My car DVR setup & results

[SentraSE-R]

Two party consent applies to telephone/oral/electronic conversations where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Only 12 states are two party consent states for audio recording. They are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. In the other 38 states, you are the party consenting to recording your conversations.

Video recordings on public roads and in public places do not require consent because there is no expectation of privacy in public places.

[Fat Charlie]

Thanks for the hardware review and link. I was just about to jump for ASIN B0067XVNTG on Amazon (the camera and a card for $40), but reading product reviews there is a bit of a crapshoot: it looked like the best choice in that price range, except when it didn't.

Twenty bucks more for one that's got a rear camera and a reliable review? Priceless.

[cbaber]

I'm curious if you have any updates about your setup. I know some of these Chinese products are hit and miss, and there are lots of fakes on the market. Have you had any quality issues with this DVR that you did with the last one? Would you continue to recommend this product?

I was previously considering another car DVR, but this one is the same price and includes an AUX camera which I like.

[SentraSE-R]

My mirror car DVR shown in the original photo in this thread, was sent back under warranty, and a replacement has been shipped to me. I had bought two of them, and gave the second one to my daughter. One of the springs for the clamping arms broke, but the suction cups serve to keep the DVR mounted. Aside from its poor sound quality, it's working well.

The mirror-mounted DVR I returned was actually a mix of the first unit's auxiliary camera (the one whose lens quality fell off a cliff), and the second unit's camera. Its mirror backing had developed blotchy areas where the reflected image was mottled. It also had sound quality issues.

My current car DVR is holding up well. I have one in my car, one in my wife's car, and I bought one for my son. Their sound and image quality are excellent. My last video above (the one with the white Stratus) shows the image quality.

One common problem I've found in all these SD card camcorders, is they occasionally write errors to the SD card, and they can't repair those errors with their menu format options. This is true of all four car DVR models I've owned, and my sports camera. I have had problems formatting the corrupted SD cards with my PC, and have had to repartition some SD cards to repair them. The most consistent SD card formatting device I own is my Canon DSLR.

I've learned to look at the car DVR screen on bootup to be sure there's not a card error. I've also found it's best to swap in a newly formatted card every couple of days. I carry extra SD cards with me now.

[deejaaa]

here' some good info/reviews of dvr's and what features are hit/miss. i have one but it was before i read the review.
Ultimate Dash Camera Buyers Guide (Car Cameras) - Car Cam CentralCar Cam Central

[SentraSE-R]

I've observed that one of the reasons the car DVRs lose their microSD card format, is they shut off when the car's battery voltage drops <12.5V. The car DVRs' internal batteries are inadequate to allow orderly and safe device shutdown when this happens. This time of year, I frequently draw my battery <12.5V.

[poomanchu]

Thank you for this thread!

If I may ask, is the DVR's in your wife's, yours and son's the same one linked from Ebay? I am really planning on getting that, and am just wondering if all three are the same. I got confused when you said their audio quality was good, whiles yours is poor.

If they are not the same, for the price what do you recommend? I have a Go Pro, but I really want something I can just leave in the car and if a thief breaks in, I'm not too worried about a $60 DVR. My GoPro missing would make me sad, and I constantly use it for other duties.

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

My mirror car DVR shown in the original photo in this thread, was sent back under warranty, and a replacement has been shipped to me. I had bought two of them, and gave the second one to my daughter. One of the springs for the clamping arms broke, but the suction cups serve to keep the DVR mounted. Aside from its poor sound quality, it's working well.


My current car DVR is holding up well. I have one in my car, one in my wife's car, and I bought one for my son. Their sound and image quality are excellent. My last video above (the one with the white Stratus) shows the image quality.

[Arragonis]

Do you have to wander around each car checking the memory card situation daily to ensure they work ?

[UltArc]

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

Two party consent applies to telephone/oral/electronic conversations where you have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Only 12 states are two party consent states for audio recording. They are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington. In the other 38 states, you are the party consenting to recording your conversations.

Video recordings on public roads and in public places do not require consent because there is no expectation of privacy in public places.

I just noticed this! Talk about being late to the game.

7 Rules for Recording Police

That article is pretty good. Very true, only one state actually has a law against recording the police (Illinois law has changed since this publication), but there is a lot of ignorance out there. I'd still advise caution.