Dash Cams

[Bealman]

I hate cars. The only thing that I do with mine here in Australia is look at it with contempt.

I jump in it, drive down the street, and think, Geez, it's time to get it cleaned.

Cannot understand revheads. Fascination with cars is a complete mystery to me.

They're work and worry to me. 

[Papyrus]

I fitted a dashcam last year after a couple of near misses. Mine is a Nextbase, 512 if I remember rightly, cost me roughly £100. I think you need to go for as high a spec as you can afford - the cheaper ones have poorer resolution which will capture only very close number plates. I fitted it myself initially but made the mistake of leaving it plugged into the cigarette lighter - ran the car battery flat in 24 hours! I bought a hardwire kit and only succeeded in disabling the airbags!  I took it out of the car for a while, but after another worrying incident I figured it was worth getting it fitted professionally. I took it to Halfords in Burgess Hill who I've always found very good and they did it in 15 minutes. £35 well spent.

Cheers,

Chris

PS. You don't need a smartphone to watch the video. Why do you need to watch a video anyway unless you want to report an incident? In which case you whip the SD card out when you get home and copy it to your computer.

PPS.

cynical me reckons the £35 install is for plugging it into the cigarette lighter accessory socket

No they don't. They do a proper job. (And I speak as someone who generally doesn't rate Halfords all that highly.)

[guest8885]

@Newportnobby Mike makes some very valid points in what to look for. I have the Nextbase 522GW, (with rear facing camera as well) and it was easy to fit. I just used a 'piggyback' fuse connector into a fuse box underneath the dash. The 'piggyback' replaces the original fuse and then the original fuse is plugged into the 'piggyback'. All the wires, (there are only two on mine), fit easily behind the car trim and are totally hidden. Do a quick Google search for your vehicle and dashcam, e.g. Ford Focus Dashcam fitting - there will be some videos on Youtube no doubt.  I fitted mine to my previous car after two 'near misses' in as many weeks - naturally, since shelling out the money, it has not been needed. Still, it is a bit like insurance, nice to have but you hope you never have to use it. 

Addit: After you have watched some videos on fitting, you may decide it is more prudent to pay someone to fit the camera - depends on where the fuse box is and how agile you are feeling. Have you got a friendly neighbour/mechanic who wants to earn the price of a pint?

dannyboy is there something you have not told us

[dannyboy]

Yes - I am not as agile as I thought I was! The best fuse box for me to use entailed me being on my back on the front passenger seat, feet outside the car, with my head under the glove box and a small torch between my teeth!  :'(. Thinking about it - go to Halfords Mick @Newportnobby 

[scruff]

Mick,
I don't know if you remember but I drive trucks for a living and like you I wanted a dash cam to provide evidence of car drivers misdemeanours.

I bought a cheap £15 camera off Ebay along with a 32gb sdcard and have been using it for the past 5-6 years, changing vehicles every day. It plugs into the cigarette lighter socket and works off 12 and 24v.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-Set-Car-DVR-Compact-Camera-Full-HD-1080P-Recording-Dash-Cam-Camcorder-Motion/401980731967?hash=item5d97eb323f:g:Yz0AAOSw31ddVTPf

I use these sdcards one in the camera and 1 spare:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sandisk-32GB-Ultra-Micro-SD-SDHC-TF-Memory-Card-80MBs-UHSI-Class-10/202302861995?epid=10032165604&hash=item2f1a30b2ab:g:N2MAAOSwJpda6PCZ

It worked that well that I put one in the car too.. I just don't see the point in paying out for an expensive all singing dogs danglies camera and "professional" fitting. In the car I've tucked the wire from the cig lighter plug to the camera behind the trim so it is hidden from view. The insurance companies or police will accept the pictures and don't need to prove where you are because the pictures will show that and they can work out how fast you are going from the time it takes to pass white lines or roadside objects. They give a good HD picture and can see in the dark. A 32gb sdcard records about 3 hours of driving before overwriting itself at 720p definition. As they are cheap, the local tealeaves will most likely not bother with them too.

Look after the pennies! Seriously, good luck with whatever you choose..

Cheers
Mark