How Dashcam Saved Me Thousands of Dollars & Headache(partly)

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What is a good dash camera to consider?

lots of people here seem to like the Blackvue DR650GW-2CH with separate front & rear cameras (I also have one), but it's certainly not the only choice. I'd recommend BlackboxMyCar.com as a good starting point resource, lots of reviews, buyers guide, youtube videos and other info

 

[TaoJones]

you can download videos to your phone/tablet with the app, so I suppose that would work if you want to double transfer to your PC

Yeppers. At 2-3 minutes per 3-minute clip, using the wifi/app approach is fine for a few files, but it's not practical for a larger group.

Using wifi and the app, the process resembles this:

First, find the clip, which is fairly straightforward if you've made note of the hr:min during the day.
Next, save the clip to the app's internal storage, and that takes some time.
After that, save the clip from the app's internal storage to the device's local album.
Lastly, edit from within the album for quick edits, else other tools will be needed.

Not exactly a quick process.

I keep spare laptop-formatted microSD cards handy for larger efforts as it's then an easy matter of swapping cards and doing the finding/editing via a platform actually designed (ok, more designed) for video editing rather than tapping. Or creation/production rather than consumption, if you prefer .

 

[NikeWings]

Yeppers. At 2-3 minutes per 3-minute clip, using the wifi/app approach is fine for a few files, but it's not practical for a larger group.

I keep spare laptop-formatted microSD cards handy for larger efforts as it's then an easy matter of swapping cards and doing the finding/editing via a platform actually designed (ok, more designed) for video editing rather than tapping. Or creation/production rather than consumption, if you prefer .

@TaoJones Are you (or have you tried) using blackvue over the cloud? I too keep a 2nd SD but unless I receive a live view alert, or experience a driving mishap, I'm not interested in keeping the footage anyway......or am I missing out on something that I should be doing? Thx.

 

[TaoJones]

@TaoJones Are you (or have you tried) using blackvue over the cloud? I too keep a 2nd SD but unless I receive a live view alert, or experience a driving mishap, I'm not interested in keeping the footage anyway......or am I missing out on something that I should be doing? Thx.

Trying the cloud app is on my list of things to do. It looks interesting, but I haven't gotten to it yet.

 

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Using wifi and the app, the process resembles this:

[...]

Not exactly a quick process.

My observation as well.

I also find the wifi connection, either direct to smartphone or via Blackvue Cloud (when connected to home wifi in my garage) disappointingly slow. Maybe part of that is my old phone (iPhone 5).

Also with the latest Blackue C iOS app (v 2.021) every time you do anything there's an annoying wait while the spinner spins and whatever preloads even when just on the list screen. The previous version of the app you could cancel whatever was preloading but not any more. Again, perhaps due to my old slow phone...

So if I want to download a specific clip I usually just pop the card out when I get home and use the desktop viewer app.

 

[jelloslug]

This was from a few months ago in my i3:

 

[valkeriefire]

This was from a few months ago in my i3:

Ouch, they must have been looking at their cell phone and when they saw the cars moving on their sides assumed the front was clear as well. What a drag.

I had an incident recently also. My wife noticed a weird sticker of a cloud on the front windshield. It was right at the drivers eye level. We pulled the dash cam footage and found that some crazy guy singled out our car to put the sticker onto. I can't figure out why he was doing it. I don't think he was marking the car for theft or robbery like a team would, he wouldn't have put the sticker in an obvious location if that was the case. More likely he is crazy, and just liked our Tesla. We posted it on the NextDoor website to see if anyone knows the guy. Creepy.

 

[TaoJones]

Ouch, they must have been looking at their cell phone and when they saw the cars moving on their sides assumed the front was clear as well. What a drag.

I had an incident recently also. My wife noticed a weird sticker of a cloud on the front windshield. It was right at the drivers eye level. We pulled the dash cam footage and found that some crazy guy singled out our car to put the sticker onto. I can't figure out why he was doing it. I don't think he was marking the car for theft or robbery like a team would, he wouldn't have put the sticker in an obvious location if that was the case. More likely he is crazy, and just liked our Tesla. We posted it on the NextDoor website to see if anyone knows the guy. Creepy.

That's pretty messed up, yeah.

 

[tinm]

A lot of the OP's videos point out, to me at least, the need for a 4-camera setup: front, left, right, back. Four crisp HD recordings, all synced, all timestamped. I continue to wish Tesla would offer a Security Package with this kind of 4-camera setup, integration with phone apps, integration with My Tesla, ability to view videos in the cloud, you name it.

 

[TaoJones]

A lot of the OP's videos point out, to me at least, the need for a 4-camera setup: front, left, right, back. Four crisp HD recordings, all synced, all timestamped. I continue to wish Tesla would offer a Security Package with this kind of 4-camera setup, integration with phone apps, integration with My Tesla, ability to view videos in the cloud, you name it.

Hear, hear. Agreed.

Especially since DriverAssist 2.0 is expected to have 8 cameras. What's 4 more?