Ok, I've decided to go with the GT550W

A few questions:

- What's a good brand/type for a dual power outlet for the car? I need to charge my phone and run the dash cam as well

- Is the only way to have the dash cam on during parking is to have it hard wired to the car?

- If it is hard wired, won't it drain the battery overnight? It would be taking video 24/7 essentially.

Thanks in advance!

Answers in red above.

Here's a link with an overview of different power kits available: http://dashcamtalk.com/battery-discharge-prevention/

I just put a switch in line with power cable. Solves many issues.

my gt550w is crapping out

again, the suction mount is pretty bad, i would find it dangling every couple of weeks, whereas my gps has never fallen

and this past week, i found the camera frozen twice (no buttons work and screen is stuck on 1 image) i had to use a needle and reset it
it's probably the cold weather

^Get a 3M Tape mount. Those are a lot more stable, and don't come off.

I think they might sell them on ebay

So if ASR isn't around anymore, where can I go locally to get a good dash ca'm? (Richmond) I pick up my new car this week, and I do 95% of my driving in Richmond. Cost isn't too much of an issue since I know eventually it will pay for itself :( also, if no where installs them that's okay, I have many many years of auto experience, I could hardwire it myself. But I'd prefer a professional install.

Aware me on the best for the price
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Well, if you want a dash cam and for it to be installed, give Soundsgood a call. Keith or Mike will set you up. They can get just about any make of dash cam, and installs are thier specialty.

As for price, $300.00 ish will get you into the more decent cams. Cheaper cams will do the job, but not as well. It's all about your needs. You may not need the fancy ones. For me, it comes down to night performance and the ability to adjust settings. Others just want something on their screens and don't care about seeing the details, like the freckles on a chick's arms............. keeping it clean, LOL.

Try blackboxmycar.com that's where I got my FineVu CR500 from.
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Yeah, I don't need GPS or speed or stuff like that. And I don't need to see if the person walking in front is blue or brown eyed lol. But night time is important, and I definitely want a parking mode. Most parking modes are motion activated correct? I work somewhere with extremely high parking lot traffic, and alot of lazy fuck who push carts across the lot instead of walk 25' so if my car gets dented I'd love for that to get caught (don't think a g sensor would catch that)

For installing it myself, I wouldn't have a problem with wiring etc but the cars have curtain airbags an a-pillar airbags and stuff. The last thing I would want to do is interfere with a system like that :p
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at least get something that has a high enough resolution to show license plates. after watching some of these videos and on youtube, the quality is so bad on some all you can tell is the make model and color, which isn't always good enough.

n-motion is another option for getting a camera, although they told me a month ago to wait for the new models coming out that offer rear view as well.

^yeah, I jumped on the Blackvue bandwagon and the wagon's wheels fell off. I then moved on and got three other dashcams.... all with issues. Right now, I have a Fine Vu CR 500 and it has issues, but not as bad. Pretty happy with it. I have a made in China, butt plug-shaped dash cam and for the money, it is pretty good. Just have to try and understand the Engrish manual, LOL.

Any cams out there with better sound than the vicovations?
Obviously picture quality is most important, but I'd like one with decent sound capture as well.
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I got the 550w, but it is very difficult to understand the instructions

What setting is the highest resolution? 2MHD? 12M? other?

How do you turn on the night mode? Is it the WDR? I have WDR on, but it's not as high res as I see on videos here and on Youtube. Any help?

Thanks in advance

What blackvue did you have and what happened?

I must say so far my blackvue has been flawless (knock on wood). I have the DR500.

The only disappointment is that I bought mine then the 2CH DR550 came out like a month later.

No big deal, I don't think the rear camera is that important anyways

Anyone looking for dashcams, hit up N-Motion, they have all blackvues and a ton of other brands as well.

I bought the original DR-400.

Overheating and fuzzy picture. Dead internal battery, also.

Where's the cheapest place to get one?

My DR400 still works great. Bought in early when group buys were still allowed on here. Got it at an awesome price too.
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check out The Speed Syndicate
(604) 568-7795

they do installs and from what i recall gives out 1 year warranty as well

Agreed, except when it gets super hot out it tends to go into a reboot loop which kinda sucks.

Got in on the same groupbuy before all this groupbuy dashcam nazi-ism set in place and further divided the monopoly of dashcams

Been using my DR400 since the very first groupbuy arranged on revscene. Ater using the supplied microSD card and having times i would find out it wasnt recording, i eventually upgraded to a 32gb microSD for more storage space and I havent had big issues since.

The overheating I havent had major problems with it besides being hot to the touch when i remove it. The only other thing is the screen has become a tad fuzzy which was a result of the overheating issues going on. But I just havent had time to take it apart and clean the lens.

I've taken to blowing my AC at the windshield during hot days to try and cool it down a bit, though frankly I haven't had any overheating issues with it (DR400G). Only problem I've had was the "please check the SD card" message, but a new micro sd changed that.

So I had a couple times (DR-400G-II) where the following would happen in order:

For about 4 months now my camera NEVER says "blackvue is now shutting down" - the light would be on for a few seconds, and then turn off. My files would be fine.

I would turn the car off with the power magic on, then turn the power magic off. Normally, it's supposed to say "Blackvue is now shutting down", but instead, it would just cut, no message, and all my files would be corrupt.

I could get around this by turning the power magic off first, and then the car, but still was annoyed.

So I researched, and found the LiPo battery inside drains completely; bought a replacement from ebay, jury-rigged it because it was slightly bigger than the stock one, and now everything seems fine!

http://i.imgur.com/PRmMQX7.jpg

^ that looks like a soft shell battery, just be VERY careful. If that punctures it will smoke and possibly catch fire.

Hmm I really don't know much about these things lol - I don't see how it'd puncture while in the enclosure...

Would heat affect it somehow?

Same thing happened to my Blackvue. It now sits in my garage not being used. I knew about the battery, but have been too lazy to order it.

Can you pm me the link to the people who sell the replacement battery?


thanks