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[Rog]

I'm feeling a bit nerdy !         

Following on from the thread below, I ordered and received one of the cheap dash cams from Amazon. At under £15, I wasn't expecting too much, but Ithought I'd tell you about it.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=116182.0

What comes in the Box ?
Camera
Windscreen Mount (sucker type)
A/V cable - Jack to phono
USB Cable
Battery (Similar to Mobile phone type)
In car charger with VERY long cable
Instructions - sort of
There is no branding. No idea of who made it or where, but probably China
No mains charger and no SD Card

It's a bit hard to know where to position it. Too big for behind the mirror. I had it on right side of windscreen. You can't just quickly clip it onto the mount, its a bit of a fiddle.



The screen flips up out of the way

Some observations
There are several different recording modes 1920x1080; 1280x720; 848x480; 640x480. I tried 1280x720 and 848x480 and was really surprised that there was no difference in file size.

It always starts recording when a USB power source is connected, but you can stop/start by pressing a button.
Lense is very wide, so reg numbers need to be really close to be captured.
Sound recording is awful, switch it off unless you want to shout at it
It doesn't deal well with extremes of light, so in bright sunshine shaded areas become very dark.
It records in 2 minute chunks, so you get lots of files of 2 minutes each. This can be increased.
Sometimes takes a while to recognise memory card, I was using 8Gb
It completely "hung" once, requiring battery removal, I might have removed card during recording
Will record using just the battery, but I don't know for how long

Here are two clips at each resolution, however the host site converts them so they are not completely as recorded. One is headed South into the sun at 1280x720, the other is heading North with sun behind at 848x480. File size on both of these was about 140Mb each and both are 2 minutes. I notice the video is a bit jerky, like touching he brakes regularly.






There is plenty to criticize about this gizmo, but remember one thing, It's £15 ! That suits me, and if I see it as useful then I may go out and splash out on a much more expensive one. But for now, this will do fine. 

Lastly with regard to the second clip, where I live it is completely normal for Mums push babies into the road and yak on the phone at the same time !   

 

[Varche]

I am thinking a getting a cheap one like yours. However I don't think I could live with the size of it and the cable.

The quality is adequate. It would show where other drivers were just before impact (i.e. on your side of the road.) a big problem here on country roads without a centre line.

[ronnyd]

Doesn,t it impede your vision at road junctions which are on your right?

[Rog]

Doesn,t it impede your vision at road junctions which are on your right?

Well, like I said "It's a bit hard to know where to position it."

I actually didn't find it a problem where it is, but this was just a short drive to the petrol station. It doesn't show well in the picture but it is tucked behind the pillar. When the screen is not down, it is very much smaller, about the size of a thick smartphone. ( Hmmm "Thick" "Smart" phone, there must be a joke there)

[Webby the Bear]

Hmmm I personally wouldn't want that. Looks like your view is impeded too much.

Each to his own of course.

When you parl up is there anywhere you can put it?

[Rog]

Hmmm I personally wouldn't want that. Looks like your view is impeded too much.

Each to his own of course.

When you parl up is there anywhere you can put it?

Put it somewhere else, like I said "It's a bit hard to know where to position it." I just stuck it there to try it out. No reason for not putting it on the opposite side behind the pillar, or top left corner. I'm still experimenting.

Like I said, attaching and detaching is a bit of a fiddle. But It's not big with the screen folded in. I can't honestly see me using this all the time for every journey. Too much hassle just for going to the shops, but that's when things happen.

I also would not want to leave it attached in the car as it looks nickable to a baddie.

[Mr.OmegaMan]

Nice review of the cheapo cam Rog 

That second video is like an obstacle course   

[Varche]

Hmmm I personally wouldn't want that. Looks like your view is impeded too much.

Each to his own of course.

When you parl up is there anywhere you can put it?

Say what? Did you mean purl as in knit one purl one?

My brother got a cheap one and it fits neatly behind the mirror.He also has the same thing in the back window. Similar spec and price. He has had them ages./

[ronnyd]

Doesn,t it impede your vision at road junctions which are on your right?

Well, like I said "It's a bit hard to know where to position it."

I actually didn't find it a problem where it is, but this was just a short drive to the petrol station. It doesn't show well in the picture but it is tucked behind the pillar. When the screen is not down, it is very much smaller, about the size of a thick smartphone. ( Hmmm "Thick" "Shttp://images.omegaowners.com/forum/smf2000/Themes/core/images/bbc/highlight.gifmart" phone, there must be a joke there)

Better than a smart thick phone.

[omega3000]

Thats an excellent picture for the price  , considering getting one and surly it can be mounted under the mirror somehow 

[Rog]

Nice review of the cheapo cam Rog 

That second video is like an obstacle course 

Ha, kinda looks like that I suppose. All completely normal in North London  In this are you need to watch out for mad Greek-style driving 

[Mr.OmegaMan]

Nice review of the cheapo cam Rog 

That second video is like an obstacle course 

Ha, kinda looks like that I suppose. All completely normal in North London  In this are you need to watch out for mad Greek-style driving 

That video proves a good point of how handy these Dash Cams can be in proving who did what all the more... ... Hope it serves you better than mine did mate

Might try one in the £40-£70 price bracket next nearer to winter, Compare the differences... Maybe then worth trying the £150-£250 devices which get smaller ideal then for behind the mirror.. See if they a worthy of their price tags 

[dbdb]

It's not exactly the same as my £15 one but very similar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnZ2DcTyiNY

Mine fits on top of the rear view mirror but I had to custom make a mount for it and grind away a bit of the camera case.

One advantage of the £15 price is I can leave it in the car and the concern is a broken window not loss of the camera. 

Are you a happy with that angle?  I think mine was about the same, it was 45 degrees. I found it missed people stepping out as I passed so added a wide angle adapter. 

Biggest drawback is not recording numberplates as mentioned but you would need  quite high resolution to do that at any distance.

[omega3000]

I guess it would be useless if it cant capture the number plate  Perhaps best to invest a little more and buy one that does ... also do these cheap ones have night vision 

[Mr.OmegaMan]

I guess it would be useless if it cant capture the number plate  Perhaps best to invest a little more and buy one that does ... also do these cheap ones have night vision 

Never got the chance to find out mate