Dash Cam

[RichardL]

Have a look at my post above for where I routed the power cable, took about 10-15 mins to set up in my new DS3. I use this to power the camera and charge my phone.

Now that looks mighty useful!

Complete change of plan, I think I'm going to go for the Mobius. It's pretty small anyway but you can buy a kit that removes the lens from the unit so I can have the lens in my windscreen and and the bulk of the unit hidden away. They've also got a hard wiring kit for sale too so I don't have to worry about power! This is exactly what I've been looking for all along

This video demonstrates it a little better, I'll let you know how I get on with it!

[Bigfeet]

I bought the Mini 0801 from Eprance and I will admit it is pretty awesome! Granted it is a little more expensive than some of the others but the size and quality won me over.

[Bryn]

I got one of these for my birthday in June. See Beefmasta's post above for cable routing - I did almost the same, except that mine runs through the dash to the driver's side before tucking under the plastic trim back to the power socket. Also, the other end of the cable tucks under the edge of the headlining until it gets to the middle, behind the mirror, where it emerges via a little notch in the headlining which could have been (probably was) provided for the purpose.

I solved RicharL's satnav problem by using a cheapo extension cable which has a cigarette lighter type plug on one end and two sockets on the other. Having shortened the cable, this sits under the driver's seat out of sight, with the camera and sat nav leads both plugged in.

I've not yet looked at any night time footage but day time is good.

(this is my first attempt at posting a URL - it might all go horribly wrong!!)

Edit - it did go wrong - now fixed!!

[RichardL]

Thanks everyone, so I've solved the power issue by buying a 4-way cigarette lighter socket splitter so I'll now have 2 extra sockets as well as 2 USB charging ports. I'm planning to store the little box in that awkward void/half shelf directly underneath the radio (where Citroen should have put the socket in the first place!) A little double sided tape should do the trick.

The route I'm planning for the USB cable will be a bit of a hybrid of Beefmasta and Bryn's methods. I'm going to go from the splitter into the trim above the passenger footwell, up through the fusebox area and up along the A-pillar to the roof, along the roof trim above the passenger seat and then out through the little lip in front of the mirror. I think I'm going to Velcro the bulk of the unit to the roof directly in the middle and just have the camera in the windscreen.

That's the plan anyway, my Amazon parts should be arriving tomorrow and the rest including the camera Saturday (hopefully). I'll post pictures when in done!

[BeefMasta]

That's the plan anyway, my Amazon parts should be arriving tomorrow and the rest including the camera Saturday (hopefully). I'll post pictures when in done!

Looking forward to seeing your results. While my camera works well, it can sometimes be a pain to keep taking it off the mount so will be interesting to see how hidden yours is.

[MadMan0]

Just got the E-PRANCE Super HD mini 0803. The camera is a lot smaller than expected despite seeing various videos reviewing it on YouTube.
The model I chose is the GPS version without internal memory. It fits just below the auto light and rain sensors to give a central view, yet is still out of view when driving.
Will post pictures up later is people are interested. Similar to BeefMasta I’ve run the wire from the 12v socket up under the A pillar trim then along the top of the windscreen.

So far, I’m quite disappointed with the video quality despite it being perfectly clear when you pause the video. It's nowhere near as good as the GoPro Hero 2, but you have to remember that the GoPro is professional spec and costs around 6 times the price of the E-Prance. So bearing this in mind, it is a good camera.
The main downside is the mount/connection to the mount from the camera. It's not solid; the camera can wobble a little which is annoying. Though, so far it hasn't appeared to affect the video footage. The GPS is.... well it's like GPS. It works within some error. The camera does come with some software to view the footage & all the GPS files together; but the files are separate so you don't need to share the GPS file if you wanted to share the video footage. (A huge concern for some - just because it has the GPS you don't have to use it, the camera puts the video & GPS stuff in 2 separate files.)

Yet to do a long drive but so far it seems ok.

Link to where I got it from:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It said expected delivery between 7-23 days; it came within 40 hours of ordering it though! :-D
Will write up a proper review once I’ve tested it some more.

[RichardL]

Just got the E-PRANCE Super HD mini 0803. The camera is a lot smaller than expected despite seeing various videos reviewing it on YouTube.
The model I chose is the GPS version without internal memory. It fits just below the auto light and rain sensors to give a central view, yet is still out of view when driving.
Will post pictures up later is people are interested. Similar to BeefMasta I’ve run the wire from the 12v socket up under the A pillar trim then along the top of the windscreen.

So far, I’m quite disappointed with the video quality despite it being perfectly clear when you pause the video. It's nowhere near as good as the GoPro Hero 2, but you have to remember that the GoPro is professional spec and costs around 6 times the price of the E-Prance. So bearing this in mind, it is a good camera.
The main downside is the mount/connection to the mount from the camera. It's not solid; the camera can wobble a little which is annoying. Though, so far it hasn't appeared to affect the video footage. The GPS is.... well it's like GPS. It works within some error. The camera does come with some software to view the footage & all the GPS files together; but the files are separate so you don't need to share the GPS file if you wanted to share the video footage. (A huge concern for some - just because it has the GPS you don't have to use it, the camera puts the video & GPS stuff in 2 separate files.)

Yet to do a long drive but so far it seems ok.

Link to where I got it from:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It said expected delivery between 7-23 days; it came within 40 hours of ordering it though! :-D
Will write up a proper review once I’ve tested it some more.

I did have a look at that model, but ultimately it was being able to separate the camera from the unit that made me pick the Mobius.

Whilst we're on the subject I've just seen this on Car Throttle. The author's getting slated in the comments at the bottom because of his bizarre views.
http://www.carthrottle.com/this-road...prove-a-point/

[MadMan0]

I did have a look at that model, but ultimately it was being able to separate the camera from the unit that made me pick the Mobius.

Whilst we're on the subject I've just seen this on Car Throttle. The author's getting slated in the comments at the bottom because of his bizarre views.
http://www.carthrottle.com/this-road...prove-a-point/

Also seen here:
http://www.fiatforum.com/leisure-lou...videos-99.html (Near the bottom of the page)

[RichardL]

Also seen here:
http://www.fiatforum.com/leisure-lou...videos-99.html (Near the bottom of the page)

Wow have to say that forum does have quite a few idiots on it.
I saw her comment on YouTube, she's passed the footage onto the police and they're siding with the TT driver.

[MadMan0]

Dissapointed with the 0803 camera. Very shaky image, not at all smooth and very grainy. The video also blocks when there is a lot in the screen. i.e. driving along a tree covered road.
Night time footage is also poor, Extremely grainy and lights blur the camera...
Other reviews praise the night time footage so i assume my camera is somehow broken? I'll contact the seller to see what can be done and report back soon.

[RichardL]

Dissapointed with the 0803 camera. Very shaky image, not at all smooth and very grainy. The video also blocks when there is a lot in the screen. i.e. driving along a tree covered road.
Night time footage is also poor, Extremely grainy and lights blur the camera...
Other reviews praise the night time footage so i assume my camera is somehow broken? I'll contact the seller to see what can be done and report back soon.

Try playing about with the settings. I watched loads of reviews of loads of different models and some dashcams just don't have the processing power to handle the highest quality setting.
Try going down a notch from say 1080p to 720p or from 60 fps to 30 fps depending on what the settings offer.

[MadMan0]

I've had another look at some if the footage today... Although it's not in the same league as the GoPro, it's not bad.
For £60 it does everything you want it to do. The GPS works on every road I've been on, except my home street where it shows me driving though a row of houses? (Standard error :-p)
The blurred night time footage 'might', and I do mean might have been something on the windscreen which I missed.
Some of the footage is smooth and is HD, yet some of the clips appear quite poor;
Sharp edges, double vision and shaky...

I'm using 1080p, s.fine quality and 30fps (Max is 1280p, s.fine and 30fps) - my computer will not play the 1280p...

I think for the price it's fair quality and good, so I'd rate it at 3.5/5 :-)
Worth getting if you just want a dash camera which does what it's meant to do! But doesn't match the GoPro or Roadhawk on smoothness, quality of picture or Night time performance.

[RichardL]

I've had another look at some if the footage today... Although it's not in the same league as the GoPro, it's not bad.
For £60 it does everything you want it to do. The GPS works on every road I've been on, except my home street where it shows me driving though a row of houses? (Standard error :-p)
The blurred night time footage 'might', and I do mean might have been something on the windscreen which I missed.
Some of the footage is smooth and is HD, yet some of the clips appear quite poor;
Sharp edges, double vision and shaky...

I'm using 1080p, s.fine quality and 30fps (Max is 1280p, s.fine and 30fps) - my computer will not play the 1280p...

I think for the price it's fair quality and good, so I'd rate it at 3.5/5 :-)
Worth getting if you just want a dash camera which does what it's meant to do! But doesn't match the GoPro or Roadhawk on smoothness, quality of picture or Night time performance.

Got any footage we can see?

Update on mine: I emailed the store to ask whether it's been dispatched and it still hasn't! I've asked them to cancel my order and I've ordered a new one from another store, hopefully arriving Wednesday now.

[MadMan0]

Got any footage we can see?

I'll see if I can upload a clip or two to Youtube tonight. No night footage saved as it's been over written today with a 7 hour round trip to see Jamie at SP Tuning

Edit:
Uploaded 3 sample clips from today to dropbox (if the link below doesn't show all 3 clips, then try again later as the file might not have finished uploading)
The clips include:
motorway in different lighting x2(Undertaking van/speeding Audi) and town drive with trees showing the "blocking/pixel" effect x1
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8t1dp28kk...sRKN7rNWFCr2Va

The time stamp in the videos are wrong for some reason...

[Bigfeet]

Dissapointed with the 0803 camera. Very shaky image, not at all smooth and very grainy. The video also blocks when there is a lot in the screen. i.e. driving along a tree covered road.
Night time footage is also poor, Extremely grainy and lights blur the camera...
Other reviews praise the night time footage so i assume my camera is somehow broken? I'll contact the seller to see what can be done and report back soon.

Shame to hear that, my one is brilliant with a very good quality image day and night time. I have noticed a slight wobble with mine but a quick re-position of the mount solved this problem.

What I like about it is that the unit is small so it is not obvious to people on the outside that there is a camera on show.

I based my buying decision on the review over at Techmoan.