Dashcams

[Noonoo632]

What are folks views on dashcams??
I have been looking at the combined front and rear Blackvue ones in Halfords although the fitted price seems quite steep from £344 to over £554 depending on the model but as I don't want to see cables this might be an option. Does anyone know of a cheaper fitted alternative??

[OomStu_ZA]

I've been using dashcams since 2010ish and had my fair share of them over the years (sell them too). I currently have a Transcend unit and am happy with the overall performance of the deivice. When it comes to installation I'm not fussed about hiding cables on the A pillar and find the clips provided usually suffice.

[PO10ASH]

Would 100% recommend a dashcam these days, I've had one installed during my current car, simply because you can't trust people these days! I wouldn't even let anyone know I've got a dashcam until someone else claims against my insurance, to see if they try push blame and then send the video across - Personally, I'd go on Amazon have a look around at different models and look at YouTube videos for self-installation, it seems a lot harder than it actually is.

[monkeyhanger]

What are folks views on dashcams??
I have been looking at the combined front and rear Blackvue ones in Halfords although the fitted price seems quite steep from £344 to over £554 depending on the model but as I don't want to see cables this might be an option. Does anyone know of a cheaper fitted alternative??

Steer clear of blackvue. They're expensive and the picture quality is great - which is fine if you're prepared to pay good money for a good dashcam, but they overheat easily. I had 2 blackvue 650 2ch sets fail on me in a month. We have Thinkware F770 Front and back in our 2 cars, 5 years old and transferred between 3 cars each and still working well. One of the best makes out there. F770 have been superceded but still an excellent set up for hard wiring with overheat protection and battery drain protection in parking mode with excellent day and night picture quality.

[Mike222]

I have a nextbase 322 gw which cost about £80 , you can plug in a reverse facing camera to the forward one , its about £ 40 extra ( I haven't got the reverse bit !! but it just plugs in ) and its easy to fit yourself , there are how to guides on this forum

[Noonoo632]

I have a nextbase 322 gw which cost about £80 , you can plug in a reverse facing camera to the forward one , its about £ 40 extra ( I haven't got the reverse bit !! but it just plugs in ) and its easy to fit yourself , there are how to guides on this forum

Thanks for the info. Have just looked at this hard wire fitted at Halfords and they are charging for fitting the rear view camera WHY!!!! Have looked at youtube videos of it and as you say it just plugs in. Think I will buy these both and wire it to power in car somewhere worth a bash

[BootsOnBallast]

I’ve fitted a 2ch Lukas 790, hard wired. Easy to install have used them for a long while. The camera sits discreetly behind the rear view mirror. It’s a good price point, offers good image quality and can be customised easily.
One thing to note on the polo though, you can’t mount the camera on the boot panel then hide the cables as there is no panelling there. You either mount it anyway with the cable exposed or mount it about two inches back from the boot opening. Also on GTI models the rear window is quite tintied so while the image is still good it’s darker than the front camera. Can put pictures up if anyone’s interested.

[Noonoo632]

I’ve fitted a 2ch Lukas 790, hard wired. Easy to install have used them for a long while. The camera sits discreetly behind the rear view mirror. It’s a good price point, offers good image quality and can be customised easily.
One thing to note on the polo though, you can’t mount the camera on the boot panel then hide the cables as there is no panelling there. You either mount it anyway with the cable exposed or mount it about two inches back from the boot opening. Also on GTI models the rear window is quite tintied so while the image is still good it’s darker than the front camera. Can put pictures up if anyone’s interested.

Thanks for the info. Pictures would be good also instructions how to hardwire is useful

[BootsOnBallast]

I’ll get some photos taken tonight after work.
The rear has one output and the front has two outputs. The power cable runs around the headlining of the car down to the fuse box on the right. The second cable connects up to the rear view camera for power and data transfer, that runs along the left side of the headlining.

[monkeyhanger]

I’ve fitted a 2ch Lukas 790, hard wired. Easy to install have used them for a long while. The camera sits discreetly behind the rear view mirror. It’s a good price point, offers good image quality and can be customised easily.
One thing to note on the polo though, you can’t mount the camera on the boot panel then hide the cables as there is no panelling there. You either mount it anyway with the cable exposed or mount it about two inches back from the boot opening. Also on GTI models the rear window is quite tintied so while the image is still good it’s darker than the front camera. Can put pictures up if anyone’s interested.

You can hide all but the last 2 inches of wiring if you route the rear feed cable through the rubber conduit from the main car body, through the left hand boot frame hollow, down to the bottom half of the boot lid (which is covered and have the wiring pop up to mount the camera just above the bottom of the swept area of the tailgate wiper.

[monkeyhanger]

I’ve fitted a 2ch Lukas 790, hard wired. Easy to install have used them for a long while. The camera sits discreetly behind the rear view mirror. It’s a good price point, offers good image quality and can be customised easily.
One thing to note on the polo though, you can’t mount the camera on the boot panel then hide the cables as there is no panelling there. You either mount it anyway with the cable exposed or mount it about two inches back from the boot opening. Also on GTI models the rear window is quite tintied so while the image is still good it’s darker than the front camera. Can put pictures up if anyone’s interested.

Thanks for the info. Pictures would be good also instructions how to hardwire is useful

If you do a search on the forum, you'll see there are plenty of guides already with lots of pics and descriptions. It's about a 2 hour job if you've never done it before and are a little apprehensive, could be under an hour if you're experienced and don't get stuck with fiddly bits. Try searching "dashcam cable routing" for starters.

[GTI Polo Fin]

Steer clear of blackvue. They're expensive and the picture quality is great - which is fine if you're prepared to pay good money for a good dashcam, but they overheat easily. I had 2 blackvue 650 2ch sets fail on me in a month. We have Thinkware F770 Front and back in our 2 cars, 5 years old and transferred between 3 cars each and still working well. One of the best makes out there. F770 have been superceded but still an excellent set up for hard wiring with overheat protection and battery drain protection in parking mode with excellent day and night picture quality.

Well, I haven’t have any problems with Blackvue camera.
My set: BlackVue DR900S 2CH camera and Blackvue OBD power cable. Very good combo and easy to install

[monkeyhanger]

Steer clear of blackvue. They're expensive and the picture quality is great - which is fine if you're prepared to pay good money for a good dashcam, but they overheat easily. I had 2 blackvue 650 2ch sets fail on me in a month. We have Thinkware F770 Front and back in our 2 cars, 5 years old and transferred between 3 cars each and still working well. One of the best makes out there. F770 have been superceded but still an excellent set up for hard wiring with overheat protection and battery drain protection in parking mode with excellent day and night picture quality.

Well, I haven’t have any problems with Blackvue camera.
My set: BlackVue DR900S 2CH camera and Blackvue OBD power cable. Very good combo and easy to install

maybe the 900 has addressed a lot of faults that the 650 had? With my experiences though, I'd never touch them again. The F770 2 camera set was about the same price, same Sony Exmor chipset, Leica lenses, internal car battery management (no need for a separate "magic box) and you can read a numberplate of the car ahead of you at motorway speeds (something a lot of those £50 jobs can't do).

[GTI Polo Fin]

maybe the 900 has addressed a lot of faults that the 650 had? With my experiences though, I'd never touch them again. The F770 2 camera set was about the same price, same Sony Exmor chipset, Leica lenses, internal car battery management (no need for a separate "magic box) and you can read a numberplate of the car ahead of you at motorway speeds (something a lot of those £50 jobs can't do).

I don’t have experience about the 650, so can’t tell about problems with that.
Battery management is build-in Blackvue OBD power cable