Best Dashcam

I like the idea that you have a cam showing what the driver is doing while operating. Just as long as the cam can still see what the road is like as well.
There was another thread similar to this maybe a month or so ago. I dont remember the user (might have been Packrat?) that said there were using a $100 ish set up for a home video surveilance with 4 cameras. This way the owner could get a wide range of views. One forward, one watching the driver, one pointing to the right rear, one pointing to the left rear, with the final on the cat walk behind the cab. They also mentioned the two rear facing cameras were a God send when backing up.

 

What are model numbers for Garmin, Cobra and others?

 

The only dash cam I'm even considering is the Garmin Dash Cam 20; the one with the built in GPS chip that puts time/date/location/speed right on the video.

 

Been running the Dieselboss DB4 for coming on 2 years -- still works great. My only wish is that it would automatically adjust EV for night vs day. The normal setting does a great job during day and dusk, but is a little dark at night. Turning the EV up makes it do a decent job at night, but starts to wash out the video during the day.

I'm not aware of any camera that does a good job with night recordings AND day recording without touching it -- and certainly not any in the $80 range.


Bright daylight at default EV, medium resolution, medium FPS, and no sound:



Pitch black night at same settings:

(can't hardly tell that this guy passes me on the shoulder)




Daylight with EV settings turned up a bit for better night visibility:

(dumb video of truck racing through parking lot -- seemed worse in person)

Pitch black with EV settings turned up:

(youtube compression kind of distorted this video -- the 2nd truck to pass me was smoking brakes worse than I'd ever seen)




I might be tempted to get a GoPro if I were buying today, but my much less expensive DB4 has held up and does the job.

CA law says you can only mount devices to the windshield in the 6" outer edge, and not in the swept area of the windshield wiper, and not in the driver's line of sight. So I mount mine at the top center of my windshield (for best camera visibility) and I usually leave the passenger sun visor down which hides it for the states where windshield mounts are illegal:

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• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Georgia
• Idaho
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Montana
• Nebraska
• New Jersey

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• New Mexico
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Texas
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

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i just use an app on my phne. daily roads voyager. it's free and works just as good as a dash cam.

only problem i have. is the darn suction cup mounts don't last.

 

Its funny -- a few hours after posting this my mother told me she was looking for a dash cam -- I guess hit & runs are pretty common in retirement communities? Anyway, I ordered a $130 GoPro Hero, a $15 SD card & $10 suction mount kit to make it a dash cam. If you're ordering one, I'd also recommend a longer power cord.

The GoPro has excellent video quality, but it turns out that the new Hero does not turn on & off automatically with power like you would expect from a dash cam. Nope, need to buy a much more expensive model or take the chance on ordering an older, used "HD Hero." More info on which models work here: http://www.thetruckersreport.com/tr...127-warning-those-wanting-use-gopro-hero.html The GoPro is also a bulky little cube that doesn't fold up or anything, but hey, it is waterproof to 131' (there is even a youtube video of it in the dishwasher).

So I returned it and ordered another db4 from dieselboss. $80 including sd card & and everything needed (including a loooong power cord) -- all to my door in less than 2 business days (benefit of being on the same coast). I already have one for my truck so no surprises with the cam, but I had forgotten about the Dieselboss pen.

Last time I ordered from Dieselboss, I found a bonus pen in the package. With a click of the button, it lit up the writing area -- pretty cool. This time I found a strange-looking Dieselboss pen with a little hand-like fork thing I couldn't quite figure out. Mom was pretty sure it was for grooming those zen sand gardens, but after a few minutes of playing around we discovered the hand extended into a nice collapsible back scratcher. Very cool -- and a nice reminder of some of the advantages of patronizing small businesses.

 

Yes, the Dieselboss.com lighted pen is a nice freebie. I also received a key chain flashlight, a 3M self adhesive pad, and extra tape when I ordered my RAM tablet mount. Great service and the freebies made for an all round great buying experience.

 

Dude - that's funny. I didn't know he had sent any of those out. We often throw in promotional goodies like the flash-lights and pens, etc depending on what we have in at the time. Apparently we got in some "back scratchers" and I thought they were zen garden rakes too.

 

So dieselboss cameras look pretty good. Anyone try one up against a Garmin or cobra?