Found a low price in car DVR for incidents or contacts

[jem58]

Any new updates to the in car DVR choices?

Here is one I have been considering trying.
Mini Video Recorder with In-Car Mounting Stand [TKE-CVFR-DV21]

I just returned on of these, it doesn't all ways record.You get home thinking you have lots of video and the card is blank.

[jem58]

I use the Wolfcom3,It records good video, and it will take a standard 8g sd card. I like that it records in 5 minute increments. The only down side for me is I could never get the date set right I ordered a different kind Friday,its called Extreme Sports Camera, got 2 of them for $99.00,straight from the supplier.On flea bay they are $99.00 each. I hope they work well,we shall see.I should receive them by Friday.
I just posted a video taken with the Wlofcom3,the sound is another issue with it.

[NetstarGT]

That looks amazing. Any pics of it in your car? Did it come with a hardwired kit and does it come on automatically when you turn on your car, as in no input required from driver?

No, it didn't come with a hardwired kit but it did come with a long wire with a cigarette adapter on the end. I cut the cigarette adapter off and hardwired it using a Add-A-Circuit. I fished the wire around the windshield trim and behind the RVM.

It does come on automatically when you turn the key to the on position or start the car. The camera then talks and tells you it's recording and that whether the inside camera is recording or not. It will also tell you when the camera establishes a GPS satellite link.

It also has a red power light on the left side and blue recording light on the right side. It's pretty cool and a lot cheaper than the Teye camera that I was considering. If you would like to know where I purchased the camera, send me a PM and I will respond with the information. I don't want to violate any rules by posting links.

Camera Back Seat View.jpg Camera Passenger Side View.jpg

[R.J.]

For the price of this camera, the video quality is lacking. The Kodak Zi8 will blow this away and it's over $100.00 less (doesn't include sdhc card though). The only good point is the ease of having itself turn on when applying power to the unit and being able to permanently mount it. I guess for recording accidents it's probably good enough, but for anything else it seems pretty bad. Perhaps the videos I saw were compressed when being converted? I also saw the files this camera saves as are proprietary and are only able to be accessed through their software?

Alot of these cameras have great features, but it seems the common theme here is terrible video and audio quality. Perhaps they were engineered with the mindset of viewing accident faults and not for the pleasure of filming high quality video to share with your friends. I read some reviews of other "made in china" in car dvrs and many have bugs or quirks. A few of them also expressed concern over the lack of customer service (think perma-hold). I just feel for the price some of these units are going for, they should really make an effort to offer something of a bit better quality.

[NetstarGT]

I agree! The Ki8 should blow it away considering it designed to shoot 1080p. I was willing to sacrifice video quality for the other features. I wanted the camera for shooting video of accidents and road incidents and not the sequel to Avatar. The DV400 videos you see on the internet are pretty bad but I think they are over compressed. My videos look really sharp compared to them. I will post some on YouTube when I get a chance.

IMO, the Ki8 should be $100.00 less since it doesn't have all of the features of the DV400. I rather have all the features I had mentioned in my original post then have just 1 camera that shoots great video but has to be recharged and has issues with stabilization according to reviews. I would also be concerned about using rechargeable batteries if you left the camera in your car with the extreme heat. The DV400 was designed for operating temperatures up to 158F degrees which is suitable for inside a vehicle.

The proprietary software is an issue but I consider it a security feature. The videos cannot be watched and the camera is useless if it's stolen. I convert the videos to any format using VLC software that is included with the camera. The VLC software allows you to add special effects and adjust audio settings.

Support may be an issue but my retailer has been around for years and supports the product for 2 years as per manufacturer requirements. My retailer already sent me the firmware upgrade for the camera and the name of the manufacturer in case I need to contact them in the future.

Both cameras have their pros and cons but it all depends on what is important to you and your budget. The DV400 has a lot of features and decent video compared to other dash cameras on the market.

[R.J.]

So the DV400 software will allow you to convert the file to an .AVI? Yeah, I'd like to see the video quality of this camera when you post it up.

[STiMULi]

You can't compare the ZI8 and a "Nanny Cam" (DVR) as the ZI8, to my knowledge can't loop. You can get 10 hrs per 32GB card but that is one file.

[NetstarGT]

I use the Wolfcom3,It records good video, and it will take a standard 8g sd card. I like that it records in 5 minute increments. The only down side for me is I could never get the date set right I ordered a different kind Friday,its called Extreme Sports Camera, got 2 of them for $99.00,straight from the supplier.On flea bay they are $99.00 each. I hope they work well,we shall see.I should receive them by Friday.
I just posted a video taken with the Wlofcom3,the sound is another issue with it.

The Wolfcom3 was my second choice for a camera. It does a decent job for the price. The Wolfcom3 poor sound quality is the biggest complaint with that camera.

Are you still having problems setting the time? I had a problem setting the time on my camera until I figured out the problem. I have a feeling that they use the same configuration setup to control the date and time. Let me know and I will try to help.

[kaotik78]

I never thought I would actually be looking into putting cameras into my own car now. Some world we live in now

OMW home from work someone decided to rearend my car after I was cut off by someone not using their turn signals. The person who rearended me ended up going ballistic, getting out of his car, punching the glass, kicking my door, yanking on the handle. Of course nobody was there to witness this, the officer who arrived afterwards, since he did not witness this, could not do anything about it.

My iphone is so damn slow the video record feature takes way too long. So now I'm looking into this, but there seem to be so many non name brand choices from china, and fleabay, it's tough to find what's reliable, and will actually work, like my benchmade knife, xd-9mm, and my Macbook

I just wished I could have said to the officer, when I asked the person about his psychotic outrage, which he denied of course, that "oh really, officer will you look at this video footage of this person trying to break into my car".

[kllian]

sounds like you need a glock in your car, not a camera.