Dashcam

[davureborn]

The Micro SD card or whatever it's called on the dashcam I bought about two years ago died and I can't find one to replace it. Two years is pretty good for a cheap dashcam anyway so I am looking for a new one. Anybody buy a decent one recently, Lazada or locally?
I guess up to ฿3000.- is ok, although a taxi driver told me not to buy an expensive one, they all die in a year or so.
I went to the Mall in Korat recently and the selection was unimpressive.

[iammike]

Did the Micro SD card die ?

If so, they are easily available. I just bought a couple for Phones and my own Dash Cam in the JiB shop in Robinson Buriram 2nd Floor (next to Banana IT).

Dash cam ?

Get one that records in 1080p quality, any lower then that and you want be able to make out anything, but please note when you buy one that records in 1080p you also need a Class 10 MicroSD card and not the lower ones (class 4 or class 6).

Ps: More expensive Dash cams usually come with a warranty

I only buy Garmin Dash Cams (with build in GPS) so no idea about other brands, but I had some cheaper brands and the quality sckus.

[davureborn]

Thanks, I shall hie myself thither tomorrow.
I'm pretty happy with my iPhone navigation so won't be needing a GPS although that would be nice.

[iammike]

Thanks, I shall hie myself thither tomorrow.
I'm pretty happy with my iPhone navigation so won't be needing a GPS although that would be nice.

A dedicated dash cam with gps is not a gps in the sense that you can navigate with them.

If a dash cam has a gps chip onboard it records (embedded into the video) the speed you are driving plus the actual location of your vehicle.

There are gps available with built-in Dashcams, but those devices are way more expensive then 3k more like in the region of 15k. Do a search on Google for Garmin NuviCam.

Edit: Here a list of Micro SD cards with price so you know what price you approx have to pay.

http://www.invadeit.co.th/category/memory-cards/microsd/

I bought Micro SD cards at Jib (class 4, so not class 10) for 100 THB 8Gb capacity.

The Class 10 for use in my Dash Cam was 32Gb and was priced at around 4-500 THB

[davureborn]

So I bought a card, 16GB, ฿790 but no class visible, the guy didn't know what I was talking about although I did see some labelled Class 4. At least I now have a functioning carcam again. I saw two only carcams while I was in Robinsons (not the banana place), a Drivepro 100 for ฿3400 and a Drivepro  200 for ฿4500 so I guess my old carcam will be finding a place on the back window very soon. That is to say if I can actually remove its card in order to put it in a card reader which is a bummer.

[iammike]

Can you take a picture of the cover / packaging so I can have a look.

16Gb 790 THB is expensive. Which brand ? Kingston ?

You of course can remove the card and put it into a card reader, if you bought a MicroSD it should have come with an Adapter

[davureborn]

Thanks Mike.
Yes I have that stuff.   I also have a card reader with a slot that I can plug into the PC, I believe this is a USB2 connection, which not everyone will be able to use I think. The card is not the same shape as the one I had before, I am not confident that I can remove it, I already tried half heartedly.
I paid ฿1000 for the last one, no adapter, just a cableconnecting the camera to my PC.  so I thought this was a decent price, the adapter is a noname  'Micro SD adapter'

Planning on buying a new cam soon anyway, but can't understand why it is so difficult to get information and advice.

[PETHAI]

Don't buy a dash cam from big C had one for 3week and it melted 2yr warranty was no good they said it's been in the sun

[Starman]

Don't buy a dash cam from big C had one for 3week and it melted 2yr warranty was no good they said it's been in the sun

Surely it is not up to BigC to decide whether or not a warranty is valid. They are just the retailer.

[iammike]

Thanks Mike.
Yes I have that stuff.   I also have a card reader with a slot that I can plug into the PC, I believe this is a USB2 connection, which not everyone will be able to use I think. The card is not the same shape as the one I had before, I am not confident that I can remove it, I already tried half heartedly.

Can you upload a picture of the card ? As I don't understand what you mean by "is not the same shape as the one I had before" ?

USB is backward compatabile, so if you stick a USB2 in a USB3 port (for example) it will work, but not as the same high speed as USB3.

I paid ฿1000 for the last one, no adapter, just a cableconnecting the camera to my PC.  so I thought this was a decent price, the adapter is a noname  'Micro SD adapter'

You can do that (connect a cable to the PC) but the speed is way slower then for example stick the SD card in a card reader and copy via the card reader.

Planning on buying a new cam soon anyway, but can't understand why it is so difficult to get information and advice.

Have a look here:

http://www.gpssociety.com/EN/Pages/product.aspx and scroll down to "Camera Serie". These are the Garmin dash cams. And all these Cams use MiniSD cards (class 6+)

I have the GDR33 (http://www.gpssociety.com/EN/Pages/productdetailfeature.aspx?SiteName=EN&Category=PND&ID=29) in the back window of my car.

[PETHAI]

Starman I kept my post brief, they returned the dash am to the manufacturer and they decided the garrantee was not going to honoured because it was sun damage

[iammike]

Starman I kept my post brief, they returned the dash am to the manufacturer and they decided the garrantee was not going to honoured because it was sun damage

That must have been really bad quality, the only thing that happen to my Dash cams (if they are in the sun too long) is that the dash cam windshield mounts lose their grip, but reattaching it solves that problem.

The Dash Cam in the back Window of my car I have never taken off, I only take the MiniSD card out if I want to save the Video Files.

[davureborn]

Thanks again, Iammike, I finally got my old cam working again, although (it has two lenses) one camera now has distinctly less good quality than the other. No car number plates are readable, difficult to see if that really was a red light or not. Doesn't matter, I'll keep it until it is useless or I decide to buy a new one. The DrivePro 100 is going to be my next purchase, apparently the DrivePro 200 has few advantages apart from being Wifi enabled.

[iammike]

Wow, 2 lenses. Are they with the wide view 200 degrees ?

I would love one of those, but the Garmin one is <insert word of your choosing> expensive at 10.900 THB

http://www.gpssociety.com/EN/Pages/productdetailfeature.aspx?SiteName=EN&Category=PND&ID=36

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYYw35usAMM

Sorry no experience with the DrivePro, where do you buy them ?

[davureborn]

Drive Pro: in nearly the same place as IT Bananas or whatever you call it, in Robinson first floor. (over the aisle and down a bit). Got good reviews. The instructions are apparently in English, meaning that you won't have one week fiddling with it to find the English language menu and another finding out how to adjust time and date.
The cheap no name thing I have now does about 170° and I have to get them aligned correctly to get a decent clip. (Unless I just use on lens, then I get about 140°) However I can move the lens easily enough so that any cop sticking his head through the window will be recorded in glorious sepia.
I watched quite a few demonstration videos for different cams and half of them seem to be using the same video clip, driving behind two yellow taxis!
I did a quick survey in BigC last night and very few cars seem to have a cam for the time being.