I have been reading up on fitting of said devices, but I'm at a loss on which brand or even device you guys think is not necessarily the best but one that is dependable and reliable. Thank you

Have a watch of this. Quite the eye opener;

 

 

 

 

Personally, Viofo for me. Using an A129 Plus Duo and it works very well.

I've had the blackvue DR650 dual channel in my VRS for about 5 years now, only ever needed to use it once! But the piece of mind is good. 

 

I've also got the viofo a129 plus duo in one of my other vehicles, and it's also great. 

 

It depends what you want, good picture at night, not so great at speed, or the opposite etc etc etc. 

 

This is a pretty good video to help choose. 

 

 

 

All down to personal preference really.

I've got a Thinkware front/rear setup - paid the dealer to fit it and they have done a fantastic job at hiding all the cables for me.

All hardwired in, with battery low voltage monitoring etc - so I get some parking protection until battery reaches a particular level and then it shuts off.

Garmin 56w, small and works well. I've put mine on the left of the centre mirror and can barely see it from my driving position. Can get a parking mode kit separately for it too. 

I have a small Garmin in one car. Easy to fit yourself, and as Dooge said it's tiny and unintrusive. It might be just my setup, but it doesn't work great with the app on my phone.

 

Last week I fitted a Nextbase camera in the other car (now the boy has passed his test!). It's bigger but the interface seems better and easier to use. Not really tested it much though.

 

They're really very easy to fit yourself. Glue the camera up, and just push the cable between the headlining and windscreen, then down inside the a-pillar. You can push it into the gap or pull the plastics back, but just make sure it doesn't interfere with any airbag that may be in there. Then connect the cable to an earth and pick a fuse for the live to connect to in the fusebox using one of those piggyback connectors.

44 minutes ago, Mister Paul said:

I have a small Garmin in one car. Easy to fit yourself, and as Dooge said it's tiny and unintrusive. It might be just my setup, but it doesn't work great with the app on my phone.

 

Last week I fitted a Nextbase camera in the other car (now the boy has passed his test!). It's bigger but the interface seems better and easier to use. Not really tested it much though.

 

They're really very easy to fit yourself. Glue the camera up, and just push the cable between the headlining and windscreen, then down inside the a-pillar. You can push it into the gap or pull the plastics back, but just make sure it doesn't interfere with any airbag that may be in there. Then connect the cable to an earth and pick a fuse for the live to connect to in the fusebox using one of those piggyback connectors.

 

The app is dogpoo. But I find it easier taking the SD card out and plugging it into the laptop anyway. I did use the footage to assist police in convicting someone driving like a turd so I can't complain about it.

I have used a nextbase 322GW for over 5 years with no issue. For the money it's well worth it and gives me peace of mind for when my car is parked.

I'm running a Thinkware F200 Pro in my Octavia III SE Estate, My wife has a Thinkware F750 in her Fabia III SE Hatch (previously in my Fabia Greenline II Estate). Both fitted my me in the space of about 2 hours (both dashcams on the same day) I bought the optional OBDII power cable(s)  for them both, as this meant I didn't have to find a Switched live fuse to splice into, and I could take advantage of the Parking Recording for both cars, without also finding a second live fuse!

 

Fitting was easy, Find where you want to put the Front camera (don't fit it yet!!) Run the front/Rear USB connection cable from the front (under the headlining) to the A Pillar and along to the B, Then C and carefully tuck (using a cheap Chinese Car Panel tool kit I got from Amazon) and then lose the spare cable in the headlining, Make sure there's enough slack/spare for the Tailgate opening. Run the Power from the Front Camera position to The A Pilar and carefully pop off the Door Rubber (or just stuff the cable behind without removing it!!) Pop off the Drivers End dashboard panel Pull the cable through and locate the OBD socket!, Connect the wires, Plug in the OBD, Start the Car, Turn the Wi-Fi on the camera on Connect to the App on your phone then position the cameras on the windscreen (adjust the Level and Pan of the camera) and rear screen, Then set all the bits you want (Front Collision, Lane Assist, Front Leaving, Parking Recording etc... etc...) Disconnect your phone... Job Done!! 

 

It starts up nicely every time, and goes into parking mode when you're stationary for a prolonged time, and funnily stuck in traffic for a time, but switches over to Recording when you move!

 

I've used the footage 4 times from mine and twice from My Wife's, for the Police (which they are quite grateful about!)