Dashcam comparison, roadhawk versus maplin

[Nigel Worc's]

Hello chaps, for thos of you interested in dash cams.

My daughter wanted one, but didn't want to pay the cost of the roadhawk.

They'll all be ok in the day, so here we have inner city, dark and light rain.

The first clip is a £200 Roadhawk, dogs danglies, gps, google maps, speed and G forces :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OdUQtHPPj8&fea...

The second clip is a £50 Maplin 720p, just video & sound (I know I hadn't set the date & time, it also isn't positioned as well as my roadhawk) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnlJazwyB70&fea...

It seems ok for £50, what do you lot think ?

[Steffan]

Looks fine to me. Does your daughter need more sophistication in a camera on the car?

Perfectly adequate for safety use etc how are you recording the video?

I am under pressure to fit these on my wife's car so I will be very interested to see how you fare with this.

[carreauchompeur]

I think that Maplin camera definitely serves the purpose.

I'd really like one of these, but would have to work out some way of permanent mounting out of view since there are so many thieving scumbags in Bristol who would mistake it for a satnav and smash the window...

[carreauchompeur]

...Actually I'm impressed, it's definitely one of the more discreet ones!

http://www.maplin.co.uk/720p-journey-recorder-6256...

Reckon it wouldn't be too hard to mount somewhere above windscreen. What's the battery life like?

Edited by carreauchompeur on Monday 19th November 22:55

[thetapeworm]

Very similar (the same?) items are available on eBay for half this price.

[Sir Bagalot]

.

[williredale]

I have the same one as the Maplin. Mine was from 7dayshop and was half the price. With the screen up it sits alongside / in front of the rear view mirror on the passenger side. I did have it in the top corner of the windscreen on the passenger side but moved it. I have mine hooked up the the cigarette lighter with the wire routed around the windscreen so not sure on the battery life.

[Nigel Worc's]

Steffan said:

Looks fine to me. Does your daughter need more sophistication in a camera on the car?

Perfectly adequate for safety use etc how are you recording the video?

I am under pressure to fit these on my wife's car so I will be very interested to see how you fare with this.

Buying it from a reputable place like Maplins, it'll be fine.

Unlike the roadhawk, it does have it's own battery, how long it will last for I've no idea, depends what you do with it really I guess.

It also has a small screen you can use for playback.

It can take pictures as well as video.

The data is stored on an SD card.

It doesn't have it's own software, it doesn't have the embedded data of position, speed, and G forces.

It only has a suction mount, and isn't as descrete as the roadhawk.

Its sound quality isn't as good as the roadhawk.

If it had been available when I bought the roadhawk, I'd have probably bought it instead, as it does what I wanted at the time, and is a quarter of the cost.

I wouldn't change the roadhawk for one however.

[Gareth79]

This one gets good reviews - front and rear camera, £45:
http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2012/10/28/using-the-...

edit: on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120977762751

Edited by Gareth79 on Tuesday 20th November 00:01

[FFSport]

Pretty cool little thing's not too sure what I would need one for but I deffinatly wouldnt pay £200 tbh £45 maybe

[C.A.R.]

That 'Maplins' item looks identical to the cheap items from Hong Kong, which are scattered all over eBay.

[RZ1]

Gareth79 said:

This one gets good reviews - front and rear camera, £45:
http://www.techmoan.com/blog/2012/10/28/using-the-...

edit: on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120977762751

Edited by Gareth79 on Tuesday 20th November 00:01

I have this one in my car. Will get a video up this eve

[Benjy911]

I had this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HD-720P-Night-Vision-In-...

Which recorded:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yrEkw37jiQ

and I've now got this one:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/In-Stock-Now-F500L-...

which recorded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwOY_iVZ43A

[Nigel Worc's]

Benjy911 said:

I had this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HD-720P-Night-Vision-In-...

Which recorded:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yrEkw37jiQ

and I've now got this one:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/In-Stock-Now-F500L-...

which recorded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwOY_iVZ43A

Nice videos, but ......they all work well on a nice bright clear day, what are they like at night, in the rain, a normal dank night ?

Any embedded speed and position data ?

[Spitfire2]

thetapeworm said:

Very similar (the same?) items are available on eBay for half this price.

Yep I have one from eBay for half the price. Only issue was getting the menu into English as it was initially Chinese.
Looks identical to the maplins one

[Spitfire2]

thetapeworm said:

Very similar (the same?) items are available on eBay for half this price.

Yep I have one from eBay for half the price. Only issue was getting the menu into English as it was initially Chinese.
Looks identical to the maplins one

[DailyRoads]

FFSport said:

Pretty cool little thing's not too sure what I would need one for but I deffinatly wouldnt pay £200 tbh £45 maybe

How about free? The new trend is to use smartphone apps to record your journeys. If you already have an iPhone or Android device, then it is practically free to install such a solution, and you are not limited to the initial set of software (or even hardware) features.

I compiled a list of such apps for all mobile platforms: http://www.dailyroads.com/blogs/entry/Car-black-bo.... There are even hardware solutions listed there, similar to the Roadhawk.

[Dogwatch]

I suppose that even £200 is cheap if you are up against some idiot who has caused an accident but comes up with a story to deflect the blame onto you.

Or of course your SD card may prove him right........

[NiceCupOfTea]

DailyRoads said:

FFSport said:

Pretty cool little thing's not too sure what I would need one for but I deffinatly wouldnt pay £200 tbh £45 maybe

How about free? The new trend is to use smartphone apps to record your journeys. If you already have an iPhone or Android device, then it is practically free to install such a solution, and you are not limited to the initial set of software (or even hardware) features.

I compiled a list of such apps for all mobile platforms: http://www.dailyroads.com/blogs/entry/Car-black-bo.... There are even hardware solutions listed there, similar to the Roadhawk.

I have tried 3 of these on Android (Daily Roads Voyager, AutoBoy Black Box, and most recently AutoGuard which IMHO is the best) - they are great, but a major PITA in daily use. Every time you get in the car you have to mount the phone in a cradle and plumb in the power (hard work on the Sensation due to where the power socket is). Even when powered, your standard "USB" car charger won't power it fast enough and it will go flat pretty quickly. Also you can't use it for calls, music, or satnav. Dedicated unit that is permanently plumbed in is the best solution IMHO.

[julian64]

looks good