Do you have a dashcam?

Do you have a dashcam?

  • Yes and it's proven itself

    Votes: 38 12.3%

  • Yes but I've never had to use the footage

    Votes: 59 19.1%

  • No but I am considering one

    Votes: 153 49.5%

  • No interest

    Votes: 55 17.8%

  • Other

    Votes: 4 1.3%
  • Total voters
    309
Seriously considering one. Some questions to those that have:
How easy is it to install? Did you do it yourself or get someone to do it for you? If so how much?
Does it wire directly into the cars wiring or do you have to use the cars only USB port to power it?
 
Cius said:
Seriously considering one. Some questions to those that have:
How easy is it to install? Did you do it yourself or get someone to do it for you? If so how much?
Does it wire directly into the cars wiring or do you have to use the cars only USB port to power it?
Click to expand...
Installed my own, very easy. Goes into the sig lighter 12v. Tricky part is to hide the cable which I just didn't bother with.
 
I have a Garmin 55 in front and retired my Garmin Dashcam Mini to rear facing. Luckily my car has a 12V socket in the boot so not too dificult to plug in. The front camera wire is tucked underneath interior trim. But just tucked, I did not take anything apart to hide the cable. This is in a Golf 7, your results may vary.

Currently waiting to see if my dashcam footage of a small incident last week will actually help in getting the other party to fully pay for the damage to my car
 
Gotta get one of these. Had a nasty accident last year late without one, drunk guy struck my car on the side.

Fortunately, I had my story straight and the insurance paid out, even got my excess from the guy.

He tried his luck with his "lawyer" calling me trying to intimidate me. I stood firm and he couldn't do anything.

Time for one.
 
Cius said:
Seriously considering one. Some questions to those that have:
How easy is it to install? Did you do it yourself or get someone to do it for you? If so how much?
Does it wire directly into the cars wiring or do you have to use the cars only USB port to power it?
Click to expand...
Depends on what you want. Most units you attach to the windscreen, close to the rearview mirror and and let the cable hang down and plug it in to the cigarette lighter socket. But can be messy and cable can get in the way. I prefer to not have cabling all over the place so had it professionally installed. Cost was about R450/R500 for installation. I also bought the Power Magic Pro (hardwiring kit) which connects to the car's fuse box. No cables anywhere and a neat and tidy install.
There are many videos on Youtube that shows you how to do installations.
 
I decided to invest in a dashcam, and I basically wanted to get something with GPS and WiFi from a reputable brand. This is what I got: https://www.takealot.com/transcend-...ith-32gb-microsd-memory-card-bla/PLID71784336
1681561702405.png
Here’s how it looks (just change your YouTube playback to 1080p for maximum crispness):

Overall I’m happy! The mobile app works well to access the footage, and the 1440p resolution looks sharp enough for my needs (can identify number plates when zooming in).

One thing which I’m not using is the AI-powered safety features (my car has that stuff built-in), but I guess it’s a nice-to-have.

Night footage is good too, which was also important.
 
Yes you do get dual camera Dash cams that allow recording inside the vehicle as well. If you want to purchase locally, check out https://cardashcam.co.za/
Otherwise there are many other places you can buy internationally. I would be careful of the cheap units.
 
I wouldn't mind one but concerned it's just another reason for someone to smash my window and steal something.
 
Brawler said:
I wouldn't mind one but concerned it's just another reason for someone to smash my window and steal something.
Click to expand...
I had the same concern initially which is why i bought the Viofa A119 back in 2017 2019. It's small and sits flat enough so that it's not easily visible unless you know it's there. Still happily using it today. It's packed with features and the recording quality is excellent. I see they have a much bigger range of Viofo dashcams today.
cardashcam.co.za

Viofo Dash Cameras - The Car Dash Cam Store

cardashcam.co.za cardashcam.co.za
I am hoping to get the dual channel unit sometime soon so i can record what's happening behind me as well.
 
Last edited:
Magandroid said:
I had the same concern initially which is why i bought the Viofa A119 back in 2017. It's small and sits flat enough so that it's not easily visible unless you know it's there. Still happily using it today. It's packed with features and the recording quality is excellent. I see they have a much bigger range of Viofo dashcams today.
cardashcam.co.za

Viofo Dash Cameras - The Car Dash Cam Store

cardashcam.co.za cardashcam.co.za
I am hoping to get the dual channel unit sometime soon so i can record what's happening behind me as well.
Click to expand...

Yeah it was a bit pricey then, but those sensors are excellent. I still have one of the older ones in my bakkie.

I see prices have dropped a lot for the newer ones with rear+front now.
 
kolaval said:
So nothing from temu?
View attachment 1731849
Click to expand...
I saw that on Temu a while ago. I was initially intrigued by it because it was so cheap but upon further research, I found there were features not available on this unit that I preferred on my Viofo unit and there is quite a lot of support Viofo. One of the limitations on this device from Temu was maximum memory card size at only 64GB. If you record HiDef then 64Gb fills up pretty quickly. I bought a Samsung 128GB pro endurance SD card back in 2019 and still using it today. If you feel this will work for your needs then you should buy it.
 
Last edited:
kolaval said:
Is it wired in or do you use the cigarette plug?
How long does a 64gb card last?
Click to expand...
It's wired in and because the Viofo unit uses caps instead of a built-in battery to keep it powered on while the car is switched off, I purchased the Power Magic Pro device that manages power.
blackvue.co.uk

Power Magic Pro | BlackVue UK

Power Magic Pro allows your BlackVue camera to continue recording when the ignition is off, protecting your vehicle’s battery from being depleted
blackvue.co.uk blackvue.co.uk

The microSD card is a Samsung 128Gb (UHS-I U1/U3 rated SD card) and I have been using it everyday since 2019 (sorry initially said 2017 in previous post). Apparently UHS-I U1/U3 rated MicroSD Cards are designed for continuous video recording.
 
I subsequent to this thread did install a dashcam on both my and the wife's car. Fortunately have not needed it for an accident or anything but have downloaded the occasional video of idiot drivers in front of us for amusement purposes and sharing on various whatsapp groups.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X