Garmin dash cam

[3930dave]

I'm considering getting this Garmin dash cam....

Garmin Dash Cam™ Mini | Dash Camera

.... and am looking for user-feedback on this one, or similar Garmin models.

I'd expect decent hardware performance from any major manufacturer..... what I'm looking for is feedback about the User Interface, and any other operational gotchas people have encountered. (I deal with enough flaky software in my day-job, and don't need more in my personal-time....).

Not a Garmin fanboy, so would like to also hear comments on any other reliable dash-cam that is 1080p with sizeable removable storage provision.

Rgds, D.

 

[aczlan]

I have a Blueskysea B1W dashcam, bought it almost 2 years ago and have been very happy with it: Amazon.com: Blueskysea B1W WiFi Mini Dash Cam Car Camera Vehicle Video Driving Recorder 36 Degree Rotatable Lens 18p 3fps G-Sensor Loop Recording (B1W only): Car Electronics

Good video quality, the app works well. It's a capacitor camera, so no battery to fail.
I have it set up with a 12 volt adapter that is on a key switched circuit so that it turns on when I turn the car on and turns back off when I turn the car off.
It does on occasion to lose track of what the date and time are, but so far it seems to do fine with keeping recordings as expected.

Aaron Z

 

[3930dave]

Thanks for the feedback Aaron. Nice price-point.

What reminded me to get moving on this was last weekend, a very good friend I hadn't seen in a while stopped by to visit. The one thing he commented on as he was setting up his helmet cam when leaving was the Time/Date was a bit flaky to setup (partly just Android updates changing up how it's done..... you know how goes.....)

Late that evening, he sent me me a clip of an almost serious incident on his way home (2lane oncoming lunatic) that he avoided.

Sad sign'o'times.....

Rgds, D.

 

[bigtiller]

I don't have much luck with suction-cup windshield mounts. I clean everything and wipe it down with alcohol and a few hours in a sunny parking lot and it falls down. So now I buy beanbag weighted mounts for my Garman GPS. It is several years old now but it has a lousy camera in it but I'm sure the newer ones are better.

What's the trick to mounting them so they don't fall down?

 

[nisaacs]

I had a 45, it was a good unit until I left it attached to the windshield for several days, it cooked it. I now have a 46, it is also a good unit. I also have a Garmin GPS. The GPS mount was worthless so I screwed it to the dash. The cameras are magnetic, a small metal disk glues to the windshield.

 

[3930dave]

That disc/glue mount sounds like it would work (w. right "glue").

Thanks for the info guys.

This guy had an issue with Parking Mode locking up the camera and overheating. But, he gave it an overall OK as a small footprint camera.

Garmin Dash Cam Mini Owner's Review - YouTube

Cogent review, worth seeing. (All positive, zero negative reviews tend to lower credibility in my eyes).

Rgds, D.

 

[aczlan]

I don't have much luck with suction-cup windshield mounts. I clean everything and wipe it down with alcohol and a few hours in a sunny parking lot and it falls down. So now I buy beanbag weighted mounts for my Garman GPS. It is several years old now but it has a lousy camera in it but I'm sure the newer ones are better.

What's the trick to mounting them so they don't fall down?

The one that I linked to has double stick adhesive to hold it up, it fell down once in my car, I don't think I cleaned where it went very well first.
I put it back up with some clear RTV and it is stayed since.

Aaron Z

 

[JJZ 109]

I don't have much luck with suction-cup windshield mounts. I clean everything and wipe it down with alcohol and a few hours in a sunny parking lot and it falls down. So now I buy beanbag weighted mounts for my Garman GPS. It is several years old now but it has a lousy camera in it but I'm sure the newer ones are better.

What's the trick to mounting them so they don't fall down?

Agreed. The solution for the last dashcam was to buy a mount that clamps onto the rearview mirror.
I've had a few dashcams. I liked the Swann DriveEye for a few years until it stopped communicating with the iPhone app and Swann did not make an attempt to reply to me. I threw the camera out.
I have a Transcend in my truck that I've been happy with. The app seems to work well and the camera hasn't failed yet.
I just bought a Rove from Amazon. I don't have many hours of use, as it's in a Mustang that I don't drive every day. But it seems to be on par with the Transcend.
My little beater/errand runner has a Nexar. I'm not sold on that and it may also go down the road soon. It has no video screen. But I knew that coming in. Sometimes it connects to the phone via wifi right away. Other times not so much. And if it doesn't connect to the phone you have no saved video. The app will simply show a map of your drive. It was only an $89 camera and now I see why.
All of the cameras mentioned have micro SD cards, easily removable for viewing with devices other than the phone app. The Transcend and Rove have several more features than the Nexar but they were also several dollars more in price.
All of the cameras will continue to record when the storage card is full. They simply overwrite the oldest material.

 

[pokey1416]

I have the mini and really like it. I don't use the wireless interface though to download as it's waaaayyyyyy to sloooowwww. I remove the card and plug it into my phone and download that way. I also have the polarizer filter installed on mine. Here is a short video in the dark to give you an idea.

Garmin Mini in dark - YouTube

Here's a daylight, quality is great!

Hard Braking 5-14-20 - YouTube

 

[3930dave]

Thanks for the info guys !

Rgds, D.