# Dashcam Help



## Stephen (Aug 22, 2014)

I got a cheap POS (piece of silicon) dashcam. It's essentially an unbranded Aukey DR-H1. (My understanding is that Aukey just slaps their name on other products similar to Westinghouse and other brands you get at the bottom-shelf discount stores.) 

It's great when it works. I stick a formatted micro-SD card in it and it records audio and video just fine...for about 15 minutes. At that point, it will crap out and give me corrupt video files until I shut the car off, then it won't even write data files onto the card until I reset it or put in a fresh card. Just looking at it, the red record light is blinking the same way that it does when it is actually recording. It looks just fine until you take the card out to read it and, whammy! Everything is corrupt. Kinda defeats the purpose of having a dashcam if you never know when it's working, ya know?

If you have any ideas, I'm open to suggestions. Also, if you know of any dashcam specific resources that I can look into, post those as well.

TIA, Gübers!


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## MyRedUber (Dec 28, 2015)

Highly recommend the Blackvue 650 two camera setup. The later models include IR LEDs in the second camera so that you can use in-car at night.
It's the best quality, most heat tolerant, discrete dashcam that I could find. Had mine for a couple of years and very happy with it.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

You think someone here can help you FIX your crappy dash cam?

Buy a better one. Throw this one out.


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## Karen Stein (Nov 5, 2016)

I've seen the $20 dash cams at Wal-Mart and been tempted. After all, isn't A dash cam better than NO dash cam?

Looks like you answered that for me. Unless I decide to mount a piece of kludge to fool the passengers and continue to save towards a Falcon ....


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## Grahamcracker (Nov 2, 2016)

I have heard a lot of great reviews for the Falcon 360 and they say you can get it for $150 on Groupon.


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## Dowblab (Oct 12, 2016)

Thinkware is a great brand. Good post sale support and great products. 

They have a range of camera. 

I'm running the f770 with rear cam. Works great!

You should also look into a higher quality sd card before buying a new camera. 

SanDisk is the WORST. 

Transcend and Lexar are GREAT for dashcameras.


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## uzurper (Dec 7, 2016)

Dowblab said:


> Thinkware is a great brand. Good post sale support and great products.
> 
> They have a range of camera.
> 
> ...


I'm pretty much sold on the Thinkware. It's slightly better than the BlackVue from what I've been researching...


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## Dowblab (Oct 12, 2016)

uzurper said:


> I'm pretty much sold on the Thinkware. It's slightly better than the BlackVue from what I've been researching...


They're both great with very similar features. The selling point for me was the rear camera.

Thinkware records at 1080p and blackvue only at 720p.


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## TechBill (Jun 26, 2016)

Dowblab said:


> They're both great with very similar features. The selling point for me was the rear camera.
> 
> Thinkware records at 1080p and blackvue only at 720p.


Does the Thinkware rear camera have IR on it or is it good enough to see inside the car without the domelight? Do Thinkware also record audio?

Bill


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## Dowblab (Oct 12, 2016)

TechBill said:


> Does the Thinkware rear camera have IR on it or is it good enough to see inside the car without the domelight? Do Thinkware also record audio?
> 
> Bill


No IR so it isn't ideal as an interior camera. The main camera does record audio though.


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## wk1102 (Dec 25, 2015)

Grahamcracker said:


> I have heard a lot of great reviews for the Falcon 360 and they say you can get it for $150 on Groupon.


I am super happy with mine...

Works great...


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## MikesUber (Oct 23, 2015)

*Falcon Zero F360 HD Duel Dash Camera*

I would make the one time investment in your safety and legal protection in case of an accident. I have the Falcon Zero F360 and it automatically starts when you start the car, auto-shut off, records automatically and has shock detection (will auto save footage before and after an impact is detected).

http://amzn.to/2hdlGWk - $149.95

*From their Amazon page:*


3.5-inch LCD screen allows a preview of what is being recorded unlike other DVRs 

Night vision for interior clips and shots; Built-in microphone / speaker function

180-degree rotating 120-degree viewing angle high-resolution wide-angle lens

Supports up to 32GB high-capacity SD cards; TV and HDMI HD output. Loop recording allows old file to be replaced automatically with new files 

1 Year Manufacturer warranty included ~ 32GB SD CARD INCLUDED

*What's in the Box?*

Falcon Zero F360HD Mirror DVR, Power Cord (10 feet), USB Cord, Dual USB Car Charger, 32GB Class 10 SD card, Cord Management Clips, Instruction Manual, Retail Box.


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## GetTheCarJames (Dec 14, 2016)

Dowblab said:


> Thinkware is a great brand. Good post sale support and great products.
> 
> They have a range of camera.
> 
> ...


Hardly. I am a full time professional photographer and all I use (and LOTS of us pros) is SanDisk. I have literally shot hundreds of thousands of images without one failure with their cards.


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## Dowblab (Oct 12, 2016)

GetTheCarJames said:


> Hardly. I am a full time professional photographer and all I use (and LOTS of us pros) is SanDisk. I have literally shot hundreds of thousands of images without one failure with their cards.


I'm sure their cards are great for photography. They're notoriously bad for dashcams (mainly because of constant rewriting of files.)

I read somewhere it's because many of their cards use TLC vs MLC (or vice versa not 100% sure.) Anyways, the latter is a lower quality type of storage which reduces longevity.

A quick Google search will attest to this as others have said how low quality many San Disk cards are when compared to other brands.


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