bam

So I was thinking of getting a dash cam to record everytime I get in the car mainly to protect myself and my family in the event that an incident occurs. We've all heard of the stories and may have even been a victim where someone causes an accident and actually blames you and there's no hard evidence to support one claim over another.

Some people might have seen the famous dash cam video of some dude stopped on the freeway and some d-bag in an acura starts backing up and hits the dude with the dash cam. They pulled over to the side of the road and the d-bag starts saying that he wants $500 because the dash cam hit his rear end. The d-bag says he needs to pay him or he'll call the cops and that's when the dash cam dude, says I've got a dash cam recording this whole thing. It turn out the d-bag received death threats and ended up getting charge with some crime but it's $h!t like this whre a dash cam comes in handy. Not to mention all of the people texting and driving these days. I don't know how many people I've seen doing it and the handful of accidents that I've witnessed dueto people texting.

So I am curious to know if anybody has either of these set ups and what your thoughts are? I know the Hero 3 isn't out yet, so this queston can either be for the Hero 2 or if you're waiting for the Hero 3, would you take the Hero 2/3 or the BlackVue?

AndrewL

Hey Bam,

That incident took place in my home town, now I run a dash camera review website :P I definitely heard about the threats made against him, in our local forums we had individuals doing drivebys and filming his house, posting posters around the neighborhood describing his dastardly deeds.

I was originally not a fan of the Hero 2 I would have cautioned against getting one because of the inconvenience however the Hero 3 improves my opinion somewhat. It allows for looping video and DC charging. The hero i & ii you had to replace batteries and delete files manually.

Here's my opinion, a dedicated dash camera will still do things better than a GoPro. It'll be much smaller and less noticeable, turns on automatically and it won't be a tempting target for thieves as it's not instantly recognizable (unless you keep removing it). Several models will also survive operating in 75°C (167°F) temperatures in which I heard the GoPro will have some problems.

Why would I get a GoPro? If I was doing a lot of sports, video broadcasting and you could only afford one camera. I bet the GoPro will excel in it's video quality and possibly low light performance (probably only the pro model though).

I have reviewed the original DR400 and I currently have the DR400G-HDII. I'm currently running through the tests and I'm not 100% convinced it will stand up to the heat, some more time in my thermal oven is required.

I'll recommend you take a look at the Itronics ITB-100HD $200 shipped. It has a high operating temperature, great video, and is small.* Lots of people in North America got one of these and have been really happy with them. Avoid the seller cool-guys, they have a bad reputation with post-purchase customer service. No GPS however.

The Vicovation TF2 is another option if you are looking for something that will be 100% bulletproof if you live in hot weather, that's the camera that goes up to 75°C (167°C), no GPS however.

To sum it up, get the Hero 3 for the looping video feature if you do other sports and will take it around. If you just need to film inside your vehicle, just get a dedicated camera.

Hope that helps!

Kevin350

I just pre order the hero3 for a dash cam, traveling, and sports. The way I see it is spend 350 and have a camera for multiple situation.