So, firstly this is a follow up to fixing my Dash Cam question, now that have had a chance to use it in "anger".
I gave up trying to work out how to make it stick in minus temperatures and bought, what should have been in the box (IMHO) in the first place, a suction mount.
Unfortunately (as it's not actually designed for this product), the throw on the mounting arm is not as wide as on the sticky mount and it is impossible to install in the car without 15% of the top left corner being obscured by a view of the mount, but that issue is trivial compared with the bigger issues I have.
The other issue with the mounting is that I claimed that the lead was about
1 metre too short to fit around the edge of the screen and back to my lighter socket, but that was unfair. Now that I have actually fitted it, It is only 30 cms too short. (Aside - as there is no longer an expectation of cars having ciggy lighters do these sockets have a new name?) Though contrary to the experience of one of the respondents the lead traipsing down the centre of my windscreen does not bother me.So now for a functional review.
As I haven't yet said this is a Garmin Dash Cam 30. That's one without GPS (for which you need the more expensive 35, I think). It retails at 150 quid, though I got it in a Black Friday sale for 80.
Even so, I was expecting the functionality of a 150 quid model and to say that I am disappointed with the functionality that I have, is an understatement.
Though, I must say that the build quality looks good. I don't imagine that I am going to have any problems with this product dying prematurely, but of course only time will tell with that. Recording quality is also good, even on the lower settings. No problems with any of that.
It comes with a 4GB memory card which is enough (at the lower resolution level), for 1.5-2 hours of recordings and which would be sufficient, were it not for the problems that follow. Given that 16 GB cards are available retail for 5-6 quid (and hence would be less than 2 to a manufacturer) this nickel and diming is a bit off! So that's a second fiver that I have to add to the purchase price, for another thing that ought to have been in the box in the first place.
So the issue that creates all of the further problems is that it has "event" detection which is rather too sensitive. A trip down the motorway yesterday and almost every single application of the brakes, however light, seem to have caused an event which is saved.
After my 1.5 hour trip I have almost 75% of my journey "saved". None of which was in any way interesting.
This means that when I make my return journey it is going to start overwriting itself after about 15 minutes (if you don't remove some of the saved files), instead of the 2 hours it could actually manage.
Even more annoyingly, it has left 0.6GB of the card is completely unused. That's 20 minutes of available journey time "wasted" where it could be saving stuff. Quite why it does this, I have no idea.
The event detection can be turned off, but the sensitivity cannot be changed. But why would you turn it off? You will miss out on saving the once in a million event when you do need it, if you do do that. Unless that is, you are on the ball enough to press the button to create a manually saved event, though it can't be wise to rely on that after you have been shaken up by a really extreme event.
Anyhow back to the saved files. Whilst it is possible to review the recordings on the device, there is no way to delete them, except by a complete reformat. The only way to pare-back unnecessarily saved files is to plug the cam into a computer and view them that way. Who routinely carries a computer with them every drive (It is just chance that I has it this time!)
As yet, I have no idea what the box does if the card is completely full of saved "events". Perhaps I will find out the answer to that on my return tomorrow.
All in all. If had my 80 quid back in my pocket today, I would not be spending it on this product.
tim
For those who are wondering why I have nothing better to do today than post this, see the previous post about me spending 4 hours longer in someone else's house than intended when we arrived - and with 4 girlies in the house, I have no chance of controlling the TV remote :-(