Discussion
ninjag said:
Watchman said:
Yes, sorry about the late reply. It was all working well until the weather went cooler. Until then, it'd stay alive all night but as it went cooler, the duration dropped until it dies as soon as I turn off the engine now.
My wife's 62-plate E-class needed a new accessories battery so I know they're only good for a limited period. My GL is a 61 so it's done OK. I may need a "normal" battery change by now too but I'll change the little one first and see how it pans out.
Definitely sounds like you are right with it being the battery and at least it's cheap enough! Although I'm wondering how the PMP operates properly unless you have the red wire connected to an ignition only fuse? Or is it basically running in parking mode 24/7 even when driving? (constant motion detection I guess).My wife's 62-plate E-class needed a new accessories battery so I know they're only good for a limited period. My GL is a 61 so it's done OK. I may need a "normal" battery change by now too but I'll change the little one first and see how it pans out.
Sorry I haven't read through all 200+ pages 
So my wife is making a contribution to getting a camera fitted as a Christmas present - new car and all that, so she thought it might be nice to have.
I won't disagree - was planning on getting one for the old car.
Any opinions on the Thinkware units?
Person I work with had them installed into his Audi - seemed reasonably priced, footage looks good and they made a good job of the fitting. I'm only planning on having a front camera - he had both done.
Cheers all.
So my wife is making a contribution to getting a camera fitted as a Christmas present - new car and all that, so she thought it might be nice to have.
I won't disagree - was planning on getting one for the old car.
Any opinions on the Thinkware units?
Person I work with had them installed into his Audi - seemed reasonably priced, footage looks good and they made a good job of the fitting. I'm only planning on having a front camera - he had both done.
Cheers all.
Stoofa said:
Sorry I haven't read through all 200+ pages
So my wife is making a contribution to getting a camera fitted as a Christmas present - new car and all that, so she thought it might be nice to have.
I won't disagree - was planning on getting one for the old car.
Any opinions on the Thinkware units?
Person I work with had them installed into his Audi - seemed reasonably priced, footage looks good and they made a good job of the fitting. I'm only planning on having a front camera - he had both done.
Cheers all.
What are your requirements?So my wife is making a contribution to getting a camera fitted as a Christmas present - new car and all that, so she thought it might be nice to have.
I won't disagree - was planning on getting one for the old car.
Any opinions on the Thinkware units?
Person I work with had them installed into his Audi - seemed reasonably priced, footage looks good and they made a good job of the fitting. I'm only planning on having a front camera - he had both done.
Cheers all.
For me, MUST be clear enough to read reg plates and recognise faces from a reasonable distance.
WOULD LIKE assembly to be hidden in front of RVM (i.e. no screen), to have a 2nd camera facing out the rear, WiFi connectable, and have a parking mode.
LESSER requirement, night vision... now that I have one without a specific night vision capability, I would probably choose one. Most of my driving at the moment is as night. Also, it'd be dead useful in parking mode at night, although in winter all the windows mist or ice up anyway, so it would only be of benefit over the warmer months.
So similar requirements.
Right now I'm thinking only front camera - that idea might change, but that shouldn't really make much difference to the camera choice.
I'd like something that is discreet and can be hidden behind rear-view mirrors if possible (2017 Octavia vRS and I think there is room to hide below the Highline camera located just below the rain sensors).
Need to be clear - cannot see the point of having a camera if I cannot get a read on any numberplates.
Discreet unit, so doesn't need to have a screen on it, in fact prefer not to have one, but WiFi connection or similar to my mobile so I can download and view footage there would make sense.
I do drive at night, so good capabilities at night would also be good.
Not costing the earth and despite being told these are easy enough to hard-wire in, I will be paying somebody with some better knowledge than I to hard-wire in etc.
Right now I'm thinking only front camera - that idea might change, but that shouldn't really make much difference to the camera choice.
I'd like something that is discreet and can be hidden behind rear-view mirrors if possible (2017 Octavia vRS and I think there is room to hide below the Highline camera located just below the rain sensors).
Need to be clear - cannot see the point of having a camera if I cannot get a read on any numberplates.
Discreet unit, so doesn't need to have a screen on it, in fact prefer not to have one, but WiFi connection or similar to my mobile so I can download and view footage there would make sense.
I do drive at night, so good capabilities at night would also be good.
Not costing the earth and despite being told these are easy enough to hard-wire in, I will be paying somebody with some better knowledge than I to hard-wire in etc.
Avoid anything with infrared, waste of time. They will just reflect. I like the Street Guardian wedge dash cams because they look OEM and have excellent night quality. They have the best tech support out there.
Mobius cams are well regarded and very small so discreet.
Not sure about parking mode but I run mine for six hours constant (i use a 128GB card) after ignition off. The heat from the camera makes a nice hole through ice etc.
Mobius cams are well regarded and very small so discreet.
Not sure about parking mode but I run mine for six hours constant (i use a 128GB card) after ignition off. The heat from the camera makes a nice hole through ice etc.
Stoofa said:
So similar requirements.
Right now I'm thinking only front camera - that idea might change, but that shouldn't really make much difference to the camera choice.
I'd like something that is discreet and can be hidden behind rear-view mirrors if possible (2017 Octavia vRS and I think there is room to hide below the Highline camera located just below the rain sensors).
Need to be clear - cannot see the point of having a camera if I cannot get a read on any numberplates.
Discreet unit, so doesn't need to have a screen on it, in fact prefer not to have one, but WiFi connection or similar to my mobile so I can download and view footage there would make sense.
I do drive at night, so good capabilities at night would also be good.
Not costing the earth and despite being told these are easy enough to hard-wire in, I will be paying somebody with some better knowledge than I to hard-wire in etc.
Front only is dead easy to wire-in but I get your point if you prefer not to.Right now I'm thinking only front camera - that idea might change, but that shouldn't really make much difference to the camera choice.
I'd like something that is discreet and can be hidden behind rear-view mirrors if possible (2017 Octavia vRS and I think there is room to hide below the Highline camera located just below the rain sensors).
Need to be clear - cannot see the point of having a camera if I cannot get a read on any numberplates.
Discreet unit, so doesn't need to have a screen on it, in fact prefer not to have one, but WiFi connection or similar to my mobile so I can download and view footage there would make sense.
I do drive at night, so good capabilities at night would also be good.
Not costing the earth and despite being told these are easy enough to hard-wire in, I will be paying somebody with some better knowledge than I to hard-wire in etc.
Adding a rear one later... depends on how you want to go with this. I wanted both cams to record to the same SD card, so they needed to be physically wired together, therefore the front one needed to have that capability and then the wiring... it was considerably more difficult - not technically complex but running the cable through that concertina rubber tube in the hatch was tricky and took a good few hours.
If you just want two independent cams, then it'd be much easier to wire up (most cars have power you can tap off all over the place) however I'd urge you to consider that a "normal" one camera device is larger than a rear cam in a two-cam system.
I'm after another Blackvue but they're over £100 more than I paid for mine so I'll wait until after Christmas and see if there are any reductions then.
Stoofa said:
So similar requirements.
Right now I'm thinking only front camera - that idea might change, but that shouldn't really make much difference to the camera choice.
I'd like something that is discreet and can be hidden behind rear-view mirrors if possible (2017 Octavia vRS and I think there is room to hide below the Highline camera located just below the rain sensors).
Need to be clear - cannot see the point of having a camera if I cannot get a read on any numberplates.
Discreet unit, so doesn't need to have a screen on it, in fact prefer not to have one, but WiFi connection or similar to my mobile so I can download and view footage there would make sense.
I do drive at night, so good capabilities at night would also be good.
Not costing the earth and despite being told these are easy enough to hard-wire in, I will be paying somebody with some better knowledge than I to hard-wire in etc.
I have a Thinkware 800 Pro (or there is the cheaper 770) fitted front & rear (you can of course fit front only & have the option of adding rear later). It seems to cover what you need a see the links that I provided a little earlier for a ~12% discount code. I bought it over a Blackvue as the general view seemed to be that Thinkware had a better parking mode (important for me) & it had the battery protection capability built-in - with a Blackvue it is an extra cost. The Blackvue has the better Cloud features though.Right now I'm thinking only front camera - that idea might change, but that shouldn't really make much difference to the camera choice.
I'd like something that is discreet and can be hidden behind rear-view mirrors if possible (2017 Octavia vRS and I think there is room to hide below the Highline camera located just below the rain sensors).
Need to be clear - cannot see the point of having a camera if I cannot get a read on any numberplates.
Discreet unit, so doesn't need to have a screen on it, in fact prefer not to have one, but WiFi connection or similar to my mobile so I can download and view footage there would make sense.
I do drive at night, so good capabilities at night would also be good.
Not costing the earth and despite being told these are easy enough to hard-wire in, I will be paying somebody with some better knowledge than I to hard-wire in etc.
Edited by Heidfirst on Wednesday 5th December 19:50
The units I was quoted on was Thinkware F770 - Front & Back for £310 installed.
I didn't find out what the price was to just have the front unit installed now and then add the rear at a later date if I wanted - but then of course you pay installation again, so might as well pay the extra up front.
I've asked for a quote on the Blackvue as I really do like their discreet look - however at the additional cost of those it would almost certainly be a 1CH unit that I purchased.
I didn't find out what the price was to just have the front unit installed now and then add the rear at a later date if I wanted - but then of course you pay installation again, so might as well pay the extra up front.
I've asked for a quote on the Blackvue as I really do like their discreet look - however at the additional cost of those it would almost certainly be a 1CH unit that I purchased.
Right, think I'm going to go the Thinkware F770 option.
Company are going to fully wire in and I'm told when parked it has motion sensors but also monitors battery voltage and shuts everything off if that reaches a certain level.
£255 for just the front, installed or £310 for both installed - so probably going to get front and back done.
Company are going to fully wire in and I'm told when parked it has motion sensors but also monitors battery voltage and shuts everything off if that reaches a certain level.
£255 for just the front, installed or £310 for both installed - so probably going to get front and back done.
julian64 said:
Looking an the usual sites and considering a F800 pro dual with wiring for £300. Is this a sensible price or am I looking at the run up to christmas price?
If you use the code that I linked to earlier the front & rear with a 32Gb card comes to £290 incl. shipping from the UK importer. You don't need to budget for a battery protection device (Powermagic Pro etc.) as it is integrated but you may want to get a pro to install it esp. if you have side airbags.There is one on ebay for £275 or best offer.
Heidfirst said:
julian64 said:
Looking an the usual sites and considering a F800 pro dual with wiring for £300. Is this a sensible price or am I looking at the run up to christmas price?
If you use the code that I linked to earlier the front & rear with a 32Gb card comes to £290 incl. shipping from the UK importer. You don't need to budget for a battery protection device (Powermagic Pro etc.) as it is integrated but you may want to get a pro to install it esp. if you have side airbags.There is one on ebay for £275 or best offer.
https://thinkwaredashcam.store
I checked last night before posting & the code DCT18 was still active then.
I checked last night before posting & the code DCT18 was still active then.
Heidfirst said:
https://thinkwaredashcam.store
I checked last night before posting & the code DCT18 was still active then.
Magic thanksI checked last night before posting & the code DCT18 was still active then.
For cameras that do not have a gumball mount, how do you go about compensating for the curve of the windscreen if you have to mount the cam off centre?
The BlackVue kit allows for up and down rotation but not left to right. My wife's GLC has a load of Mercedes electronics in a box directly in front of the RVM. Mounting the cam directly beneath that would impact her field of vision so I want to mount it to the left of the electronics box but with no left/right rotation possible, the cam points left.
I thought to use an additional "sticky" under the one side but it seems inelegant.
Any better suggestions?
The BlackVue kit allows for up and down rotation but not left to right. My wife's GLC has a load of Mercedes electronics in a box directly in front of the RVM. Mounting the cam directly beneath that would impact her field of vision so I want to mount it to the left of the electronics box but with no left/right rotation possible, the cam points left.
I thought to use an additional "sticky" under the one side but it seems inelegant.
Any better suggestions?
Watchman said:
For cameras that do not have a gumball mount, how do you go about compensating for the curve of the windscreen if you have to mount the cam off centre?
The BlackVue kit allows for up and down rotation but not left to right. My wife's GLC has a load of Mercedes electronics in a box directly in front of the RVM. Mounting the cam directly beneath that would impact her field of vision so I want to mount it to the left of the electronics box but with no left/right rotation possible, the cam points left.
I thought to use an additional "sticky" under the one side but it seems inelegant.
Any better suggestions?
You just twist the camera very slightly towards the right. I have a Merc with a big box behind the mirror and its no problem.The BlackVue kit allows for up and down rotation but not left to right. My wife's GLC has a load of Mercedes electronics in a box directly in front of the RVM. Mounting the cam directly beneath that would impact her field of vision so I want to mount it to the left of the electronics box but with no left/right rotation possible, the cam points left.
I thought to use an additional "sticky" under the one side but it seems inelegant.
Any better suggestions?
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