Car got keyed again. Advice on Dash cam

[AndrewL]

That sucks, I used to worry about parking lot incidents not as much anymore. I run a dash camera review website, thought I could chip in.

Grab a dash camera for sure, I recieved a video where a

was recorded while they were parked. If you had to choose between an alarm system and a dash camera for me it's a no brainer. A dash camera protects you while driving and parked.

I'll give you a couple choices I think would work well:

Low End
I have and tested a bunch of these cameras, problem is that there are numerous manufactures and all look the same. Long review short, get the pentagonal cameras, the 720p HD camera for $60 turned out pretty good. I do worry about getting a dud because quality isn't top priority on these.

The eBay seller estore009 is great because it's who the Russians trust ( they buy a lot of cameras) and they deliver great service.

Middle of The Road
Mio Mivue 338 $124 shipped on ebay
Taiwanese design which means it will stand up to the heat, the day vision is good, night vision is amongst the best I've seen at that level. Great functionality and it's fairly small. I haven't tested it out yet but honestly the reviews & blogs I read it seems quite good.

There are other designs such as the GS2000 & DOD-Tec line of cameras which provide much better day vision (night can be a little bit worse). However the GS line (GS1000 | GS2000 | GS5000) has a "lottery" system where you hope you don't end up with a lens that can distort in the heat. The DOD TEC line there are many fakes and I think for the price I would rather just get the MiVue personally.

I can give you more information if you are interested

High End:
Itronics ITB-100HD $200 Shipped Ebay
High operating temperature, great video, small. Lots of people in North America got one of these and have been really happy with them.

Vicovation TF2 $275
This one just got released, the older model the DS2 has been used by many truck drivers with great success and reliability. The latest one improves on the night vision (it looks great), better overall video quality plus it works up to 75°C (167F) which is much needed if you live anywhere hot and want to record while your interior is roasting.

FineVU CR300HD | CR500HD - $260 & $330 respectively
These two cameras have excellent functionality however they are tad larger. I like them because they can be rotated 360° and have a dedicated mute button (some conversations shouldn't be recorded). The CR300HD night vision is bad, the CR500HD is really good because of the Sony Exmor R sensor. The CR300HD you have to buy an external GPS (CR500 includes one). It's also dead simple to remove and stow away. $$$$$ though

Avoid: Pittasoft Blackvue DR400G-HD
I used to recommend this camera but the failures of the original plus the lack of any real information on the second model plus lack of discernible differences inside (I have both) makes me say no for now.

Avoid: Cool-Guys (Ebay Seller)
I've gotten some really bad feedback regarding their lack of support following a sale.

Hope that helps! Most people who want a dual camera solution just buy a cheaper model for the back (the two channel models I think are rather crap atm)

Originally Posted by ZZT86

Are they reliable? Have had Viper for years and it's been great ! Never false alarms, although it will chew thru battery if it's sits for weeks without a drive.

How effective is it if you live in a more urban area? For example if you have the paper/mail delivered wouldn't that result in alarms going off for benign reasons?

[JDMSushi]

Originally Posted by AndrewL

is great because it's who the Russians trust ( they buy a lot of cameras)

Why is that? I've always been curious...

Awesome info btw

[RAN94A]

Originally Posted by JDMSushi

Why is that? I've always been curious...

This is why:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU3XkvjGTTo"]Don't Honk In Russia! - YouTube[/ame]

[AndrewL]

Originally Posted by JDMSushi

Why is that? I've always been curious...

Awesome info btw

Thanks!

I could explain it but Jalopnik wrote a great article on it. Basically rampant police corruption, scams and generally the courts greatly prefer hard evidence in the form of videos so everyone gets one.

I like to think of it as cheap insurance to prevent my rates from going up.

[ZZT86]

@AndrewL - Prevention is better than cure/litigation with the cops afterwards. However we could always use both alarm & cam - hard evidence like you say you can't beat if criminal damage is effected on your private property. Cheers, will consider.

[Ravine]

I just took another look at the front of my bonnet and I'm almost 100% it was some dumb bitch who sat on the car so her friend can take a photo or something.

It's directly in the centre and the scratches aren't too deep with only one streak going to the primer but still not too deep. All the scratches go down so all signs point to someone sitting on the bonnet and then sliding down.

Damn 86, why you so sexy.

Originally Posted by Ravine

I just took another look at the front of my bonnet and I'm almost 100% it was some dumb bitch who sat on the car so her friend can take a photo or something.

It's directly in the centre and the scratches aren't too deep with only one streak going to the primer but still not too deep. All the scratches go down so all signs point to someone sitting on the bonnet and then sliding down.

Damn 86, why you so sexy.

Was this a dumb bitch that you know or just some random who sat on your car?

[sho220]

Originally Posted by Ravine

I'm tired of these ****heads keying my car and I'd like to catch one, track them down and dish out some vigilante justice.

Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. When keeping it real goes wrong...

[Ravine]

Originally Posted by Paragon

Was this a dumb bitch that you know or just some random who sat on your car?

Definitely a random. I would cut the arse cheeks off anybody that sat on my car.

[AndrewL]

Originally Posted by ZZT86

@AndrewL - Prevention is better than cure/litigation with the cops afterwards. However we could always use both alarm & cam - hard evidence like you say you can't beat if criminal damage is effected on your private property. Cheers, will consider.

Totally agree! An alarm would hopefully deter criminals and if that doesn't work at least minimize the loss if they do decide to do anything. A camera is a pretty tempting target.

If I had an expensive enough car it would probably be GPS tracked as well.

[mact]

Originally Posted by Surok

get a better alarm that goes off when someone walks near the car maybe?

1. Integrate this with train horn.
2. ??
3. Hilarity will ensue.

[Varvs]

i had similar damage on the front of my car because someone reversed into the front of it, and due to my car being low they went up the nose of the car.

$800 later the gouges were filled and the bar resprayed, with no one to foot the bill but me