Trying to make a decision

[steff13356]

So, living in the Montreal area and driving in heavy traffic 7 days a week, I have decided to get myself a dash cam in case some nutjob (lots of them around here) decided to run me off the road...

I have been reading a lot over the past weeks and sure enough, for someone with no experience whatsoever with dash cams, it gets overwhelming very very quickly.

Sure enough, I have done enough reading and I think I was able to stop myself on 2 models:
Mini 0806
Hawkeye http://www.canadadashcam.com/collections/dash-cameras-under-200-00/products/hawkeye-dash-camera

I have read a lot about both, and in the end, I am unsure of which one to get.

Of course I want something with good picture quality and what I have seen from both pleases me enough.

My big thing is I find it weird that they are called "dash" cams when they are all made to be positioned in the windshield. I thought a "dash" cam was made to go on the dash lol. Personally, that would be my biggest thing to make my decision as I have a transponder for tolls behind my rearview mirror and I wouldn't want the cam to interfere with the transponder.

Therefore, here are my questions:

- Can either the 0806 or the Hawkeye go on the dash instead of the windshield?
- Has anyone with a transponder encountered problems with it and the cam close to one another in the windshield?

Any other comments/suggestions will be very appreciated on either of these cams.

Thank you!

 

[Calgary Dash Camera - Robert]

Hey Steff,

From the two cameras you posted about. I must assume your budget is $160 $CAD or less. Would this be correct?

 

[Deleted member 46308]

Welcome to the forum Steff

 

[steff13356]

Hey Steff,

From the two cameras you posted about. I must assume your budget is $160 $CAD or less. Would this be correct?

That is correct.

And thanks for the welcome Gabacho!

 

[steff13356]

Hey Steff,

From the two cameras you posted about. I must assume your budget is $160 $CAD or less. Would this be correct?

Did you have another option to recommend for the same price range?

 

[Calgary Dash Camera - Robert]

Hmm well are you looking for a camera with GPS? Small size factor? Good reliability?

 

[steff13356]

Well I think that anyone would want reliability in a product that they buy today. Of course I am aware I could spend 300+$ and get the high end of reliability...or maybe not.

That being said, I do a lot of night driving, so, something that has good night picture would be appreciated
GPS can be practical but not necessary
I don't want something too big as I don't have a big car and I already have a transponder sticker in my windshiels behind my rearview which is about 4 in x 4 in

Also, like I said in my first post, if the camera can be set on the dashboard instead of the windshield, that would be +++++

 

[Calgary Dash Camera - Robert]

Well I think that anyone would want reliability in a product that they buy today. Of course I am aware I could spend 300+$ and get the high end of reliability...or maybe not.

That being said, I do a lot of night driving, so, something that has good night picture would be appreciated
GPS can be practical but not necessary
I don't want something too big as I don't have a big car and I already have a transponder sticker in my windshiels behind my rearview which is about 4 in x 4 in

Also, like I said in my first post, if the camera can be set on the dashboard instead of the windshield, that would be +++++

What type of vehicle do you drive, Semi truck?

Like you said in your first post, the phrase dash cam is a bit misleading. 99% of the cameras are designed to be mounted on your windshield. This is because the camera has a much better perspective from the higher point of view.
If you are driving a truck though, the dash of the truck is high enough. So this really isn't a issue. out of the G1WH or the Mini 0806, your better option would be the mini 0806. I believe you would be able to mount it on your dash, and have the video the correct way up. Just be careful while doing this. You can twist the mini 0806 to far and snap the entire wires apart.

The mini 0806 would also be your best bet for size.

When it comes to reliability. You have to watch for two things. First. There are many factories who manufacture the Chinese cameras such as the Mini 0806 and the G1WH. The key thing is finding a reputable retailer. A retailer who offers after sales support, in the off chance something does go wrong.
For the Mini 0806 I would suggest purchasing from Foxoffer via eBay. This way you have Paypal/ eBay product warranty/ Guarantee.

I hope this helps!

 

[jokiin]

for 0806 it's worth looking at @spytec they're based in New York, if you did have any warranty issues that would be a lot easier to deal with than buying from China

 

[Calgary Dash Camera - Robert]

for 0806 it's worth looking at @spytec they're based in New York, if you did have any warranty issues that would be a lot easier to deal with than buying from China

Even Better

 

[steff13356]

So I have taken the night to think about it, shopped around online this morning and have decided to go with the Mini 0806 bought from blackboxmycar.com

Since I'm in Canada, buying from Spytec which is in the US, would not have been to my advantage (exchange rate is way too steep nowadays). Since there weren't any reviews of that site on the forum, I wanted to give blackboxmycar.com a try as they are in Canada and they have 1-day shipping cross-country for 10$.

Will be able to experiment with my very first dash cam tomorrow! Hope I am not disappointed!

 

[Deleted member 46308]

Good luck steff

 

[jokiin]

as they are in Canada and they have 1-day shipping cross-country for 10$.

buying locally is always the preferred option

 

[Street Guardian USA]

Welcome, Enjoy!

 

[erkme73]

Assuming you intend on installing the 0806 with the mount stuck to your dashboard, and it is parallel to the ground, it WILL NOT work. The range on the rotation of the camera is about 90°. That means the lens can aim about 45° higher or lower than dead level when the bracket is perpendicular to the dash. Thus, if the bracket is mounted flat on the dash, the camera will be looking at your hood (too far down). There is a physical stop in the design of the cylinder, but if you force it, you could conceivably damage the wiring. If it is critical to mount it on the dash, and your mechanically-inclined, you could carefully disassemble the rotating mechanism, dremel out the stops (and enlarge the slot through which the existing cable travels) and get more rotation. But on a new camera?

 

[jokiin]

Assuming you intend on installing the 0806 with the mount stuck to your dashboard, and it is parallel to the ground, it WILL NOT work. The range on the rotation of the camera is about 90°.

thought there was more rotation on the 0806???

 

[erkme73]

thought there was more rotation on the 0806???

Not on mine. I tried mounting mine to a jogging stroller - which had a flat surface. The camera was still well shy of level with the mount flat.

 

[jokiin]

Not on mine. I tried mounting mine to a jogging stroller - which had a flat surface. The camera was still well shy of level with the mount flat.

I thought that was one of the challenges they had early on with these due to the amount of rotation available causing a problem with the GPS wiring

anyway all that aside it's really designed to go on the window, not on a dashboard

 

[Calgary Dash Camera - Robert]

Not on mine. I tried mounting mine to a jogging stroller - which had a flat surface. The camera was still well shy of level with the mount flat.

This makes me wonder if some manufactures have designed a stop as a fail safe.

I don't recall there being one on the few 806's I sold when they first came out.

 

[steff13356]

I got my 0806 yesterday from Blackboxmycar. 1-day shipping lived up to its name. Ordered the camera Tuesday afternoon, Purolator picked it up in Vancouver at 4:25 pm and it was waiting for me at my desk at the office when I came in Wednesday morning at 9:15! After some dashboard testing, there was no way that the view was going to be good enough from the dash. So, I proceeded to install it on the windshield which was a 15-minute time investment. I thought it was going to be much more complicated than that. Only thing is, my windshield is way too steep, so I had to fashion a wedge with styrofoam in order to get a better angle at the road. After installing the foot of the camera on the wedge and sticking everything together on the windshield, I was able to get an awesome angle of the road ahead with very limited dashboard "interference" at the bottom of the image.

Tested it this morning for the first time through my morning commute after getting all the settings desired on the camera. One thing I couldn't figure out is how to activate the mic on the camera. My video is silent, and through the menus I couldn't find anything to activate the mic.

Got to work, checked out some clips from the camera and very satisfied with the results, although I find that the license plates are hard to read unless very close to cars in front. All in all, I am satisfied with it.

First blurb of video is uploading on YouTube right now, will post it here when it's ready to display.