Dashcam, which to get?

[Scooba_Steve]

What's the difference with any other card? Surely you can only pop it in and try it out then check all the recordings. Branded or not / expensive or not. I have had trouble with a card - the files recorded were fine but the card wouldn't record any more without formatting the entire card - this was apparent as it would shut off after start as it wasn't recording.
I remember a set of 'decent' CDRW I had once that all turned out to be junk - but only found out once had burned to them. The only advantage with branded is perhaps with warranty - I prefer to go with a better retailer when it comes to ease of returns though.

 

[PerryGunn]

What's the difference with any other card? Surely you can only pop it in and try it out then check all the recordings. Branded or not / expensive or not. I have had trouble with a card - the files recorded were fine but the card wouldn't record any more without formatting the entire card - this was apparent as it would shut off after start as it wasn't recording.
I remember a set of 'decent' CDRW I had once that all turned out to be junk - but only found out once had burned to them. The only advantage with branded is perhaps with warranty - I prefer to go with a better retailer when it comes to ease of returns though.

When SD cards were first becoming affordable, I thought I'd found a bargain and ordered it - a 2GB (think it was Sandisk) card at about a third cheaper than anywhere else. Got it, did a quick format, it showed as something around 1.9GB free (which was as expected), and it worked absolutely fine... until you tried to write more than about 250 MB to it - turned out it was a Chinese knock-off, a 256MB card that had been kludged to report itself as a 2GB card :x

 

[Scooba_Steve]

Get that, all I'm saying is you have to try one to find out. I had a crucial that was a lemon and I've also read that the 0806 doesn't like Samsung cards though I've yet to try mine.

 

[Scooba_Steve]

also got a hardwire kit, now i play the waiting game for all the bits to be delivered lol.

thanks for all your help people

I've just finished putting the hardwire kit in but not wired it up yet. You can get BMW cable ties with clips that slot into holes in the chassis around the windscreen and run it down to the fuse box. I didn't fancy tapping into the feeds at the sensor and also having to secure the transformer bit in such a small place.

Pretty easy once you have the windscreen trim off - will write it up if you fancy doing it this way.

 

[PerryGunn]

Get that, all I'm saying is you have to try one to find out. I had a crucial that was a lemon and I've also read that the 0806 doesn't like Samsung cards though I've yet to try mine.

My 64GB card is a class 10 Samsung and works fine so, hopefully, you'll be OK

 

[pvr]

I have Samsungs as well, all fine.

 

[Scooba_Steve]

Cheers guys, will try mine and maybe get another bigger one.

 

[JINGLE]

well i hope my samsung works when it arrives lol. the hardwire kit will prob take a few weeks to arrive so will probs fit it in the mirror housing as neater and easier i think. thanks so much for all the help guys, will let ya know the out come

 

[mj2k]

CPL in worst position (pretty much the same as no CPL)

CPL in best position

Was the best position aligning the dot Perry? I did it by taking the filter off, holding it up to my eye & rotating until the reflections went, but still have the dash vents reflecting in the sunshine.

Agree with the single card solution though, just much safer for having the footage you want, when you want it

 

[Scooba_Steve]

well i hope my samsung works when it arrives lol. the hardwire kit will prob take a few weeks to arrive so will probs fit it in the mirror housing as neater and easier i think. thanks so much for all the help guys, will let ya know the out come

I wouldn't necessarily say neater - my kit came with quite long leads. The USB one I can't really shorten (well could but that would be a real pain) and it's plenty long enough to go around the frame so must be at least 3 m. Easier possibly but I figured it's less fiddly to wire it into a spare fuse socket and there's less excess to rattle around.
I'm now contemplating having a switch so I can chose between an ignition feed and an always hot so I can leave it on when parked or if I should just plug in a USB from the cigarette charger.
I should really have taken photos!

 

[JINGLE]

haha yea i always have intentions of taking lots of photos but get engrossed in the work lol

will wait till it arrives as will have the camera a few weeks before the hardwire kit so can have a play about with the wires and see what will work best for me

 

[sp3ctre]

What's the difference with any other card? Surely you can only pop it in and try it out then check all the recordings. Branded or not / expensive or not. I have had trouble with a card - the files recorded were fine but the card wouldn't record any more without formatting the entire card - this was apparent as it would shut off after start as it wasn't recording.
I remember a set of 'decent' CDRW I had once that all turned out to be junk - but only found out once had burned to them. The only advantage with branded is perhaps with warranty - I prefer to go with a better retailer when it comes to ease of returns though.

The point is they probably won't fail straight away, so you can't just try it out, unless you pull the card every few days to check it. It's not debatable, branded cards are far more reliable over time, it's been proven time and time again... ask any wedding photographer

 

[PerryGunn]

Was the best position aligning the dot Perry? I did it by taking the filter off, holding it up to my eye & rotating until the reflections went, but still have the dash vents reflecting in the sunshine.

I think that, because of the screen angle and wanting to hide the camera behind the rear-view mirror you're always going to get a certain amount of reflections but the CPL goes a long way to minimising them

I tested for the best position by having the dashcam on, starting with the dot aligned and rotating in about 20 steps, watched the video to work out where it looked best, then repeated the process with a more gradual rotation around that area - worked out that, for me anyway, the dot was pretty much spot-on

 

[NeilP]

Whoever you decide to purchase from, avoid JooVuu.

Absolutely useless.

 

[aquazi]

I've had my 0806 since march this year (replaced my older 0803) and i have two 64GB sandisk cards which never noticed any issues with transition from one card to another

Havent even changed the firmware since i got it!

The one thing it has don a couple of times is lock up.. and i have to hold the power button to reboot it.. but then my old 0803 did this from time to time too.... it makes a god awful racket when it does lock up!

 

[JINGLE]

I've had my 0806 since march this year (replaced my older 0803) and i have two 64GB sandisk cards which never noticed any issues with transition from one card to another

Havent even changed the firmware since i got it!

The one thing it has don a couple of times is lock up.. and i have to hold the power button to reboot it.. but then my old 0803 did this from time to time too.... it makes a god awful racket when it does lock up!

so theres no way of missing it when it does lock up then lol?