Dash Cam

[Andy BZ4x]

Has anyone fitted a Dashcam

I've seen this option which looks really simple to install - has anyone tried it?

https://fitcamx.com/products/fitcamx-dash-cam-for-2023-toyota-bz4x

 

[Thanos74]

 

[bZ4X]

On 4/26/2023 at 4:24 PM, Andy BZ4x said:

Has anyone fitted a Dashcam

I've seen this option which looks really simple to install - has anyone tried it?

https://fitcamx.com/products/fitcamx-dash-cam-for-2023-toyota-bz4x

 

I have Toyota dealer fitted one. I ordered it at the same time with the bz4x. 

[lightboxcar]

15 minutes ago, bZ4X said:

Toyota dealer fitted one

We did that too, front and rear kit.  Never tried to remove the memory card to see if it actually works !!

[OldSteve]

7 hours ago, bZ4X said:

I have Toyota dealer fitted one. I ordered it at the same time with the bz4x. 

I ordered the dash cam with the car as well as the price seemed fair. Picked up the car three weeks ago and no cameras as they are still on order, still waiting. I'm also waiting for my spare key as apparently there is a shortage of these and Toyota will send it to me in due course - anybody else hit by this one?

[Andy BZ4x]

4 hours ago, OldSteve said:

I ordered the dash cam with the car as well as the price seemed fair. Picked up the car three weeks ago and no cameras as they are still on order, still waiting. I'm also waiting for my spare key as apparently there is a shortage of these and Toyota will send it to me in due course - anybody else hit by this one?

Yes, I also didn't get a spare key (also arrived 3 weeks ago)- there was no mention of one being sent in future though

 

[SO8]

4 hours ago, OldSteve said:

I ordered the dash cam with the car as well as the price seemed fair. Picked up the car three weeks ago and no cameras as they are still on order, still waiting. I'm also waiting for my spare key as apparently there is a shortage of these and Toyota will send it to me in due course - anybody else hit by this one?

I picked up my Rav4 on Wednesday and was surprised to only get one remote.   I was also told there was a shortage and Toyota would send another in due course.

[bZ4X]

On 4/27/2023 at 8:45 PM, lightboxcar said:

We did that too, front and rear kit.  Never tried to remove the memory card to see if it actually works !!

What was your Dashcam camera? 

 

Mine is Nextbase 322GW front and rear. 

[lightboxcar]

We just got what the dealer supplier, the box which we still have says Nextbase 380GWX Rear Cam Bundle

It has front dash cam, and rear camera.

But we have never checked if it is actually working, probably should do that, but unfortuntely you have to remove the memory card and put it into something to read it.

Would be a whole lot better if it could be downloaded over Wi Fi or cloud or similar

[philip42h]

8 minutes ago, lightboxcar said:

We just got what the dealer supplier, the box which we still have says Nextbase 380GWX Rear Cam Bundle

It has front dash cam, and rear camera.

But we have never checked if it is actually working, probably should do that, but unfortuntely you have to remove the memory card and put it into something to read it.

Would be a whole lot better if it could be downloaded over Wi Fi or cloud or similar

You can ... there's an App ... 🙂

[bZ4X]

1 hour ago, lightboxcar said:

We just got what the dealer supplier, the box which we still have says Nextbase 380GWX Rear Cam Bundle

It has front dash cam, and rear camera.

But we have never checked if it is actually working, probably should do that, but unfortuntely you have to remove the memory card and put it into something to read it.

Would be a whole lot better if it could be downloaded over Wi Fi or cloud or similar

You can use application and see the medias recorded. No need to remove card. 

 

If you don't mind, may I ask how much you paid for it? 

[lightboxcar]

On 4/29/2023 at 5:59 PM, philip42h said:

You can ... there's an App

**** UPDATED WITH CORRECTIONS - 03 MAY 2023

Thank you Philip, we have checked and your are right !

Bit of a palava to use.   We got the Wi Fi connected, you have to press and hold down a button, which then flashes blue.  Then connect your phione to the camera's Wi Fi with the default 12345678 password.  Only then can the app connect to the camera.

The app is quite basic, when not connected to the camera's Wi Fi the only function availableis to view any videos previously downloaded to the app whislt connected to the camara's Wi Fi.  **** EDIT :  when connected to the camara's built in Wi Fi there are many useful features and functions.

Once video is downloaded to the app, there is not obvious way to delete them

In summary :

1.  No rear view video, except when reversing ! **** EDIT :  User error; the kit DOES record rear view video

2.  Seems only able to record a very short amount of video, ours did not even have all of today.

3.  The supplied SD Card is 32Gb.  Their website says this model ( Nextbase 380GWX ) can only take a maximum card size of 128Gb , which unhelpfully is 'out of stock' anyway on their website.

4.  The app is fairly rubbish **** EDIT :  User error; the app is quite good, if you learn how to use it !

Overall not terribly impressed, it's fiddly to use, has very small storage, and does not seem to capture the rear view unless reversing !

It's probably the base minimum you would want to have, and there surely must be an awful lot better

**** EDIT :  User error; actually the main issue was unfortunatey us not reading the manual , our fault.

EDIT : To be fair, once the functions are properly understood, this is quite a decent bit of kit.

It even has a 'Parking Mode' which can be activated in the app.  Once activated, if the car is bumped whilst parked, the front and rear camera's immediately start recording for a full minute.  This does not drain the car Battery as the camera we have has it's own liON Battery pack.

There are a lot of buttons, LED lights and features, so it's best to read the manual to better understand and get the best out of this system.

Now we understand the system, it seems actually pretty good value for what we paid the Toyota dealer, apologies for the previous mid-understandings

[lightboxcar]

2 hours ago, bZ4X said:

If you don't mind, may I ask how much you paid for it?

From memory , itwas not that much, about £280 fitted, which is just as well as it's not great

Would not recommend the cameras, or the app, or the brand.

[lightboxcar]

Just found this on the Nextbase website :

How often should I format my SD card?                            
    
It is crucial to format every 2 weeks to delete any built-up footage....

https://nextbase.co.uk/help-and-support/dash-cams/380gwx-dash-cam-support/#FAQs

Are these people serious ? This seems crazy, and in any case we have never formatted the SD Card, had the car since last November

[tfc]

Don't buy your sd cards from Nextbase, they charge about twice the going rate, I bought a scandisk 256GB  for about half the price what nexbase is asking for a 128gb

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07P4HBRMV?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

[tfc]

Did you go into setting on the phone app to make sure you are getting the best out of the cam? the rear camera should be recording all the time same as the front cam, it will be 2 separate files. Have you downloaded Nexbase Relay 3 for the computer. 

[philip42h]

8 hours ago, lightboxcar said:

It's probably the base minimum you would want to have ...

I guess that depends on your requirements for a Dashcam ... for me it is a simple matter of being able to provide evidence to my insurer - which I sincerely hope never to have to do. So for me it also fulfils the maximum requirements I have for a dash cam.

As above, it stores footage from the cameras in 1 minute segments - a minute from the front camera followed by the same minute from the rear camera. And repeat until the SD card is full and then overwrite the oldest files.

The manual states that: "Typically a 16GB card will store the last 2 hours of driving footage". When configured in dual front / rear mode that will reduce to 1 hour front (and 1 hour rear). So a 32GB card will hold the most recent 2 hours of footage - which should be more than enough as long as you remember to protect / capture the crucial footage within that time.

A 128GB card will be able to store around 8 hours of driving footage - which is more than enough, surely ... ?

As above, the manual states: "SD Card (Recommended Type): 8 - 128GB MicroSD Card, Class 10 (48MB/s minimum), for best results use a recognized brand" - any good quality Class 10 (or better) card will do.

And, as you have noted, the App is a bit of a faff ... the easiest way to access the recorded footage is, probably, to unclip the front Dashcam from its windscreen mount and use it as a card reader connected to your computer via USB with the Nexbase Relay 3 app.

As for formatting, the manual states: "Periodically format the memory card. Every 2-3 weeks we recommend that you reformat the memory card. This will wipe any files from the card and set it up afresh for continued use with your Dash Cam. Of course, you should only do this AFTER you've downloaded any files from the card that you may want to keep, as formatting the card will remove all content." That's probably over cautious if you are using a good quality SD card but probably a good thing to do periodically, and possibly before undertaking a longer road trip. The same caution applies to any device storing and overwriting data on an SD card ...

(I haven't formatted mine for ages and probably should investigate how many 'bad blocks' have actually built-up over the last year or so ... 😉 )

[lightboxcar]

On 4/29/2023 at 10:52 PM, tfc said:

Did you go into setting on the phone app

Thanks John, we have done so now, and read the manual, should have done that in the first pace, see edits above

[lightboxcar]

On 4/30/2023 at 7:31 AM, philip42h said:

A 128GB card will be able to store around 8 hours of driving footage

Thanks for that.  It may be more than 8 hours...

The video clips we have downloaded are mostly one minute long.  The system seems to limit each clip to one minute, we think...

Every one minute clip is 89.8Mb in size.   128Gb = 128,000Mb.  128,000/89.6 = 1428 (minutes) / 60 = 23.8 hours  ?

Their website says a 256Gb SDcard is only compatible the Elite dash cam:

https://nextbase.com/accessories/256gb-u3-industrial-grade-microsd-card/#:~:text=Included in the pack%2C the,using a rear-view module.

Seems a bit strange, can't think why it would not work with the 380GWX, having said that is having about 40 hours of dash cam footage of any practical use ?

 

[tfc]

I use a 256gb card in my camera but its recording at 4k so the files are about 1GB each, I think I have set my files to 3 or 5 mins clips can't remember as not to have a million individual files 

[philip42h]

9 hours ago, lightboxcar said:

The video clips we have downloaded are mostly one minute long.  The system seems to limit each clip to one minute, we think...

Every one minute clip is 89.8Mb in size.   128Gb = 128,000Mb.  128,000/89.6 = 1428 (minutes) / 60 = 23.8 hours  ?

Don't forget that you have two clips per minute - one front and one rear. So using your sums that would give you 11.9 hours recorded driving before the card started to be overwritten.

The video clips are compressed data and the actual size will be dependent upon the content of the video - if nothing much changes over the minute you'll get smaller files; if there's a lot of dynamic action the files will be larger. So the estimated recording time from Nexbase is reasonably conservative but not a guarantee ...

[lightboxcar]

On 5/4/2023 at 7:55 AM, philip42h said:

Don't forget that you have two clips per minute

Well spotted, thank you !!

We did indeed forget that.  Still 12 hours is a lot of dash cam footage....

[lightboxcar]

On 5/3/2023 at 11:27 PM, tfc said:

I use a 256gb card in my camera

We would like to get a 256Gb too, but not sure about compatibility.

Our kit is Nextbase 380GWX Rear Cam Bundle

Which model do you have ?

Thanks

[tfc]

I did have the 830gw and I had a 128gb in that, l think that's the max you can have for the 830 which is enough with it being a 1080p cam. I have changed it now for a 4k Viofo 129 pro which can have up to 256gb .

[lightboxcar]

3 hours ago, tfc said:

did have the 830gw and I had a 128gb in that

Thanks for that.

Just ordered the 128Gb from your helpful link above, thanks !