Just a Dashcam
It's been a heck of a weird week.
I've been doing some tinkering with a few devices that I bought ages ago and I managed to get one of them working that I've been really looking forward to making a video about. It just needed a kick. It's really (really) unusual, I just hope it keeps working long enough to shoot the video.
In other news, at one point during the week I was violently ill. That's one of the dangers of having no sense of smell or taste - you don't know if something you are eating has gone off or tastes funny.
I also had an unrelated ECG - because it seemed like I might be having heart problems (I wasn't) - it's probably just a pulled muscle, perhaps as a result of moving things to my storage locker.
I also shot & edited a segment that should appear in another youtuber's video in a couple of weeks. When I know more I'll post a link.
Finally, today I took a trip to see the Terracotta Warriors exhibition at a Liverpool museum. That was one of those once in a lifetime things. Incidentally if you're interested you can buy a life-size replica for £1500. Now that's a garden ornament you neighbour won't have.
Oh, thanks again for your help on the TripleCorder video. Eight edits later and the version that went live on youtube seems to have gone down quite well. The views are certainly encouraging for such a niche topic.
However at the end of my week of activity, all I've got to show you is a review of an underwhelming dashcam.
I'll start again on a new video first thing Monday morning and I suspect next week will turn out better, and perhaps bit less odd.
One more thing - I think there are quite a few Patrons from Germany. If any of you are really familiar with the history and operation of Geldspielautomaten and in particular the unique operation and design of the German machines when compared to the equivalent devices from the US & UK I could do with asking you some questions to fill in some blanks in my knowledge for a project I'm slowly working on. If you are interested in helping out, please let me know in the comments.
DASHCAM REVIEW: Yi Mini - Yi's budget wedge-shaped WiFi dash-cam (YouTube)
Comments (29)
Couldn't they produce even a cheaper one if they didn't include a screen on the device itself? I mean, the mobile interface looks even better... Anyways, I don't have a car. But is there one you could recommend on a bike?
I suspect the screen only adds £1 or so to the price and the difference would be more than offset by the sales. As far as bike cameras go - I'd stick to a helmet camera - the vibrations on anything attached to the bike in my experience make the footage close to useless.
Sorry to hear about the health issues. Hope you're feeling better! Any chance you'll review the ddpai mini 3? thx!
No that’s one I won’t be reviewing. Unfortunately they’ve been a let-down on localisation and software. So while I might try one for myself, the amount of hassle I’d get back from people who buy one then can’t use their android phone properly isn’t worth it. After the last review I became DDpai’s unpaid western online 24/7 product support technician.
There are so many dash cams, with so many bells and whistles, that it's actually refreshing to see a simple one
I much prefer the simple ones. Both because there's less options for people to muck up and then blame it on the camera, and more importantly, they take much less time to review. To comprehensively cover off every feature on some of the more elaborate cameras would mean that a review would run far too long. However leave anything out and I'd be doing them a disservice.
I still enjoy the Dashcam videos :D It's one of the things I will get around to buying eventually ... when i'm not buying crazy expensive old instruments or worse crazy expensive old cars :D
Glad you are feeling better and very glad your ecg turned out fine. Haven’t watched the video yet, but will ASAP. Hang in there and be well. And thank you so much for all your many informative and funny videos.
5:39 - "That was at the beginning of the first clip" - presumably you mean the end of the first clip.
Of course you’re right...I’ll see if I can re-edit it.
Mat, I wanted to say that it was your videos that inspired me to get a dashcam for myself and my family. The text you add to each review made me confident in my purchases. My brother was saved from a ticket after he could prove he went through on yellow. Plus, mine has proven handy for certain videos :) Thanks!
That’s good to know. I know they’re not a common thing in the US and it’s still relatively rare to see them here as well. I usually only hear from people who’ve bought one after a crash and wished they’d got it before, so it’s good to hear from someone who’s done things pre-emptively.
These crazy people are driving on the wrong side of the road! - lol (it actually IS disconcerting to watch for folks in the USA) - also, can you tell us your favorite current dashcam, if price is not a factor? Yi 2.7K Ultra is no longer available!
I'm not really sure what the best 'if money was no object camera' camera would be as I always like to keep the price low enough so it is not a major investment. All dashcams tend to die after a year or two in a hot car, so it's best not to spend too much on one. At the moment I'd recommend the Yi model on Amazon I've put a link to in the video description text box. Or something like the Viofo A119.
Cool car! I wish that Smart had brought those to the US; they might have had better sales than the model that we got.
I’d like to see a few alcohol measuring devices, purely for complicated personal reasons. Say you test your breath at home, then drive around like an utter fruit cake, so plod can pull you, then compare results. Glad your well old boy.
It may seem like a niche subject, but dashcam technology is still young and immature - My Peba was cheap but does a reasonable job - so long as i just want it to start and stop with the ignition and I take any footage off that I want to keep before they are overwritten. It has the ability to mark a clip to protect, but the way you achieve it in not intuitive. It has lots of video settings including HDR, but really a dashcam should just automatically use the best video option, App control is also a must to avoid non-intuative buttons and menus on a tiny screen. Basically I've not found a perfect Dashcam yet so your reviews are always welcome.
A am glad with a new Dashcam video. I found your channel browsing for dashcam reviews and yours are (still) the best. There are not many youtubers that go into such detail as you do. On the geldspielautomaten topic, my brother used to have 2 (that he wouldnt let me play) and he serviced them himself. He was working for a "casino" at the time. Maybe, if no one else can help, I can ask him.
I know some people still want to see the dashcam reviews and I still like making them, but when they don’t work out it’s a lot of time spent for little to no return and with the risk of upsetting people who have no interest in them. Thanks for the offer and I might get back to you on that, but we’ll see how it goes. I’m hoping to find someone who’s a bit of an expert on their history, but I appreciate it’s a very small group of people, so it’s unlikely I’ll find one.
Great video as always. I’m still very happy with the DDPai you reviewed some time back. With cars sprouting ever more front and rear view cameras it is surely just a matter of time until recording from them becomes an option.
I put the DDPai straight back in after reviewing this. I no longer recommend them for reasons far too dull to go into, but I’m still happy with mine.
sounds like one hell of a week all right. glad yer recouping !
I tip my hat to you for being a nice driver around the horse. :D I'm a dog person and my sister deals with horses so you kinda get indoctrinated on how to behave around animals. Too many idiots behind the steering wheels if you're looking at social media pages with dashcam footages. :/ I might just get one of those other YIs then, or is there another you recommend even more? I've lost track of all your dashcam videos now. ;)
The Yi cameras can be a bit bulky, but if that’s not an issue I really liked the results of the basic Yi when I tested it. I’d opt for the 1080p60 version now though...not necessarily for the 1080p60 but it also has a higher resolution mode at 30fps that should be worth the slight increase in price.
I read ECG and panicked. Glad you are ok. Always look forward to seeing your vids. Keep up the good work.
Glad you are okay Mat!
At my age when you get tightness across the chest on the left side you tend to fear the worst. Especially when there’s a family history of this kind of thing. Fortunately it appears to have been a false alarm.
Would one of those devices that has been sitting around be a laserdisc muse player and some movies? :) Keep up the good work!
That’s one of the ones I haven’t got to yet. I’m going to plug it in for the first time this week. Fingers crossed it works.