Like I didn't have enough toys already...

After seeing the dash cam meteor videos from Russia I decided to do a little research on cheap (< $200) dash cams with GPS function. These little devices don't have their own power so you have to plug into a power outlet or make up something more permanent yourself.

After looking at reviews on YouTube, I decided on a V1000GS. The thing about buying a V1000GS is, since it comes directly from China in most cases, you never know for sure what you are getting until it arrives. I got mine through cg-online-wholesale. They said delivery was 2 weeks but it turned out to be 2 months. Apparently customs sat on it and there's no way to get status.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4rwMV7hhaY
Good:
Has GPS so the play-back video also shows your location on Google maps as long as your PC is connected to the internet. Also, it knows your speed at all times.
It's small.
Excellent video quality. (1920 x 1080 at 30 fps)
High compression so lots of storage capacity. (H.264)
Records sound too.

Bad:
Mine did not include a micro-SD so I had to put my own 32GB.
No LCD screen (this is bad and good because the camera is smaller)
No customer support, no manual only a brochure.
HDMI did not work with my TV but does work with my Dell monitor.

My installation is semi-permanent. Very clean. GPS antenna and all wires are well hidden.

Overall, happy so far.

 

That's a nifty little camera and good idea about recording while your drive. Whenever I'm driving about in my jeep or working with my semi, I have my gopro recording every second. I bought the skeleton case and discretely ran a usb wire direct to my radio for constant power. with my 32gb sd card I can get about 4hrs of recording time and the sound is dramatically improved with the skeleton case.

 

Is use my iphone, just for fun when I'm driving around. It stabilizes images so it works good, just have a mount for it

 

Before getting my dash cam I tried out the concept using an Android app: AutoGuard Blackbox. I'm not sure if they make it for iPhone. The latest version has the same Google map interface as the V1000GS. It allocates a maximum storage size and overwrites the oldest data when the space is full. This is a cheap substitute for a dedicated dash cam. I just didn't like having to mount/unmount the phone every time I get in/out the Jeep.

 

ya I agree the getting in an out gets annoying, I don't use it much. But I'll have to look into that amp! Thanks buddy

 

Thats cool especially at that price. I use a GoPro and only got it because my wife on a super bowl pool at work and got it.

 

good deal for you!

 

Yeah they are expensive and kinda hard to use. Plus the battery dosent last long something like the ome above seems better

 

ouch thought they'd have a good battery that sucks

 

I have my iPad in my dash - love using the camera and video recorder when its called for.