Dashcam offer - value or not

[RhythMick]

My MG dealer will fit front and rear dash cams for £200. I have asked for the make and model etc but don't have it yet.

Does this sound like it might be a good deal? Any recommendations?

 

[5teep]

Depends how handy you are, I literally today fitted front and rear in my S5, took me 30 minutes though I'll be changing the layout a bit as I don't like the rear camera position.

I normally use action cams as dashcams but this time I went for the real thing. A Botlabs G980H for just over £100 from Amazon. Looking at the botlabs site I think you can buy it a little cheaper there.

 

[electric dream]

Depends how handy you are, I literally today fitted front and rear in my S5, took me 30 minutes though I'll be changing the layout a bit as I don't like the rear camera position.

I normally use action cams as dashcams but this time I went for the real thing. A Botlabs G980H for just over £100 from Amazon. Looking at the botlabs sit I think you can buy it a little cheaper there.

What route did you take for the cabling from the front to the back of your S5 for the rear camera ?

 

[5teep]

What route did you take for the cabling from the front to the back of your S5 for the rear camera ?

My kit came with tons of cable (micro hdmi) so I went the low route, from back to front on the passenger side - down behind the rear seat, then under the rubber seal to the centre pillar, round the pillar and back under the seal again. Along and up to dashboard height and the round the A pillar, following the base of that to the windscreen (the only bit that's really visible), then sharp turn back and up behind the pillar and along the top of the winscreen to the rain sensor box where the front camera is.

The front camera came with another huge long power cable but as there's a usb port right there I used a 20cm usb C cable I already had instead.

My routing is not permanent and I've already thought to try and slip it under the carpet instead of the door seals but I need to find a more permanent solution to the rear camera positioning first.

 

[tsedge]

My MG dealer will fit front and rear dash cams for £200. I have asked for the make and model etc but don't have it yet.

Does this sound like it might be a good deal? Any recommendations?

Depends what make and model they will fit for that price.

 

[RhythMick]

If I go down the route of fitting myself I have a question about powering it.

The obvious thing to do would be to use the USB port next to the mirror - wiring for slave cameras like the rear come off the front cameras I assume. Is that USB port powered when the car is locked ?

Cameras like this one ... Visiark Prime X1 ... provide a parking-mode so it can record while the car is locked, but that must need power so no good if the USB turns off when locked.

 

[5teep]

If I go down the route of fitting myself I have a question about powering it.

The obvious thing to do would be to use the USB port next to the mirror - wiring for slave cameras like the rear come off the front cameras I assume. Is that USB port powered when the car is locked ?

Cameras like this one ... Visiark Prime X1 ... provide a parking-mode so it can record while the car is locked, but that must need power so no good if the USB turns off when locked.

No Mick it's not powered, when you lock the car it shuts down along with the other electronics.
To get parking mode you need to hardwire a cam to the battery.

/edit the botlabs cam that I bought can be hardwired but you have to buy the extra kit for it.