Inexpensive ($30?) dash cam USB battery powered microSD up to 64GB

I saw a guy disconnecting his dash cam off his rear-view mirror
as he parked on the street and I asked him what it was (I had
thought it was a really tiny GPS).

He showed it to me, and it was this really small dashcam that
he said he got for 30 bucks on the net, which had a 64GB microSD
card slot and a mini-USB charger port on the side.

It had a small screen of about an inch long, and a few
buttons. It was really small, about the size of a golf ball,
and the mount was a slot that clipped onto the mirror.

My question is WHERE can I find such an inexpensive dashcam?

Googling, I can't seem to locate a similarly small model.
I can only see the more expensive bigger models like these
http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-dash-cam/
Or these:
http://users.tpg.com.au/agnet/cam1.html
Or these:
http://www.tested.com/tech/456565-be...-car-costs-60/

The one I saw was really small.

Ahmed E. Souaiaia wrote, on Wed, 23 Apr 2014 18:33:50 -0500:

> My question is WHERE can I find such an inexpensive dashcam?

I suggest a cheap dash camera with some of the following specs:

1. SDXC-compatible if possible, so as to hold a 64GB SD card
2. micro or mini USB 2.0 charging & for video download
3. 640x480, 848x480, or 1280x720
4. 2 min, 5 min, 15 min, or continuous loop (with short gaps in between)
6. Motion activated and/or autostart
7. GPS & time stamp (black or white lettering)
8. Audio recording with mute
9. Tiny screen (to align) that can be turned off (to save battery)
10. Runs at least 1/2 hour on battery
11. Good night vision (very hard to test before buying!)
12. AVI container compressed with the H.264 codec
13. Discreet size and shape with no blinking lights when being used
14. Wide angle lens with wide dynamic range
15. Upgradable firmware
16. Ability to be hard wired so as to be a parking cam
17. Mil spec environmental conditions for heat/cold
18. Shock sensor to disable looping after a crash
19. Lock button to prevent overwriting after a critical event
20. Cheap, maybe $30 or $40 at the most

Pat Wilson > wrote:

> 1. SDXC-compatible if possible, so as to hold a 64GB SD card

BTW, it's about 50MB/minute, so, plan accordingly.

Per Ahmed E. Souaiaia:
>
>The one I saw was really small.

Check out some of TechMoan's reviews on YouTube.
He has a couple of favorites among cheap cams and some of them are way
small.

I have one of these http://tinyurl.com/jwlho7a and it's been pretty
good.

Probably could have gotten one for $30-40 from AliExpress, but I've read
that the problem with cameras like that which have such a good name is
that the market is full of knockoffs and ripoffs crafted to look/sound
like the real deal but nowhere near as good - so I went with a known
supplier.
--
Pete Cresswell

On 2014-04-23, Ahmed E. Souaiaia > wrote:
> I saw a guy disconnecting his dash cam off his rear-view mirror
> as he parked on the street and I asked him what it was (I had
> thought it was a really tiny GPS).
>
> He showed it to me, and it was this really small dashcam that
> he said he got for 30 bucks on the net, which had a 64GB microSD
> card slot and a mini-USB charger port on the side.
>
> It had a small screen of about an inch long, and a few
> buttons. It was really small, about the size of a golf ball,
> and the mount was a slot that clipped onto the mirror.
>
> My question is WHERE can I find such an inexpensive dashcam?
>
> Googling, I can't seem to locate a similarly small model.
> I can only see the more expensive bigger models like these
> http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-dash-cam/
> Or these:
> http://users.tpg.com.au/agnet/cam1.html
> Or these:
> http://www.tested.com/tech/456565-be...-car-costs-60/
>
> The one I saw was really small.


There are many many many models out there. Some ship direct from sellers
in China. Odds of finding it without a model/mfg are pretty low.

Can try going through ebay sellers, but even then it might not be found.

On Wed, 23 Apr 2014 20:47:23 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)" >
wrote:

>Per Ahmed E. Souaiaia:
>>
>>The one I saw was really small.
>
>Check out some of TechMoan's reviews on YouTube.
>He has a couple of favorites among cheap cams and some of them are way
>small.
>
>I have one of these http://tinyurl.com/jwlho7a and it's been pretty
>good.
>
Just out of curiosity...why?

What you're capturing is the road in front of you, right? What
happens there that you want to record and view later?

People ask my why I'm taking a photograph of this or that, and I don't
have to have a good answer beyond "because I want to", but I am
curious if that's your answer or there's something I'm missing.

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando FL

In article >, Tony Cooper
> wrote:

> >Check out some of TechMoan's reviews on YouTube.
> >He has a couple of favorites among cheap cams and some of them are way
> >small.
> >
> >I have one of these http://tinyurl.com/jwlho7a and it's been pretty
> >good.
> >
> Just out of curiosity...why?
>
> What you're capturing is the road in front of you, right? What
> happens there that you want to record and view later?

there are many reasons for dashcams, including documenting what really
happened in a collision. that can backfire if you did something wrong,
but on the other hand, it can also mean winning. some dashcams have
motion sensors and can trigger if someone tries to steal or vandalize
your car. another use is for road trips, which are generally played
back at super-speed.

> People ask my why I'm taking a photograph of this or that, and I don't
> have to have a good answer beyond "because I want to", but I am
> curious if that's your answer or there's something I'm missing.

why does it even matter?

On Wed, 23 Apr 2014 23:59:02 -0400, nospam >
wrote:

>In article >, Tony Cooper
> wrote:
>
>> >Check out some of TechMoan's reviews on YouTube.
>> >He has a couple of favorites among cheap cams and some of them are way
>> >small.
>> >
>> >I have one of these http://tinyurl.com/jwlho7a and it's been pretty
>> >good.
>> >
>> Just out of curiosity...why?
>>
>> What you're capturing is the road in front of you, right? What
>> happens there that you want to record and view later?
>
>there are many reasons for dashcams, including documenting what really
>happened in a collision. that can backfire if you did something wrong,
>but on the other hand, it can also mean winning. some dashcams have
>motion sensors and can trigger if someone tries to steal or vandalize
>your car. another use is for road trips, which are generally played
>back at super-speed.
>
>> People ask my why I'm taking a photograph of this or that, and I don't
>> have to have a good answer beyond "because I want to", but I am
>> curious if that's your answer or there's something I'm missing.
>
>why does it even matter?

I'm not interested in why you think one is worth having. I'm not
interested in whether or not you think it matters. I don't need to
justify to you why it matters.

I'm curious about what Ahmed and Pete think and what has motivated
them.

You are quite welcome to jump into any thread in the newsgroup, but
your "why does it even matter?" comment indicates that your primary
interest is just to stir things up.





--
Tony Cooper - Orlando FL

On 4/23/2014 11:43 PM, Tony Cooper wrote:

<snip>

> People ask my why I'm taking a photograph of this or that, and I don't
> have to have a good answer beyond "because I want to",

<snip>

Hard to think of a better reason, unless you're doing it to eat, etc.



--
PeterN

On 4/24/2014 12:14 AM, Tony Cooper wrote:
> On Wed, 23 Apr 2014 23:59:02 -0400, nospam >
> wrote:
>
>> In article >, Tony Cooper
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>> Check out some of TechMoan's reviews on YouTube.
>>>> He has a couple of favorites among cheap cams and some of them are way
>>>> small.
>>>>
>>>> I have one of these http://tinyurl.com/jwlho7a and it's been pretty
>>>> good.
>>>>
>>> Just out of curiosity...why?
>>>
>>> What you're capturing is the road in front of you, right? What
>>> happens there that you want to record and view later?
>>
>> there are many reasons for dashcams, including documenting what really
>> happened in a collision. that can backfire if you did something wrong,
>> but on the other hand, it can also mean winning. some dashcams have
>> motion sensors and can trigger if someone tries to steal or vandalize
>> your car. another use is for road trips, which are generally played
>> back at super-speed.
>>
>>> People ask my why I'm taking a photograph of this or that, and I don't
>>> have to have a good answer beyond "because I want to", but I am
>>> curious if that's your answer or there's something I'm missing.
>>
>> why does it even matter?
>
> I'm not interested in why you think one is worth having. I'm not
> interested in whether or not you think it matters. I don't need to
> justify to you why it matters.
>
> I'm curious about what Ahmed and Pete think and what has motivated
> them.
>
> You are quite welcome to jump into any thread in the newsgroup, but
> your "why does it even matter?" comment indicates that your primary
> interest is just to stir things up.
>

Nah! nospam would never do that.


--
PeterN