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iTrader: (1)

I'd been using my Android phone as a dash cam the past few months. While I haven't had incidents that benefitted from having the cam, I felt better having it and am a self admitted gadget lover. I did quite a bit of internet searching and found lots of inexpensive cameras that seem to be susceptible to heat. Being in Fl, I wanted something that didn't have this issue. I settled on Thinkware brand based on reviews. It's the X500 model, I got a Sam's club package that included the front and rear camera and a larger micro SD card for $250, free shipping.
Thinker has a website with downloads for software and traffic info. I did the upgrade onto the include micro SD card before first use. The download and install went quickly and smoothly. Nice to know that there may be more updates down the line.
Very easy to install both cameras, plenty of cord to connect the back camera in my LS 460. It comes with a 12v plug that I ran to my rear socket. You can buy a hard wire for $40 that also allows you to use the front cam as a motion sensor activated camera when the car is off and parked. I think that's a nice feature but should be available without having to spend another $40. There's GPS and time stamps on the recordings as well.
Besides recording, the X500 features a lane departure alarm that works well but not super precise. Also has an alarm if you're rapidly approaching the car ahead of you. There's also an updatable library of speed traps and the like. I hope that software updates in the future will improve these features. To review the recordings, there's software for both PC and MAC. I use Mac and the video looks clear. I had to contact Thinkware to figure out how to use the viewer. So, I'm pretty happy with the functions of the system so far.