Garmin Dashcam 56 $199 @ JB Hi-Fi - RRP $299

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apocalypso on 03/09/2020 - 11:23 jbhifi.co.nz (245 clicks)
Last edited 03/09/2020 - 13:27 by 1 other user

The 56 Model is pretty much the same as Garmin's Flagship Dash Cam the 66W just without the Ultra Wide Angle Lense

Official product page
https://buy.garmin.com/en-NZ/NZ/p/667391

Not sure if this is an unadvertised special or a permanent price drop however competing retailers are selling it for more.
On special at Harvey Norman for $259
Noel Leeming not on special @ $299

-Wide 140-degree field of view captures crisp 1440p footage and Garmin Clarity™ HDR provides increased detail in low-light situations
-Automatically records and saves footage of incidents
-Dash Cam Auto Sync enables you to control and play back footage from up to four cameras in the Garmin Drive™ app
-Voice control allows you to easily save a video or picture, start/stop audio recording or start/stop the Travelapse™ video capture feature
-Driver alerts include forward collision, lane departure warnings and “Go” alerts to enhance driver awareness1

Related Stores

JB Hi-Fi

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  NovaAlpha on 03/09/2020 - 11:48

  +6

  $199 for a dashcam is a bit ridiculous in my opinion. There are cheaper options out there, such as the dashcam from Xiaomi at $129 (or sometimes $99 if it's on special). But even then, I wouldn't spend $100 on a dashcam. I used to use one, but I don't anymore. At my street, our cars get broken into a lot and it doesn't help that our street is full of exotic or fancy cars, which unfortunately attract those lowlifes. If you have anything like a GPS or dashcam in your car, they'll break in and take them. Then you end up spending at least $200 on window repair and have to deal with all this mess.

  My recommendation is to use a dashcam app on your phone. Mosf ot them are free, offer many features and best of all, it uses the already good camera on your phone to record those footage.

  On Android, I use Autoboy. It can upload the video to Youtube for you automatically, so that you'll always have a backup. It has cyclic recording and so it'll never use more than the max amount of storage space that you define. It offers other features as well and it's free. Just use your phone for GPS, dashcam, etc.

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    lNomNoml on 03/09/2020 - 12:21

    +2

    It comes down to how much you are welling to spend and how important it is to you, I own a $500 dashcam and my partner has a $200 one, the option above using your mobile phone is also ok but I imagine you will quickly ruin the flash storage on your mobile as you can only write so many times to it before it gives out, also wear on the battery as well, depends on how much you value your mobile and how often you replace it. I used to use normal microSD cards and the dashcam kill them very quickly, so we now use high endurance ones and haven't had to replace them for a few years now.

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      NovaAlpha on 03/09/2020 - 13:22

      +2

      I've never used an expensive dashcam, but I have used cheap ones ($50) from Trademe and I've never had any issues with them (other than that they got stolen). From my experience, it doesn't matter how expensive the item is, thieves will break into your car window to steal something (even if it's just a couple of coins).

      By the way, flash storage is generally quite reliable and long lasting. They are cheap as well and will get even cheaper over time. Not sure why you think they are unreliable. I've never had issues or experienced any performance degradation with my phones. Besides, I just record the video to the microSD in my phone, which is no different to how a dashcam records to a microSD. If you find the right deal, you can buy a Samsung 128GB Evo microSD for around $15~$20. I have like 5 of these from 3 years ago and they are working well.

      In terms of the battery life, I don't really see that as a valid point. Just plug in your phone to a power bank or to your car's USB port or whatever. You don't have to run the phone on battery while you're using it to record. Do you run your dashcam on battery as well? I doubt it. So if you use power for your dashcam, then of course you can do the same for a phone.

      And I would say, if you're spending $500 on a dashcam, you could easily get like 2~3 cheap but decent phones and just get a good microSD card (which you'd need anyway, regardless if you're using a dashcam or a phone) and you're good to go.

      I think, my point really comes down to:

      • Phone cameras are generally better. No point recording something that is of crappy quality or resolution. The main reason why you'd get an expensive dashcam is mostly because of the recording quality. But why spend $500 when you can already use the camera in your phone? My phone cost like $350 and the camera footage is on par, if not better than some of the "expensive dashcam" videos I see on Youtube.
      • Phones can be connected to power, such as a power bank or your car's battery. Just the same as your dashcam.
      • Phones can write data to microSD, just like a dashcam would.
      • The dashcam app on your phone can upload recordings to Youtube automatically. No further interaction is required from the user. Imagine if your microSD craps out. Well, a $500 dashcam won't help with that.
      • You don't leave valuables inside the car and attract attention from thieves. This means you have less risk of getting your car window broken into and end up paying $200~$400 for no reason. If it rains on that day, good luck, even more damage to your car's interior. And you'd have to deal with cleaning up broken glass and wasting that time and having unnecessary stress. By the way, the assumption I'm making here is that you leave your dashcam mounted in your car (which most people would do). Either that, or you leave it in the glove compartment. But if you just take it out of your car and mount it everytime you go for a drive, then that's all good but that's just one extra thing to carry and to remember. I just need my phone.
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        sagnikd on 03/09/2020 - 19:00

        +2

        I agree with @inomnomi. Every flash storage has a designated number of write cycles which you can find in their spec sheets. Regular SD Cards are not designed for repeated write, read and erase and will most of the times give out faster. High endurance cards are designed specifically for repeated write and overwriting. Also mobile battery life degrades much faster with repeated charging and even though it's plugged in it still impacts the battery.
        But in the end it all depends on your requirements and all, i just got myself a 70mai dashcam from AliExpress with a rear night vision camera which cost 120$ and it works pretty well.

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  Jaxson on 03/09/2020 - 12:07

  I have one of those android head units (the china rip off ones with dubious firmware and frustrating limitations) and you can use the native android DVR app to record from a usb webcam. Haven't set it up yet, but it looks quite cool.

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    0mfgroflmao on 03/09/2020 - 13:11

    I've got this setup in our Honda Fit. Seems to work well, you can watch your dashcam videos through the headunit.

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  Foodie on 03/09/2020 - 13:44

  I got the $79 one from container door. Works quite well has a reversing camera and screen that straps over your rear vision mirror.