BlackVue wifi dash-camera for security

[caseyc]

<p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt;" class="MsoNormal">I just installed this dash-camera in my van. It's truly one of the slickest device I've seen in a long time. One day, this dash-camera will save me from a potential lawsuit from some idiot driver claiming an accident is my fault.<br><br>This dash-camera is always on to record everything, essentially as what a police car camera would do, except way better. It's worth the $300 price tag for its advanced features and quality. Don't get the cheap $50 stuff made in China. This BlackVue dash-cam is made in Korea, and it's really good stuff!<br><br>You can also do a live preview of everything the camera is seeing on your smartphone screen (via a free smartphone app for IOS or Android), and the wifi&nbsp;range is about the distance of&nbsp;nearly 1/4 of a short&nbsp;city block, or roughly across the other side of the street.&nbsp;&nbsp;With its wifi ability, you can also mount the dash-cam to your rear window of the van, and it records everything, while showing you a live video feed of everything onto your smartphone to help you for going in reverse, parallel parking, etc.<br><br>With its built-in wifi, you can also wirelessly download a video clip directly from the dash-camera to your smartphone, without the need for a computer. Of course, you can also choose to take out the memory card and insert into your computer/laptop to download all video clips which will show you detailed 1080 high def videos of where you drove, including a Google map with GPS directions, time/date stamp, MPH of speed, screenshot pic, etc.<br><br>This dash-cam even has parking mode which means it will record everything all day and night, even if the engine is turned off, or you are parked for many hours.&nbsp; The dash-cam will simply&nbsp;automatically&nbsp;re-write over the earliest video clips (in 1,2,3 minute increments). For safety, any video clip the camera deems to be be an "Event" such as an accident, the clip gets saved separately in a folder that will not get automatically erased.<br><br>I like this sucker so much, I'm thinking of getting a second one for the rear window view for its 24 hour surveillance&nbsp;capability, plus to&nbsp;see everything behind me at all times via my smartphone screen. &nbsp;<br><br>Here's a video clip on this:<br><br>YouTube video on BlackVue Wi-Fi DR500GW-HD 16GB Car Black Box/DVR Recorder, link below.<br><a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"></span></a></p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"> <br></span>

 

[Darkhematite]

Thanks for the review. &nbsp;I would love to have something like that.&nbsp;

 

[caseyc]

<p>You're welcome. You won't regret getting one of these. Last week, an idiot young&nbsp;driver nearly sideswiped me trying to avoid a bus picking up passengers. Just this morning, the bus I was riding on got into a T-Bone accident because the idiot produce truck driver ran a red light. In each instance, a dash-camera would have recorded everything perfectly to show who is at fault. From what I've read online, many drivers in other parts of the world already use dash-cameras extensively to protect themselves. In the United States, this is still a new thing to the point that no major manufacturer even markets dash-cams for the U.S.&nbsp; Try to find a dash-camera, especially one&nbsp;of any decent quality, at a local Best Buy or Frys Electronics...forget it! &nbsp;I believe that will change within the next 10 years.</p>

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

Thats pretty amazing how it senses events like sudden stops/swerves and separates them into files.

 

[minimotos95]

that definitely beats a gopro for dash cam use<br>i always ride my motorcycle with a helmet cam because there's so many idiot drivers.<br><br>EDIT i just caught a guy doing double the speed limit while talking on a cell phone through a neighborhood where kids always are with my gopro... i don't know how i haven't been splatted by these moron drivers yet. i definitely need a dash cam for the van<br><br>how much power does it draw when in the 24/7 mode?

 

[caseyc]

I don't know how much power it draws while in parking mode, but I'm sure the information is out there somewhere in the specs.<br><br>You probably need to also buy the Power Magic Pro, so you can hardwire the dashcam power cable to your vehicle fusebox. This is important if your 12 volt adapter goes off when engine is off because the dashcam always requires power to operate, as it has no internal rechargeable battery. &nbsp;However, if you know you will never need the Parking Mode operation, then you can skip this. &nbsp;I personally want the Parking Mode operation myself which means my dashcam is constantly on 24/7.<br><br>Another advantage of this accessory is that you can set the voltage meter to stop the dashcam automatically if the house battery goes below a certain preset level in order to avoid having a dead car battery.<br><br>I already have this accessory, but haven't installed it yet. Link to Amazon below for this battery management accessory:<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Power-Magic-P...91885&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=magic+power+pro" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><br></a><a style="font-size: 13px;" href="http://www.amazon.com/Power-Magic-P...91885&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=magic+power+pro" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Power-Magic-P...91885&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=magic+power+pro<br><br>I also have this additional holder and 12 volt cable accessory so I can take off the camera from one vehicle and use the camera in a different vehicle. &nbsp;Since I have 2 different vehicles, that's why I got this accessory to make use of the 1 dash-camera.<br></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Blackvue-DR500GW-HD-Window-Mount-Cigar/dp/B00BTODTKO/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_9" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Blackvue-DR500GW-HD-Window-Mount-Cigar/dp/B00BTODTKO/ref=pd_sim_sbs_auto_9</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Power-Magic-P...91885&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=magic+power+pro" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><br><br></a>

 

[caseyc]

By the way, I almost bought a GoProHero instead of the BlackVue dashcam. Fortunately, after reading mixed reviews about the GoPro, I decided against it. Plus the GoPro really isn't meant to be used as a 24/7 dashcamera for security and surveillance. &nbsp;The BlackVue dashcam is really designed to be used as a security and surveillance device, not as some superhero action camera recording one's crazy antics.<br><br>

 

[caseyc]

Here's the manual for installing the PowerMagic Pro to your fusebox.<br><br><a href="http://www.blackvue.com/en/common/d...008.jpg&amp;path=board&amp;idx=960&amp;sort=0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.blackvue.com/en/common/d...008.jpg&amp;path=board&amp;idx=960&amp;sort=0</a>

 

[Ballenxj]

What a neat little camera. <br>-Bruce

 

[caseyc]

Here's something you guys might like. I placed my large sunscreen windshield shade in between the mirror and the visors, and this blocked out any ability for onlookers to see inside through the windshield.&nbsp; However, the dashcam is stuck to the backside of the mirror so that it still has an UN-obstructed view of the outside world even with the sunscreen shade up.&nbsp; With a smartphone paired wirelessly to the dashcam, this means you can see the outside world of what's going on in the front of the vehicle in a wide angle 157 degree view.&nbsp; You can easily take your smartphone off the dashboard, place it anywhere in the interior of the van (such as your bed) and still see everything going on outside the front of the vehicle. Plus if you install a 2nd BlackVue wifi dashcam to the rear windows, and have a 2nd smartphone, this means you can simultaneously see everything happening in real time in front and behind the van! How's that for stealth surveillance and recording?!?&nbsp; I like this little sucker so much, I'm going to order a 2nd one to install in the rear so that I can see what's happening at all times since I have 2 separate smartphones.&nbsp; Since I've been rear-ended 2 times in my life, I believe I have a higher chance of getting hit from behind again versus front. So having a dashcam recording all traffic and on-goings from the rear will be helpful I think.&nbsp; Just this past weekend, I resurrected a deactivated spare smartphone, which is the Motorola Razr Maxx, installed the free BlackVue smartphone app to it, and because the deactivated phone has wifi capability, I was able to use this spare Motorola phone for seeing live video feeds from the front dashcamera.&nbsp; I velcro-taped the spare phone to the lower dashboard so now it's constantly on so I can always see what's going on in front of me.&nbsp; My primary smartphone, a Samsung Note 2, is now freed up for doing other tasks, haha!&nbsp; This dashcam supposedly&nbsp;has decent low light recording capability too, according to other reviews from YouTube that I've seen. I haven't tried anything for low light or night time stuff myself yet, but will soon.&nbsp;

 

[Ballenxj]

Yeah Casey, I'll be watching for your results as I'm curious to hear how well it works in low light. <br>-Bruce

 

[caseyc]

Okay, will do. I usually park in places where there are at least street lights overhead. So the dashcam should be able to record something as long as there is some form of light. Obviously, if it's pitch black, the dashcam has nothing to record.&nbsp; Various YouTube video reviews have commented that the dashcam can record pretty well even while driving at night under normal city light conditions. However, if someone is boondooking (sp?) in the wild with absolutely no lights whatsoever, then I wouldn't expect the dashcam to record anything.&nbsp; The problem I'm potentially having is that my rear windows are tinted at about 2 shades above the darkest limo tint. So that might cause some problems I would imagine, if I were to install a 2nd dashcam for the rear window.&nbsp; However, there is a&nbsp;Brightness setting in the desktop app that you can tweak to make things brighter if you want.&nbsp; One of the YouTube reviews commented that if you set&nbsp;the Brightness level&nbsp;higher, it may cause a yellow tinge color cast.&nbsp; I suppose if I had no choice, I&nbsp;could bump up the Brightness setting all the way to maximum to see if that would at least record if someone is trying to sneak up on me from behind at night. <img class="emoticon bbc_img" src="/images/boards/smilies/eek.gif">&nbsp;I will be doing a one week roadtrip at end of next month, so I will surely test out the low light capability of this dashcam.

 

[urlovebb]

USD300 is not acceptable to me &nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/tongue.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img"><br>I just ordered a HD1080P one from <a href="http://www.szswill.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">this company</a>&nbsp;yesterday at USD112 (exclude shipping cost), will get it around next Thursday, will share some reviews with you guys as soon as I have it installed.<br>I have a question, what is "park mode" for and how to set it?