AZners...

Anyone have dash cam installed? Would you share your experience? I'm thinking to get one

Price + Quality = not bad

Review:
http://dashboardcamerareviews.com/dod-ls300w/

eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw...s300w&_sacat=0

 

I've been researching this too. The LS300 is a good pick. Here are a few more sites... The 'DOD' cameras seem like a decent value. I was looking at the Lucas too but kind of pricey.

http://dashcamtalk.com/

http://http://www.carcamcentral.com/

The manufacturer of the 'DOD' cameras..

http://www.tiotech.com/index.php

Reseller.. but some may not come with factory support...

http://www.foxoffer.com/

DOD site.

http://dod-tech.com/index.php

 

BTW... there is now an LS300WPlus version out and soon an LS330W. The LS330W is not yet available in English but should be soon I hope. The LS300WPlus adds some sort of license plate feature but looks the same otherwise. The 330 is an upgrade from the 300.

 

Presently use the DOD F500 LHD. Good camera for the price. It is discontinued. If you do purchase any Dash Cam, buy from reputable dealer, lots of FAKE Dash Cams on the market.

 

With my recent accident where a guy blew the red light & I hit him, I've started looking at them. The guy admitted (thankfully) that he blew the light, so it wasn't an issue. But no witnesses stopped, so if he lied and said my light was red, it would have been my word against his.

Not to mention, I've been watching a bunch of those Russian videos so the comedic effect of having a dash cam may come in handy!

One thought that came up was if you get pulled over by the police, do you have to tell them you have a dash cam that's recording video & audio? I'm sure it depends on jurisdiction, though

Cheers,

Nick

 

I had one in my last car. But I didn't want to set it up in my new one because I didn't want cables hanging all over the place. If someone could come up with a write-up on how to install it so that there aren't cables all over I would be interested. Perhaps draw power from the overhead console? I want a really clean install that you can barely notice, not having the power cable all going all the way to the cigarette output.

 

My plan is to wire right to windshield mirror already have speed radar connected. Second option to sunroof... both cases clean set up, no wires hanging

Here what used for speed radar:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ESCORT-RADAR-DETECTOR-C65-STEALTH-MIRROR-POWER-CORD-NEW-/350118030228?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5184a92b94

 

Car Talk


BlackVue is pretty much the best dash-cam I've seen. Would be buying it right now had my cell phone not crapped out on me.

 

The LS330W is available in English from the eBay seller e-prance. This seller appears to sell the real deal, not a knock off, but since they significantly reduce the DOD price, the DOD Tech company states they are an unauthorized dealer.

Yes there are some cheap fakes, but also some selling the popular DOD brand at a discount and therefore are considered unauthorized by DOD Tech.

There are several web sites that show you have to run the wire behind the trim around the window, down the A pillar, and along the side of the dash to either your fuse box or lighter. You may be able to patch into the power going to the rear view mirror or into the overhead lights.

 

Or this place...

http://invisicord.com/osc2/catalog/i...a97ee9c6faf567

 

I also found a rear view mirror version of the LS300W that DOD is selling in China. Trying to find out if it is on sale here. It looks nice. Most rearview mirror DVRs aren't that good.

 

I purchased mine from Amazon.com and SpyTech. It's unbranded. Box is in Russian, so is the menu. No problems with it, pretty reliable so far. I am unaware of any unauthorized DOD Tech issues.

 

Some vendors are called out by DOD Tech on their website as being unauthorized vendors and say they won't provide support for them. Not so much an issue, but more of a 'buyer be ware' that you may pay a lower price but won't be eligible for DOD Tech support.

 

Im also looking for both a radar and camera. I would like to tap into the mirror, overhead power.

 

I'm using radar "Escort 9500ix", works perfect with no issues.

 

But the power running on the overhead console lights or the rear view mirror is 12V whereas the camera requires 5V, do you have to do something to convert it?

The pic on the DOD site shows no wires hanging, looks like they are drawing power from the mirror? http://www.dod-tec.com/_pub/att_file...URES_EN_01.jpg

 

I don't have dash cam installed, shopping around still... was assuming that also 12V... need to do more search I guess

 

here is my set up for over 2 years now

 

You can route it like this...

http://www.carcamcentral.com/guides/...ing-your-wires

 

Can you please tell us what ur using, I'm very interested in something like that. Details please.

 

Mobile i Dash Cam
here is the link

http://www.oi.com.hk/node/42.html

 

Other than gkon any other real world experience.

 

It would be cool if someone could route and mount just the camera inside the rear view mirror and the rest of the system in the glove box with a power feed from the fuse box so it's more discrete and non-existent looking. Maybe I'll do that one day, haha.

 

Agree-360 surveillance 24/7 Would be a game changer

 

I had a blackvue (DR500GW-HD) on my old car. Planning to get another one for my current car.

It's hardwired to the fuse box. Cable is running to the roof down the pillars and to the fuse box. It also has motion detectors for "parking mode". But I eventually just set it to record every time I turn the car.

 

Only wish that thing wasn't $250.... Looks beautiful.

I have my radar detector hardwired into my fusebox as well. Turns on w/ the car and also added a switch next to the traction control button to manually turn it on/off when I enter restricted states (VA/DC area). Doing something similar to a dash-cam would be quick.

 

DR400hd selling for $200 on ebay right now.

 

I have the BlackVue DR400G (the predecessor to the DR500GW-HD?) and it's been a good dash cam so far. I like the size and form factor as I can mount it directly behind the rear view mirror so it doesn't block the view out the windshield at all. I also like how it records location via GPS and my speed (ok maybe that could be a bad thing!). It's also attached via 3M adhesive so it would be harder to steal - the suction cup cams would take a second to remove.

 

Gawd I want a good dash cam, but wont have the cash to blow till January. Would have helped me if I hadn't caught the person in the Q5 who cut me off this morning in the nick of time.....asshole.

 

Marco-

Do you have a link you can post? I just checked ebay and didn't see anything remotely close to $200.

Did you get hit today or just cut off?

Thx,

Nick

 

Yep, it's gone...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181244313177...84.m1438.l2649

But keep watching because they come up several times a month at that price. I would always make sure you are getting the SD card with purchase though, as it has the software loaded on it.

 

Missed this part of the question. No accident, just avoided a near miss.

However I could have used it a while back when I was cut off by a work van and forced into the other opposing lane of travel, side swiping another car. INS covered both vehicles, however because I had no plate information and it was a common vehicle description (one of several thousand in my area), the person that caused the accident was never located. I was found partially at fault and had to pay my own deductible ($500) to get the car fixed right.
The moral of the story is the dash cam would not only have paid for itself, it would have SAVED me money.

 

It's only $24.00 more on Amazon.

 

Can you power this unit using the plug on the back of the rearview mirror on the TL?

I really don't think running a wire to the outlet is a good luck as I hate wires.

How hard was it to run your wire to the fuse box? Do you have a DYI for this?

 

If you look earlier in this very thread I posted a video of how to run the wire. Most of these cameras don't run on 12Vdc. Most overhead power is 12Vdc.

 

It's very easy to hook it up to the fuse box. All you need is 2 adapters from ebay.

It's called a fuse tap.


There are 3 wires. Black goes to ground. Red wire goes to an ACC fuse. Yellow Wires goes to a Batt fuse. It's all in the manual. And the fuse box covers will label each fuse as ACC or BATT.

If you have side airbags, you have to be careful when routing the wires. You also need a "Power magic" from blackvue to hook the camera up to the fusebox.

 

^^^^^

Make sure it is the "mini" fuse tap, not the regular fuse tap which is too big a physical size for our 4G TL.

 

Is it "mini" or "low-profile mini"? I saw a thread here that says it's low-profile...

dq

 

Damn the quality on that blackvue DR500GW-HD is sharp! I may need one of those. I see it's plugged into the mirror. The rest of the cables are running threw the mirror cover? Looks very clean!

 

Damn couldn't edit. I forgot that's the plug for the mirror haha. Still setup looks very sleek.

Kb1spec can you post a image from your dash cam so we can see the quality? Thanks!