Wednesday, April 2, 2014

HD 720P Dual Lens IR Night Vision Car DVR Camera Dash Cam Video Recorder Motion Detection

HD 720P Dual Lens IR Night Vision Car DVR Camera Dash Cam Video Recorder Motion Detection
  • Dual lens, double views
  • 5.0 MP 1/4 CMOS sensor
  • 1280x720 high resolution video recording
  • 120 degrees wide view angle, 330 degrees rotating screen panel
  • Motion detection & IR Night Vision & Loop Recording

After having (briefly) owned two failed units from different companies I'd gotten through eBay, I had my hopes on this one functioning as advertised reasonably low.

However, upon unpacking, it felt well-made, had a nice look, fit and finish to it. Already more impressive than the previous two. Installation was very easy, straight forward and there is plenty of cord to not only span but also tuck away within one of the longest production saloons ever built.

First use was done with an old 2GB card I had from a mobile phone, not the ideal size but it worked for the test run. The video is where I expected it to be after watching hours of Russian dashboard camera videos of all sorts of mischief with the bonus of covering front and rear of your vehicle.

The files are stored on the card as DCIMA and DCIMB for the front and rear respectively. I can't get the rear video to mirror on the camera itself (the image is vertically inverted) but having video editing software available, this isn't an issue for me.

Overall, I'm very pleased with the camera and the results it produces. Since my car appears to attract an unusually high number of moron motorists, it's nice to know that their incapabilities are recorded and can be used against them in the worst case, in the best case to make fun of them with my friends.

Quite likely that I'll order more for other vehicles too.

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I have this Car DVR and I love it. However, mine may be a newer model as it is MP4 format not AVI so it is compatible with any computer system (you never know what the cops [or Youtube] might need). The only problem I have had with it is the adhesive on the rear camera is not too good and it falls off. But that's a minor issue.

If you get this machine, DO NOT LOSE THE INSTRUCTIONS! You will use them over and over again as you may randomly decide to change features (it has a LOT).

The video quality out of both cameras is excellent from dawn to dusk. Night vision is mediocre but definitely usable. Its better than my iPhone video at night.

It comes with two mounts -an articulating mount and one that just sticks to the windshield. I'm using the one that is flat on the windshield. My windshield has a severe angle so I can't really see the screen very well. With the articulating arm you can see the screen well but the screen is so small I'm not sure its of any consequence -especially if you are using the PIP with the rear camera.

The DVR creates two folders on the SIM. One for the front camera and one for the rear. If there should be a "collision" it will add two more folders automatically that are not erased when the chip fills up. Video during the accident is put in those folders. It only plays for a few minutes on the built-in battery but if your car loses power from an accident it should be sufficient.

I would definitely recommend the MP4 version.

Read Best Reviews of HD 720P Dual Lens IR Night Vision Car DVR Camera Dash Cam Video Recorder Motion Detection Here

Reviewed the product specs and it did not mention G-Sensor or microSD card. Emailed seller and they said no G-Sensor on product and no microSD support. However, picture on Amazon shows small memory slot which means microSD. Ordered/received product within 3 days.

Here is the rundown:

Unit powered up in Chinese. There was no upfront welcome screen to select the language.

Spent 20 min flipping thru Chinese menus looking for "language". With trial/error, finally set it to English

Dashcam has G-Sensor and only supports microSD card Amazon, please fix website and seller needs to know specs.

G-Sensor works OK. Test it by shaking the dashcam while recording. You'll see a lock symbol on screen, and the video file in the "LOCKED" directory on memory card

Saved video files are .MOV. Product description says .AVI.

Color was horrible on video playback/ Pink shows up as dark blue. Changed "Color" setting in menu to NULL. This fixed color issue. Also, traffic light color now shows correctly

VGA mode works very clear. 720 Mode appears to be OK, but I am happy with VGA.

Video file size is 15MB/min for VGA, and 53MB/min for 720 mode

Unit powers up automatically upon ignition start and stops on ignition off. Menu setting allows further recording after poweroff

Very compact unit that nicely sits behind the rear view mirror. Easy to slide on/off the suction cup mount.

Secondary camera kinda works. When enabled, it creates a PIP on the main LCD screen. If your PIP is upside down, just rotate the secondary camera 180 degrees. However, this causes a problem in that when you view playback, video is inverted. Left/right is flipped flopped. bad design.

Powerplug that inserts into the cigarette lighter socket does not fit well, causes random power loss to dashcam.

Looping works fine, I use 1 and 2 minutes, and it does what it is supposed to.

Night time driving with street lights/headlights is fine. You can see enough.

Audio picks up all noises

Overall, very happy with unit; accomplishes what I want it to do. Can't fully test 720P yet because I only have a older slow 1GB microSD card to test with. Will get 32GB this week. But don't 'really care too much since VGA is fine.

It is lightweight, compact, and very reliable. Not too bad for $70.00.

Will probably return it and reorder to address power plug issue. Will also get a 2nd unit for other car.

(had previously ordered the "$20 dashcam, and as you know, you get what you pay for got refund on that)

Update 6/2/13:

Keeping the unit since it works fine. Don't care about power plug problem anymore, whereas I am using my Garmin USB cable to power up the dashcam. I like this dashcam model a lot, so I ordered a second unit. But this time, I ordered from another seller (fulfillment by Amazon). This second unit is identical to the first except it now has: 1. New firmware 2. Remote control 3. 1080P.

Regardless, the VGA recordings still work the same as the first unit. No need for the extra features. (1080P is not real. playback just shows magnified objects).

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Hopefully (as others have described) it will last longer than other Chinese Made dash camera's I've purchased. Video is better than expected for daytime use, but very poor on night vision (even with bright headlights). It will overheat quickly and seize up needing resets after cooling off if left in the sunlight for brief periods while parked and no AC running. Also will freeze up during use with the PC under different modes. You must learn by trial and error on the menu options. The manual is nearly useless, as is the onboard menu that has been translated poorly from Chinese to "Engrish". For the price and to document any additional accidents on the road, or catch incidents of bad driving habits, this should work well. You do need to know basic knowledge of operating Digital Video cameras or the lack of instructions that are complete will frustrate you. For my own needs in a private vehicle, this serves the purpose. I added an 8gb Duracell Micro SD card I picked up locally. The battery backup lasts only about 1-2 minutes after the unit is charged, but it does work well with the included cigarette lighter power adapter. The screen is tiny and difficult to see, and more so with the Picture in Picture (PIP) of the second camera. It will (not easily) let you switch between cameras for a full view, but again with missing instructions you just keep pushing buttons until it does what you want....then hope to remember what you did for later.

I ordered one of these from a vendor on Amazon, and the product came with scratches on the screen, which I could live with. What I could not live with, though, is that the video would tend to freeze when a file was playing back, after about 30 seconds or so into it. This was true whether I chose five-minute or two-minute recordings, and occurred on two different micro cards (16Gb and 32GB), thus the unit itself was clearly at fault. So, I sent that one back.

I ordered a second one from eBestrade, and it seems to work okay. This time the screen came with a protective cover that I peeled off, and the unit records and plays back without issue. The only negative, as a few other reviews have noted, is that the back camera recordings are inverted, meaning it's like you're viewing the video image from a mirror. Street signs read backwards, and it looks like you're driving in England...everything is reversed. Apparently they all have this defect.

Interestingly, you'll notice that this same design is sold by quite a few vendors at different prices, some shipped from the US, some shipped from the US with Amazon Prime as an option, and some shipped from China or Hong Kong. From what I can tell, though, they all have the same features. The first one I purchased was packaged in a completely different box than the second, but other than that they both had exactly the same functionality.

I chose this particular design because it is the only one I found with a detachable, wired rear camera. Many accidents are caused by being hit from behind, so I didn't want a dash cam that only recorded what was going on in the front of my vehicle.

The unit records into two files, one for the front camera and one for the rear. It will take up to a 32GB micro SD card. I have a 16GB in mine, which is easily sufficient because it loop records, meaning it will start to record over the older files once the card fills up. With my 40-mile round trip to work, I can record several days worth of driving before it starts to record over the older files.

I have found the picture quality from both cameras, front and rear, to be adequate. You will NOT be able to read license plates from either camera...definitely not from the back camera (it would be inverted anyway), and not from the front camera either, unless conditions are absolutely perfect (vehicle stopped, close, and very bright lighting). So, if someone side-swipes you and takes off, you'll get video of the car speeding away, but that will be about it.

On the other hand, though, if some idiot cuts you off, or plows into you from behind, and an accident does unfortunately occur, you'll have very good footage of what took place.

The unit is very small and very light. So small, I have to get a magnifying glass to read the menu choices on the screen. The settings for it are many...you can pretty much tweak it to do whatever you want it to do. You will, though, need to play around with the buttons to figure out how to find, select and save your choices. The written instructions are pretty bad (mine came in both English and Chinese), so learning through trial and error is really the best way.

It seems to work fine for what it is made for. Don't expect a solid, well-built, name-brand Sony or Samsung type product. This is a low-cost, Chinese manufactured device. Both of the units I bought came with English menus already activated. It mounts securely to the windshield, and is not at all noticeable when you're driving if you place it strategically. Also note that even though the wire connecting the rear camera is really long, to get the wire hidden away in my SUV (an Armada), I am going to need to get an extension cable. I don't think this will be necessary in most cars, though.

The unit will power on and off with the vehicle as long as you have it plugged into a 12-volt socket that also powers on and off with the vehicle. Some of the sockets in my SUV are constantly on, so I have purchased a splitter (this one: Multi-Use Vehicle Charger with Dual USB Ports and Dual 12 Volt Sockets Magnadyne) to accommodate it, since I also have an external GPS unit that also needs to power on and off with the vehicle. The dash cam stays on for about 15 seconds after the ignition is switched off.

Considering all of the above, for what you get for $70 (as of this writing), I consider this dash cam a four-star deal. I plan to buy a second one for my wife's car.

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