Dash cam recommendations please.

[Ton-up]

I have spent several thousand pounds getting my VW T5.1's bodywork repaired and and resprayed. Got it back a couple of weeks ago.
Tonight some ringpiece in a big Movano van came flying down a country lane I come home from work down and forced me over. I cracked the new and painted passenger mirror cover on a tree, and he hit the other one with his mirror....
I need a new dash cam. The Nextbase one I had packed up, but the problem with it was that you were told it needed formatting every two weeks. I forgot once and a big accident happened right in front of me and I had no footage....
So any recommendations please.

 

[bricol]

Sorry, I use a Nextbase, have done for a good few years - I reformatted in the car this morning.

 

[sickpup]

Take a look at the Vsysto cameras on Amazon. Primarily meant for motorcycles but can be used in cars.
They are relatively cheap and pretty damn tough, they use a 256gb Micro SD so don't need reformatting often.

I have the Dual 150 on two of my bikes and another model on another, not had any breakdowns in 18 months.

 

[droopsnoot]

They are relatively cheap and pretty damn tough, they use a 256gb Micro SD so don't need reformatting often.

Does it need to be manually reformatted to free up space? I thought one of the basic features of these things was that they'd loop over deleting the oldest footage. Or does it just need it from time to time because it's just a good thing when there's a lot of file creation and deletion.

Mine is quite poor, really, and I wouldn't buy the same make again, but I'm sort-of looking for another.

 

[dobbslc]

I had a Nextbase one and it didn't work when I needed it, I'm now suspicions about dash cams in general but due to the unrestrained breeding of cretin drivers in this country I think I should get a new one.

 

[Anguz]

I have 2 garmin mini. Both seem to behave

 

[dieselsamurai]

Always had Nextbase image quality is great , Mine has GPS but in so theres no hiding if you were doing naughty speeds when anything happens

Wife got a newish car 20 plate and thinking of getting a rear camera too

 

[Craig-SM]

I replaced the Nextbase ones we had in our cars as both were unreliable either not recording or just failing to switch on. Replaced with Garmin ones that were built into a Sat Nav both over a decade old and still working faultless.

 

[Smallfry]

Not happy with Nextbase either. Only records for a couple of minutes then stops.

Never had the instruction book so guess it must need "refomatting" whatever that means. I thought they just recorded over the oldest stuff.

Looking to buy something else too. I have also got a Movano van, and its always me that ends up in the bushes because people round here either can't, or won't reverse as they don't want to scratch their vehicles. In which case, one shouldn't be using country lanes.

 

[J1nx]

A119 has been the go to for ages now, quality sensor and neat install. Also does a format reminder every month if you set it.

Viofo A119 on Amazon

 

[8ob]

The truck satnav/dashcams units are good value, some take an aux camera for rear or side use/

7" Truck Sat Nav+Dash Cam with 16GB SD Card - TruckNavs

Sat Nav: 7″ Truck Sat Nav With With Full European Mapping 16gb SD Card with 2 Mapping Programs With the Most Up To Date, Mapping That I Have 2 Chargers + Sun Shield + Window Mount + Cradle + Back up Maps Dash Cam: High-definition 2.7inch Dash Cam, with 16:9 Aspect Ratio+Night...

trucknavs.co.uk

 

[Robotstar5]

Can't complain about Nextbase, we have the 412GW model in both our cars, only get formatted when we remember and seems to record over the oldest recording OK, I had the previous model but someone took a fancy to it

 

[CompoSimmonite]

I've got a Garmin

 

[sickpup]

@droopsnoot

They loop record but need reformatting every now and then just so bad sectors on the card can be closed off.

 

[jimbo84]

Got an old transcend, must have had it for around 8 years, possibly closer to 10, never misses a beat. It’s been moved with each new to me vehicle and is in it’s 4th one now.

Good pic even for it’s age.

The only time you need to format it is when the protected recording file fills up from the G sensor activating, but even if the protected files are full it will still have the recording in the ordinary files.

Set the G sensor correctly and you rarely need to format it.

It automatically overwrites footage but with a 32gb card in there footage is on there a while before being overwritten. It doesn’t overwrite files in the protected folder.

 

[Ton-up]

Thanks.
So do all dashcams need formatting frequently?

 

[J1nx]

Thanks.
So do all dashcams need formatting frequently?

It’s just good practice when writing to those types of memory cards so it’s not camera brand specific. Unless you get a camera that will auto format but you risk data loss if not saved off first.

 

[marlinspike]

I have had 2 from the Nextbase refurb store on Ebay. Both work perfectly but the first one was mint, as new, the second had definitely been in a car and had a few light scratches on the body. They have some good reductions on store prices if you're prepared for the condition to be hit and miss.

 

[Turbo]

I had a nextbase one & it broke my heart, constant errors, reformats, etc. Tried a new battery, worked for a couple of weeks then back to the same issues.

After some research I bought one of the cheap kits off Amazon that include a rear/reversing camera. Had a few installation issues that were very quickly sorted out by the seller & it has ran faultlessly for the past 4 years. Can't give you a link as they've disappeared but it was a generic Chinese kit.

 

[Anguz]

Image quality from my garmin mini
Not needed to format it yet and it's been in the car over 13 months