unit all the way to the fusebox, which may make a difference to those using a 3rd party hardwire kit?

[Black_Sheep]

+1 for the 402g. Nextbase hardwire kit is £15 from Maplins. Used the ferrite bead included and no DAB interference on either car.

Skoda is piggybacked to the rear wiper fuse but camera keeps switching off when stop / start kicks in - didn't do this when new as approx 5 mins internal battery. Not too sure if the internal battery has given up the ghost, if it is because my partner only does lots of short trips and the battery never gets a chance to fully charge or that the stop / start cuts power to certain circuits and camera switches off - I will update when I have some time at home to investigate.

[Osborne]

Where did you get the 25% off voucher if it's not a rude question?

[deemack]

Not too sure if the internal battery has given up the ghost, if it is because my partner only does lots of short trips and the battery never gets a chance to fully charge or that the stop / start cuts power to certain circuits and camera switches off - I will update when I have some time at home to investigate.

I'm on my second 402G, first replaced under warranty. Apparently the internal battery failing is a common fault. Try charging it for 4 hours straight from an external source, see if that improves things. Mine's in a Mk2 so can't comment on the auto stop/start but I expect it would stress the battery in the camera.

[jonro2009]

I'm not sure the stop start would stress the battery, it shouldn't effect the camera because the ignition would still be on so the power should be uninterrupted if you used the right fuse.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Phil-E]

Yeah you just need to find a fuse that isn't deactivated when the engine is off as some things like heated seat won't be powered once the stop/start kicks in.

 

I wired mine in using the supplied cable and power adapter then a cigarette socket and piggy back fuse as above.

 

Not sure how the auto dim mirror works on the MK3 but on my MK2 the camera blocks the front sensor which affects the mirror a little which is a small annoyance.

[ords]

Where did you get the 25% off voucher if it's not a rude question?

Try this link

http://www.nextbase.co.uk/petrolprices/

[fgaffney]

I'm not sure the stop start would stress the battery, it shouldn't effect the camera because the ignition would still be on so the power should be uninterrupted if you used the right fuse.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

I agree... I activated stop start on the way home today and watched the camera carefully. There was no change in the red flashing light (indicating the power was still being taken from the car battery) and the camera continued to film as normal. Had the power source been removed then the camera would've shut down in the same manner as if you had removed the ignition key.

 

The onboard battery isn't designed to power the camera for any length of time and is only there to ensure the camera boots up, keeps time and date settings (where there's no GPS function) and in the event of an accident you can dismount the camera and film/photograph away from the vehicle for a few minutes without a USB cable providing power.

[Nathanio]

We have a 512G in our Fabia and it is a marked improvement over the Mini 0805 I have in my car. I wish they recorded in MP4 with GPS written to file (for use with Registrator Viewer). I don't like their software much. 

 

The filter makes a big difference as removes excessive reflections. 

I also bought this but yet to fit to the Fabia. 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00F0BBCJC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Makes the mount much smaller