🚗 Drive Smart, Record Everything!
Full description not available
R**S
It’s very good and suction cup does not loose grip
This is my first dash cam, I bought it after an experience with another driver falsely accusing me of hitting his car. The company’s website has a link to both the camera’s Quick Start Guide, as well as Owner’s Manual. The Owner’s Manual particularly is helpful, especially if you are new to dash cams. I downloaded, printed and read the Manual before getting started, and doing so made things a lot easier. For the most part the Manual is clear and detailed. (The only exception is Playback/Deleting files.) Mounting: I chose to use the suction cup. It’s very good and does not loose grip. Out of the box you are provided with two adhesive mounts but just one suction cup. The adhesive mounts look like they would be somewhat difficult to remove from your windshield. Resolution: The default 2304x 1296 is clearly the best setting. Much more detail is revealed, especially at night. I did some experimenting with the 2560 x 1080 resolution, as the explanation that this setting revealed more to the left and right and less of the sky and car hood sounded good. However the difference in detail is obvious. If you’re looking to see license plates, street signs, etc., the 1296p resolution is noticeably better. Also the 1296p setting performs better at night, as well. Night recording: The camera’s advertising makes much of Wide Dynamic Range / HDR technology. Supposedly this provides better night recording. But the WDR / HDR technology is only available in this camera at one resolution, 1920 x 1080. When I experimented with this resolution, I did notice that more areas of very low light appeared in the video. However, this is at the cost of considerable loss in detail, such as license plates, street signs, etc. If you’re willing to loose the detail, then this setting is better at night. If you want the detail, stick with the 2304 x 1296 setting. Time Zone: If you don’t get this right, each time you power the camera back on, the time is then wrong. When it’s right the next time you start up, you’ve gotten it right! Video and General Setup Menus: The camera is configured to start recording automatically every time as soon as power is applied (except USB download). This means that you must push the “OK” button to stop the recording and then push the “Menu” button to select which menu you want to use to make setting changes. So, each time you want to go into either of these menus, you wind up with at least one short recording (garbage) on your memory chip. If you’re OCD like me, then you have to push the “Mode” button and numerous other buttons to delete this short garbage recording file. For normal day in and day out use this auto record feature makes sense, but for making initial settings it’s a drawback. Since the camera is reasonably small, there just isn’t room for more buttons. This is good for concealment, but more awkward for carrying out commands, especially with many steps. Time Setup: I found that an additional step was necessary at the end of this procedure in order for the time setting to be accepted into the camera. After pushing “OK” the last time, unless I then pushed “Menu”, the setting was not memorized in the camera. Record Time / Loop Setting: I believe the default is 2 minutes. I found this distracting, causing so many interruptions in even a short trip. I reset to the maximum 10 minutes, which is just about right for short journeys. Of course this is a matter of personal taste. I have 13 files on my new 32GB chip, and it now shows as 1/3 full. Format: I bought a new, larger capacity memory chip with my camera. Using the camera to format any new card is indispensable in getting full functionality. Don’t use your computer or rely on manufacturer formatting out of the box. Formatting in the camera puts all the right files (including a player) and folders on your chip. G - Sensor / Motion Sensor: These features are for recording while your car is parked. They control when the camera starts recording, such as another car hitting you, a shopping cart running into your car, etc. However, the manual makes it clear that for normal recording while driving, both of these should be set to “Off”. In order to make use of these features, both settings must be changed in the Video Setup Menu each time you park your car. As pointed out above, due to the small size of the camera and limited number of buttons, changing settings is not as easy as it might be. And, of course, the camera only records in the one direction it’s aimed. Note that the camera may be rotated up to 90 degrees to the left or right to allow recording from either side, if you wish. (This is also useful for capturing video of people who come to your driver’s or front passenger’s door.) Audio: Is not as loud as it might be, but, listening closely, you can usually hear turn signal clicking, etc. I usually have my satellite radio going, so that might be partially responsible for my soft results. Connecting to PC: This works well and exactly as described in the Manual. It’s a lot easier to copy recording files to my computer this way than pulling the memory chip. You can also play the files this way, as well. Playback on a computer is MUCH better quality than playing them back on the camera’s little 3” display. But, of course, for quickly checking a file for length or content playback on the camera itself is more efficient. Playback: The instructions in the Manual are substantially lacking for this function. You use the “Mode” and “UP” buttons to select the icon at the upper right as to which file folder to search for files, Video only, Photos only, or Photos and Video. (In my camera all files were in the Photos and Video folder.) Once you have highlighted the correct icon, you must press “OK” to accept the choice and display the file thumbnails and file names on the camera. In oder to move to another thumbnail/file, you use the “UP” button again. Once you have the right file, you press “OK” again to display a menu to either Play or Delete the file. You can play the file first to verify its contents, then press “Mode” and “Menu” and “OK” again to redisplay the file name so you can then delete it. GPS: The camera’s advertising touts its GPS allowing display of a map in a window right next to your playback showing where you are. It’s not clear from the advertising that this requires 3rd party software. In navigating WheelWitness’ website, it’s also not clear where you can find this software. I did get a prompt response from Customer Service with the link to the recommended software (WheelWitness.com/viewer - Registrator/Datakam Viewer). This software is free, however, if you’re on a Mac, it does not work. WheelWitness did then tell me the only alternative they are aware of, which is Dashcam Viewer, from Earthshine Software (Dashcam viewer.com, not yet tested by WheelWitness). This works very well with my Mac mini, OS X 10.11.5, and Earthshine has a good, comprehensive Manual available for download on its website. You can try out this program free, but the full version is $15.00. It’s well worth it! Other Settings/Features: Are reasonably self-explanatory and covered well in the Owner’s Manual. I’ve had my new camera only about 3-4 days, so this review covers what I have discovered so far. Overall quality is excellent and I am very pleased with the WheelWitness HD Pro 1296p dash cam.Update: After 4 days of recording (28 files, a little more than 3 hours and 45 minutes) my new 32GB memory chip is 87% full. I have only a little more than 2 GB left. I will be lucky to make it to 5 days. Apparently recording at the highest resolution setting uses up memory at a fast clip. I'm going to purchase a new 128 GB high speed memory chip 128GB Micro SD Card Plus Adapter (Class 10 UHS-I MicroSDXC Extreme Pro Memory) 128 GB Ultra High Speed 90MB/s 600X UHS-1 Microsd SDXC Pack. Amplim® Cell Phone Tablet Flash (128G Performance TF G5) to try and achieve a month of recordings before files get overwritten.
D**L
So far it's holding up well.
TLDR: This is the third make of dash cam that I'm trying because the other two have failed. Another reviewer left a good comment on this model and while it was on sale, I stumbled on it and purchased it. I too am happy thus far. If the good behavior continues, I would buy again. After 12 months, I would recommend. I will update this in about a year from my purchase date because I've not had any of the competitors make it past 12 months of service life without a failure.The rest is just the details for those of you that want them or have had bad experiences with lame cameras.Cons:- The suction cup isn't that great. It has fallen off of my windshield multiple times. Although, my other car hasn't experienced this problem so maybe it's a one-off thing. I've noticed that when I drive less, it happens after a few days. If I'm constantly driving, temperatures are changing and it doesn't seem to happen. Either way, annoying but not a huge deal breaker. NO, I did not want to use a more permanent double-stick tape (which was included with the kit).- The lane deviation detection setting is dumb. Just turn the stupid thing off. It will definitely trigger when you move near a solid line; however, it continually and incorrectly triggers with dashed lines, in the rain, in the dark, etc.... The warning that appears on the screen in now way causes any problem with performance. It's just visually annoying while driving.- The lock mechanism for the memory card is really stiff and the opening is narrow. It's actually difficult to press on the card and get the memory card locked into place or unlocked while the camera is mounted in the car, unless you have fingernails, a small soft plastic tool (maybe a popsicle stick?), or narrow fingers, it's annoying. Not a deal breaker and it has NOT malfunctioned.- There is supposed to be a microphone and audio feedback, but I have no audio recorded with the videos. Also annoying but the Video is the really important thing so not a huge deal breaker too.Pros:+ Small and light. It doesn't occupy a lot of space on the windshield so it mostly tucks away behind the mirror, only exposing the LCD screen to your view if you choose.+ The camera works well and the video recordings are good quality even when not on the highest resolution.+ The USB cable connects to the mounting assembly, which is very convenient. Even more important when you want to hardwire and keep the cable out of sight because the cable won't be bent at an awkward angle. Interestingly.+ The connector is mini-usb, NOT micro. It's the style you find on Playstation controllers and some of the digital point and shoot cameras.+ There was a really long cord with a cigarette adapter included. If you can use it great. I did not because I wanted to utilize more low power usb devices in a single adapter. I happened to have a long USB-A to Mini-USB cable to suit my needs, but there is one included if you don't have the same concern as I did.+ The files are saved with both the date and the time stamp in the file name.+ I set my recording interval to 3 minutes. Incidentally the file size is 566.5, which rounds up to 567MB. This is very convenient because when I need to find a clip for a specific day, I find the day and time. All clips are 567, except for the last one which is usually stopped before the full 3 minutes. So it's very easy to see find the right clip quickly.+ The mount swivels very easily, but not without you physically moving it. I was almost hit the other day and I reached up and swiveled the camera easily to see the other driver as we passed each other. It did a great job and never moves on its own.+ The GPS adapter does a decent job at matching actual velocity. It stamps the speed on the video. It's fluctuates a small bit and may read off by 1-2 mph, but otherwise, it's a really good indicator.+ The stamped info within the bottom corner of the video is accurate and helpful when reviewing clips.+ Stopping and starting video recording is also easy, but you do need to orient to the behavior of the keys. After you remember what they are, day-to-day use is easy.+ In one car my cigarette lighter stays hot even with the key off and the rest of the accessories shut down. I have to manually turn this thing on and off. Not a big deal, but be aware. In my second car, the cigarette lighter also is killed when the accessories turn off. I use the setting to keep running for x-number of seconds after power off. In that car, the camera automatically turns itself on and off and I never need to touch it; it was a set it and forget it type of configuration. In that second car, this is actually massively convenient, but you wouldn't know it unless you had to toggle it on and off like I do (simply pulling the usb cable out or re-inserting it has the same effect, of course).+ MASSIVE. I do not get any random on/off power cycling like I did with competitors. This thing is on or off and hasn't been malfunctioning. The second model did this within the first day and the first model had an internal capacitor that caused this behavior randomly.
L**S
Buen producto
Buena resolución, buena imagen, difícil de usar pero una vez que se aprende funciona excelente.
Trustpilot
1 month ago
2 months ago
