# Researching Dash Cams



## Mr.Do (Nov 6, 2019)

Hey All. I've made the decision to add a dash cam to my vehicle. Seems most like the Vantrue N2 Pro and the BlackVue DS900S-2c IR.

But if someone can clear up something for me. In my mind a dash cam should have a camera facing forward, a second IR one facing into the cabin and then a third one facing out the rear window. But all the cams I've been looking at only feature 2 cameras not 3. Am I missing something or is 3 cameras considered overkill?

Thanks


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## kingcorey321 (May 20, 2018)

black view looks very good . The vantrue is very popular . both excellent cams . 1 front 1 rear cam. zero sides .
there is zero need for side cam. If a pax is getting shitty its ok to also turn your phone on to record to protect yourself .
If they get shitty just point at the cam ! Your on camera !! 
If one of those brain dead know it all collage kids just walks in front of your car with out looking your doing the s peed limit will say 40 and you run them over you should be covered . With out the cam go to jail .
This camera is needed . These collage kids here total idiots . They just walk directly in front of my car when im driving . I actually run 2 cams in collage town facing towards the front of my car I had 2 kids walk in front of me i almost hit them .


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## DriverMark (Jan 22, 2018)

The thing about a rear camera is you have to mount the camera and run the cable. Keep that in mind if you do find one or really want a rear camera. Might be some that are wireless now (shrug). But having to run that cable seems a pain unless you pay to have it done.

I have the Vantrue N2 Pro. It's easy enough to use. But doesn't have any "wifi/blutooth" connectivity so you do have to hook to a comp to get your footage OR remove the SD card and you could probably pop that into your phone. Make sure get the Pro, which you have listed as that has the IR in the cabin. I've seen some cheaper ones out there, like Anker (half the price of the Vantrue) and TOGUARD. Anker isn't a suction mount so it's perm mounted to your windshield.

Vantrue N2 Pro other cons and things to consider: $20 for the GPS Suction Mount, need SD Card (most that is extra anyway).
Vantrue you just hit the button to save an event so the loop doesn't overwrite. I have a 128gb card and will hold about 10 hours of footage. So a 256gb should handle 20 hours and be good for a day.

N2 Pro I goes on sale for $130-150 if you keep an eye out for it.

Some type of backup if you plan to save footage for a time. I have a 4tb hard drive and keep about 30 days of footage. I have 30 folders one for each day of the month. And another for long term


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## Mr.Do (Nov 6, 2019)

I guess the reason i am keen on getting a camera facing out the rear window is that last November i was rear ended while I had passengers in the car. Everything worked out eventually The other guy was assessed 100% liability. But if I had that rear camera it would have made things SOOO much simpler.


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## Boca Ratman (Jun 6, 2018)

Mr.Do said:


> 3 cameras considered overkill?


I think 3 is overkill, I think. Plus, another camera is that much more storage space. In the event of an accident from behind what are the chances you'll get found at fault. The front facing cam would most likely be sufficient to show you were not in the wrong. I cannot think of a realistic reason to justify the added expense.

I have a blackvue, 590 ir wifi. I really like the cloud feature on the 900 and I kind of wish I had gotten that one but the 590 was several hundred dollars cheaper. My blackvue is excellent, I highly recommend the brand. Customer support is quick and the camera quality is superb.

With the wifi connection I can veiw / save / delete videos on my phone without removing the micro sd card. I have an old phone that I use to connect to the cam and store any video I want to keep. 
The camera themselves are small and compact, about the of 3/4 of a roll of quarters. I have the front facing one mounted behind the rearview mirror and the rear on top of the rearview. They blend in nicely, and are not in your face like a window mounted cam.

What I do not like is the files save in 2 or 3 minute segments, that's it no option to make them longer, and front and rear are separate files. I can live with this but I wish I could make the files longer.

I also wish there was a way to bookmark and lock files to the card, like if you could push a button in the event of an incident and it marked that file for you and prevented it from being overwritten, there is not. I do remember reading that one cam out there has this feature, I just don't remember which one.

The Vantrue N2 Pro is a popular choice, I suspect price plays a big part of that. I it just looked a little more bulky than I wanted in my car, plus no wireless way to to save videos. I'm a klutz and I would lose cards if I had to bring them inside to veiw/download every day.

If price isn't too much of an issue, the cloud feature of the 900 is definitely appealing and worth considering. The 590 ir with wifi is another great option. Blackboxmycar com had a really good price on them. I think I paid 200.



Mr.Do said:


> I guess the reason i am keen on getting a camera facing out the rear window is that last November i was rear ended while I had passengers in the car. Everything worked out eventually The other guy was assessed 100% liability. But if I had that rear camera it would have made things SOOO much simpler.


It it alnost always their fault in thos situation. Unless he claimed you backed up, and the front facing camera would prove you didmt .



DriverMark said:


> Vantrue you just hit the button to save an event so the loop doesn't overwrite


Blackvue does not have this, I wish it did .


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## Legalizeit0 (Jul 26, 2017)

Love the Vantrue. 

However, I didn’t have it during summer. I’ve read a few posts saying it will die if left in the sun, anyone experience this?


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## Bork_Bork_Bork (May 20, 2019)

Mr.Do said:


> Hey All. I've made the decision to add a dash cam to my vehicle. Seems most like the Vantrue N2 Pro and the BlackVue DS900S-2c IR.
> 
> But if someone can clear up something for me. In my mind a dash cam should have a camera facing forward, a second IR one facing into the cabin and then a third one facing out the rear window. But all the cams I've been looking at only feature 2 cameras not 3. Am I missing something or is 3 cameras considered overkill?
> 
> Thanks


'What you're talking about are THREE channel dash cams.....not 2.

Oh, and PS....Vantrues are ass


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## DriverMark (Jan 22, 2018)

Mr.Do said:


> However, I didn't have it during summer. I've read a few posts saying it will die if left in the sun, anyone experience this?


Our 2 are still working fine after being in the car summer. So don't know. The suction mount does fall occasionally when window gets super hot or super cold about the most annoying thing. Super easy though to unclip the cam and toss in glove box. Which we do when in a area worried about car theft. Don't need a busted out window so some dweeb can steal the cam.


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## estore009 (Oct 14, 2017)

Mr.Do said:


> In my mind a dash cam should have a camera facing forward, a second IR one facing into the cabin and then a third one facing out the rear window.


B2W Uber camera can easily record cabin and side windows;
B2W Dual Dashcam+ B1W+ Anker power bank will be the best solution if you want to avoid the rear-camera cable route troubles!


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

Mr.Do said:


> Am I missing something or is 3 cameras considered overkill?


2 lenses - fwd and cabin - and audio recording.

You should PM @estore009 ,they know a LOT more about camera specs than the rest of us! Very knowledgeable.


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## NicFit (Jan 18, 2020)

I run a blackvue 650 2ch ir, 2 New Years ago someone rear ended me and ran off but I didn’t have a third camera so he got away, just scuffed the bumper and I never paid to fix it so no loss but a third camera does cover all the bases. No one makes a three channel system. All you have to do is get the single channel blackvue and mount it to the rear window, maybe you can find power back there, my suv has an outlet in the trunk but I don’t trust all the suitcases loading to leave something plugged in but I could just pull the panel and route some wires to a safe location. If you have power only up front just run the power under the carpet or door jams, not a very hard if you plan it, run many amps in the rear of my car and it can be done on almost any car


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## Bbonez (Aug 10, 2018)

Mr.Do said:


> Am I missing something or is 3 cameras considered overkill?


The vantrue N4 has 3 cameras. The time you can record is reduced by the number of cameras you have saving to the same SD card. Dual channel cameras are bad enough, only 4 hours on a 128 GB card.


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## Mash Ghasem (Jan 12, 2020)

Mr.Do said:


> Am I missing something or is 3 cameras considered overkill?


Not at all. I with I had a 3-channel dashcam. The front and rear views CYA for traffic incidents in front or behind your car, and the inside cabin view CYA for paxholes.

There's another new thread from today discussing the same thing, where I mentioned the 3-channel Vantrue N4. https://uberpeople.net/threads/dash-cam.381691/


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## Bork_Bork_Bork (May 20, 2019)

2 BlackVue 950s do the trick for me in my 2018 Honda Odyssey. 1 up front and facing up, 2nd places right beside TV for those pesky 2nd row scrubs, 1 out back and the last mounted dead over the 3rd row (where all the good stuff happens)!

All easily viewable at any time. All “incidents” sent directly to the cloud, and 2 way audio when the spousal u it is stalking me.

Good times, good times.....


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

Legalizeit0 said:


> Love the Vantrue.
> 
> However, I didn't have it during summer. I've read a few posts saying it will die if left in the sun, anyone experience this?


I live in South Florida. My Vantrue held up just fine last summer never missing a beat. Some afternoons I will get in my car and the temp is pushing the high 130's and the camera has always come right on and started recording.


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## Mash Ghasem (Jan 12, 2020)

FLKeys said:


> I live in South Florida. My Vantrue held up just fine last summer never missing a beat. Some afternoons I will get in my car and the temp is pushing the high 130's and the camera has always come right on and started recording.


Mine's held up well as well for 3 years but the battery started losing capacity, so I replaced it a couple weeks ago.


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## estore009 (Oct 14, 2017)

If you can, please avoid any that use a lithium battery and choose to use super capacitors then 5 years is a possibility.


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## coolblk (Nov 1, 2019)

Why buy dash cams that is too high priced and have very bad resolutions with limited card storage.
Buy a cheap iPhone 5 or Samsung S5 or higher. for less than $150,
You will have 32Gb or more of storage.
Go to the app store and download the Dash Cam app. you will get great quality recording from the phone camera, able to upload to a sizable harddrive,
and remove the recording from the camera for the next daily drive,
keep the recordings for at least 1 month, this will ensure that you have footage in case of any disputes, after that you can clean up the hard-drive space.

Things the app does is record speed, time stamp and steady recording. also can set the screen to blackout to avoid distraction while driving as it keep recording


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## swathdiver (Apr 18, 2019)

My budget was $100 and bought an Eachpai X9 which is also sold under different names with different options. Small and unobtrusive, great sound and decent video save for the interior at night. I was going to put an infrared LED strip in the back to assist the camera but then it started overheating after 6 months.

32GB cards too small, last only about 4 hours at decent quality setting. 128GB is great.

Save every trip for 30 days and then delete, fills up a 1TB drive too quick.

New camera is a Pruveeo P3 with infrared this time. Same architecture as previous but packaged slightly different. Also has WIFI. So far so good.

Both cameras have GPS and record my position and speed with speed displayed in video. Somebody might accuse me of speeding and I can that I wasn't!


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## sd1303 (Nov 11, 2015)

I have a N2 Pro in my car. So far, no complaints.

I've also put 5 of these stickers on my car (3 outside, 2 inside). https://www.thedashcamstore.com/warning-sticker-audio-and-video-recording-may-be-in-progress/


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## Mash Ghasem (Jan 12, 2020)

coolblk said:


> Why buy dash cams that is too high priced and have very bad resolutions with limited card storage.
> Buy a cheap iPhone 5 or Samsung S5 or higher. for less than $150,
> You will have 32Gb or more of storage.
> Go to the app store and download the Dash Cam app. you will get great quality recording from the phone camera, able to upload to a sizable harddrive,
> ...


What bad resolution?? I'm getting great 1440 resolution AND very wide angle from my dashcam.

And who said limited storage? Yes, many CHEAP crappy ones have limited storage, but not the better ones. 32GB of storage is nothing. I'm using 128GB cards in my dashcam, and I can go as high as 256GB.

Using a phone as a dashcam is inefficient and counter-productive.



sd1303 said:


> I have a N2 Pro in my car. So far, no complaints.
> 
> I've also put 5 of these stickers on my car (3 outside, 2 inside). https://www.thedashcamstore.com/warning-sticker-audio-and-video-recording-may-be-in-progress/


I've been looking for something like that! I just went there and found this other sticker, perfect to put on windows so they're visible from both sides: https://www.thedashcamstore.com/warning-sticker-audio-and-video-recording-in-progress-transparent/


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## estore009 (Oct 14, 2017)

@Mista T Updated: there is a lightning deal going on amazon for my camera B2W. It ends in around 4 hours~~~

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082FCZK4V/?tag=ubne0c-20


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## Bork_Bork_Bork (May 20, 2019)

coolblk said:


> Why buy dash cams that is too high priced and have very bad resolutions with limited card storage.
> Buy a cheap iPhone 5 or Samsung S5 or higher. for less than $150,
> You will have 32Gb or more of storage.
> Go to the app store and download the Dash Cam app. you will get great quality recording from the phone camera, able to upload to a sizable harddrive,
> ...


'Worst advice ever.


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## 58756 (May 30, 2016)

A 360 degree camera is needed these days. Lot's of hit and runs.

I use drive recorder for now until I get 360 degree cam. Drive recorder runs in background as an app and records audio and video. I mount it high up so my rear smartphone cam can see everything.


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## Bork_Bork_Bork (May 20, 2019)

Ozzyoz said:


> A 360 degree camera is needed these days. Lot's of hit and runs.
> 
> I use drive recorder for now until I get 360 degree cam. Drive recorder runs in background as an app and records audio and video. I mount it high up so my rear smartphone cam can see everything.
> View attachment 426414


That's just, Ghettofabulous! I bet those pool rides appreciate it!


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## UberTrent9 (Dec 11, 2018)

kingcorey321 said:


> black view looks very good . The vantrue is very popular . both excellent cams . 1 front 1 rear cam. zero sides .
> there is zero need for side cam. If a pax is getting shitty its ok to also turn your phone on to record to protect yourself .
> If they get shitty just point at the cam ! Your on camera !!
> If one of those brain dead know it all collage kids just walks in front of your car with out looking your doing the s peed limit will say 40 and you run them over you should be covered . With out the cam go to jail .
> This camera is needed . These collage kids here total idiots . They just walk directly in front of my car when im driving . I actually run 2 cams in collage town facing towards the front of my car I had 2 kids walk in front of me i almost hit them .


College



DriverMark said:


> The thing about a rear camera is you have to mount the camera and run the cable. Keep that in mind if you do find one or really want a rear camera. Might be some that are wireless now (shrug). But having to run that cable seems a pain unless you pay to have it done.
> 
> I have the Vantrue N2 Pro. It's easy enough to use. But doesn't have any "wifi/blutooth" connectivity so you do have to hook to a comp to get your footage OR remove the SD card and you could probably pop that into your phone. Make sure get the Pro, which you have listed as that has the IR in the cabin. I've seen some cheaper ones out there, like Anker (half the price of the Vantrue) and TOGUARD. Anker isn't a suction mount so it's perm mounted to your windshield.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info. Can't really afford to get something @ that price range, how about in the $40-$50 range, that's a bit easy to set up?


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## DriverMark (Jan 22, 2018)

UberTrent9 said:


> College
> 
> 
> Thanks for the info. Can't really afford to get something @ that price range, how about in the $40-$50 range, that's a bit easy to set up?


There are cheaper cameras out there. Not sure if there are ones with infra-red for inside the cabin. Anker has one that can find on sale for $80-100. Also need to make sure it has dual cameras, for inside the car and outside. The price range you are looking at are usually only forward facing (outside car).


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## Bork_Bork_Bork (May 20, 2019)

This always comes up. When it comes to electronics, its always a get what you pay for scenario. Cheap is just that, cheap. When you need a device to actually perform....do you really want a cheap POS to be what you’re relying on.


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## Mash Ghasem (Jan 12, 2020)

Nothing as functional and reliable as a dashcam from the 99 Cent Store. :smiles:


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