[IndyZrider]

some of them do have a cloud upload with an sd card backup...ive already had a dash cam save me when a semi rear ended me....he said i brake checked him...nope he straight up hit me on the interstate....i use a blackvue cam...they have battery cutoff protection and sentry mode...very efficient and worth the cost....

[tenargo57]

Originally Posted by DamonZ28

It's not like a Ring camera, that's constantly recording & uploading to the cloud, so it's not really designed to be a theft deterrent. .

There are quite a few that do this. Ring even makes one.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by tenargo57

There are quite a few that do this. Ring even makes one.

Upload to the cloud requires data connectivity. At home, it can use WiFi and it could likely be configured to use your phone as a hotspot as well. Otherwise, you need an LTE package added on.

Ring, as an example, offers an LTE connectivity package for $6/month which includes 2GB of data transfer. On a 4K camera, that would account for about 6-7 minutes of video. On a 2K camera, you would likely get about 30 minutes of video. The cost to stream video constantly would be exorbitant, but the bigger issue is how to keep it powered while the car is parked.

The reality is that these things are good ideas on paper, and the companies will show you "interesting" ways to use them, but they simply are not geared toward being a true theft deterrent because they can get ripped out and tossed on the ground in three seconds then the thief starts the car and takes off with it.

[tenargo57]

Originally Posted by ember1205

Upload to the cloud requires data connectivity. At home, it can use WiFi and it could likely be configured to use your phone as a hotspot as well. Otherwise, you need an LTE package added on.

Ring, as an example, offers an LTE connectivity package for $6/month which includes 2GB of data transfer. On a 4K camera, that would account for about 6-7 minutes of video. On a 2K camera, you would likely get about 30 minutes of video. The cost to stream video constantly would be exorbitant, but the bigger issue is how to keep it powered while the car is parked.

The reality is that these things are good ideas on paper, and the companies will show you "interesting" ways to use them, but they simply are not geared toward being a true theft deterrent because they can get ripped out and tossed on the ground in three seconds then the thief starts the car and takes off with it.

I didn't say anything about a theft deterrent, I responded to someone else saying they don't upload to the cloud like a Ring camera. Have you used one? I have one from Blackvue and by default it uploads a lower resolution video with a higher resolution saved locally. Regardless, that's a non-issue. Just buy a SIM card + data plan from your favorite provider. They can all connect to wifi too, so whether your car has a built in hot spot or you use a dedicated one like I do then data transfer is a non-issue.

[sactownbwoy]

Almost all of this systems come with either a seperate battery pack (thinkware/blackvue) or some type of hardwire kit with voltage sensing.

Originally Posted by ember1205

Upload to the cloud requires data connectivity. At home, it can use WiFi and it could likely be configured to use your phone as a hotspot as well. Otherwise, you need an LTE package added on.

Ring, as an example, offers an LTE connectivity package for $6/month which includes 2GB of data transfer. On a 4K camera, that would account for about 6-7 minutes of video. On a 2K camera, you would likely get about 30 minutes of video. The cost to stream video constantly would be exorbitant, but the bigger issue is how to keep it powered while the car is parked.

The reality is that these things are good ideas on paper, and the companies will show you "interesting" ways to use them, but they simply are not geared toward being a true theft deterrent because they can get ripped out and tossed on the ground in three seconds then the thief starts the car and takes off with it.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by tenargo57

I didn't say anything about a theft deterrent, I responded to someone else saying they don't upload to the cloud like a Ring camera. Have you used one? I have one from Blackvue and by default it uploads a lower resolution video with a higher resolution saved locally. Regardless, that's a non-issue. Just buy a SIM card + data plan from your favorite provider. They can all connect to wifi too, so whether your car has a built in hot spot or you use a dedicated one like I do then data transfer is a non-issue.

I was specifically calling out the use of "upload to the cloud" as NOT being useful for theft deterrence because that topic has been broached in this thread. You gave even further confirmation of its lack of value for that with the comment about lower resolution video being what gets uploaded.

Resolution on a 4K camera, during the day, is pretty much the bare minimum necessary to be able to pull details like plate numbers. Anything less, and the video is only useful for "entertainment purposes" to watch something back and maybe show others, but you aren't getting details like plate numbers for accident or similar purposes.

Originally Posted by sactownbwoy

Almost all of this systems come with either a seperate battery pack (thinkware/blackvue) or some type of hardwire kit with voltage sensing.

Whether it's the car battery or a battery pack in the camera, it's doing to draw down / die relatively quickly and the camera is going to shut off.

Any fault in the circuitry of the camera, and the hardwire kits may NOT shut down to protect a car battery... Then you have no camera AND a dead battery that won't start your car. I've been down the road before of electronics items that power circuits fail on and it kills the car battery... in the winter... allowing it to freeze... It isn't a lot of fun (or cheap) dealing with issues like that.

[Alexk]

Originally Posted by Camaro_Fuzion

Is it worth the investment? Like for traffic stops, theft deterrent?

Here is couple stories for you
Dash cam is a must for me and I have on both of my cars installed. I got the one with front and back cameras. Got it after a lady rear ended my wifes car in a parking garage and was telling it was my wife backed up into her car. She was little out of her mind.

A year after some guy ran the red light at the intersection and hit my wifes front end with pretty decent damage. The guy jumped out of the car, started accusing she ran the red light and not him. When I got there he made a huge stink videoing the whole scene yelling and cursing how nasty we are, basically trying to get away with it. I was really calm just waiting for cops to show up and didn't say a word about the dash cam. When cop showed up the guy started bullshitting him as well. When it was my turn I quietly pulled out the camera, gave it to the cop, he pulled up the video on his laptop and it clearly showed he was at fault. The cop told me have a nice day and I left in 5 mins. Should have seen his sad face when I pulled out that dash cam

Second time I had to use it when bunch of dumb kids were throwing big rocks from under the highway ramp which hit the hood of my car and basically ripped it. Couldn't understand where that rock came from until I watched the video.

I have many other instances I had to use it when something happened on the road around me

Best $50 I ever spent. Actually today I'd buy better quality dash cam with more features.

It's not effective for theft at all. Can't run it all the time, it drains the battery

[oldguy0130]

Thank you Ember for the info

[Rogueleader_92]

I went with the Memento M7 Wifi, its a 2k front, 1080 rear dual camera setup with an option to add a 3rd camera for interior views.

It's good enough to show who's at fault and pick up closer (2 car lengths) plates.

It comes with the hardware to hook it to your battery and auto shutoff when the battery gets low (you set your voltage limit), its standby is also a lower drain then others on the market as instead of constantly recording or using camera motion sensing it uses radar to detect motion – reducing battery consumption by up to 90%. Honestly my favorite part is when I turn the car on but before I start it the camera gives me the battery voltage so I can moniter the "health" of my battery unlike the car itself that only shows what the alternator does because it dosent activate the gauges untill the car is running.

The Wifi part of the M7 allows you to download the video to your phone and view it with their app.

If you pull the card you can put it in your computer and with their app also see a google maps view along with other info like speed and direction.

Its pricey at $380 plus the cost of install if you pay to have it done but I couldn't be happier with the final product.

[sactownbwoy]

I guess that can be a problem for people who don't drive their car often and don't connect it to a tender.


I've left my car for weeks at a time while on TAD trips and not had it connected up to a tender and come back and it starts right up.


Camera kit is hard wired, recording 24/7.

Originally Posted by ember1205

I was specifically calling out the use of "upload to the cloud" as NOT being useful for theft deterrence because that topic has been broached in this thread. You gave even further confirmation of its lack of value for that with the comment about lower resolution video being what gets uploaded.

Resolution on a 4K camera, during the day, is pretty much the bare minimum necessary to be able to pull details like plate numbers. Anything less, and the video is only useful for "entertainment purposes" to watch something back and maybe show others, but you aren't getting details like plate numbers for accident or similar purposes.



Whether it's the car battery or a battery pack in the camera, it's doing to draw down / die relatively quickly and the camera is going to shut off.

Any fault in the circuitry of the camera, and the hardwire kits may NOT shut down to protect a car battery... Then you have no camera AND a dead battery that won't start your car. I've been down the road before of electronics items that power circuits fail on and it kills the car battery... in the winter... allowing it to freeze... It isn't a lot of fun (or cheap) dealing with issues like that.

[Deacon Blues]

Dashcam in all my vehicles. I didn't hardwire them so they run off USB, but I've routed the cables so they're well hidden. When I park, I plug into a battery pack that gets me about 12 hours of recording time. Like others in this thread, that all started when I parked my truck in a lot and came out the next day to see someone backed into my bumper with a trailer ball and mangled it. Apartment building claimed their cameras weren't pointing in that area of the lot (right in the middle?!).

[pitrott1]

I run a Nextbase 622GW that also holds a rear HD recorder to I get both F/R coverage.

[arpad_m]

I also installed front+rear dashcams in all our vehicles. As stated before, they can be invaluable in case an accident happens and blame needs to be assigned, but they aren't as useful as a theft deterrent.

[Bumbleboy92]

Don’t cheap out on either dash cam or sd card as well.

My 2016 1LT was totaled and the dashcam I was running back then failed terribly, here’s the long story. Short story, I had a Aukey DR02 D; the dashcam or sd card developed an issue where it would record 1 minute of footage then skip a minute and record the next minute. I had loop recording at 10 minutes and verified this after the fact. Guess which minute was skipped…

Got a VIOFO A139 Pro in my car, A229 Pro in my brother’s 2 cars, and A129 Pro in my X5. All with high/max endurance as cards and hardwired with parking modes, no issues anymore. Funny enough, Aukey is the knockoff VIOFO but after my attempts to reach out to them and all their communication lines leading to nothing I swore off them.





You can see the 18 wheeler that hit my brother at the beginning of the video down the road.