Bought another dash cam a month prior for my wife. It was slightly larger and feature rich, but I find its beeps, whistles, and always-on screen to be very distracting. So I bought this dash cam and found it almost as feature rich, but with this unit, I can turn everything off. Lane drift warning: BAM! Off! Traffic moving and your not warning: BAM! Off. This whistle: BAM! Off. That warning: BAM: Off! Screen always on: BAM! Off after 1 minute, but still recording! This unit, and I presume the slightly newer units in this line, are insurance. And I really like being able to customize my insurance the way I want it. The only thing I didn't turn off was the red light camera alerts, which thankfully are not needed where I live. Another thing I did like: If I had chosen to leave the screen on 24x7, it's not cluttered with your MPH, your compass heading, etc etc. It IS just the video on the screen. The alerts pop up separately. The unit is tiny, and I mean TINY, which I like. The smartphone app that allows you to download photos and videos from the unit is clumsy though. The unit doesn't have or use Bluetooth, but seems to have it's own little WiFi router built-in. You have to turn the unit's WiFi mode on manually (good security), THEN go to your phone or tablet, find the unit in your WiFi settings, connect to it, then go to the app, which will then recognize you are connected to your "camera network" and let you view/download stuff. As I said, kind of clumsy, but at least it's secure. I BELIEVE the unit's WiFi times out and shuts down after you are done with the app. Read more
I think it's a great value. The installation for it seemed more straight forward and it was very affordable, so I pulled the trigger on this after spending most of the past year considering a Viofo or Street Guardian. I heard those capture better video but the Garmin is solid. Get in the habit of saying the license plate number and a description of the car out loud just in case you don't get a clear shot of the plate. I like the Wifi function on here and the fact I can easily take the unit out of my car and inside if I don't want to sit in my car for 10 minutes downloading multiple saved clips. I do kind of see how being able to say "save video" with the Garmin 55 would be cool. With the 45, you have to hold down a button. Not a big deal, but you always end up moving the camera around a bit when you do it. Also, definitely get a neutral density/anti glare lens filter for this unit otherwise you're going to get a lot of reflection on your video. I just plugged it into my cigarette lighter and used stick on clips to hide keep the wires neat and relatively hidden away. This is a very fuss free camera. It took about 2 or 3 minutes to turn it on and do the things I needed to get it ready. Would recommend. I think it's the ideal entry level dashcam. Not as cheap as others, but the build quality is reassuring and so far it's given me no problems. Read more
It looks pretty good. The only reason I took one star out is this dash cam has a bug when I received it. It cannot remember my locale setting and keep ask me to enter locale setting every time I start it. It do remember other settings like placement. Not sure why this happened. It gone after I drive to a place with GPS signal and reset. Probably not relate to GPS signal, but restore settings do helps. Read more
After getting in a minor wreck, I decided to buy this device. This is my first dash cam, I got it while on sale for about a hundred bucks. It's quite easy to operate. I heard that this camera is good for truckers too because it allows different settings for different sized cars. I drive a standard sedan. The video quality is great during the day, and fairly decent at night. I enjoy how easy it was to get set up, the Garmin was mounted and ready for use less than minutes after I picked it up. Also, the companion app is a nice feature, makes it easy to find and share recordings. You need WiFi and location on, and the app will automatically quickly connect with the dash cam. The only problem with the app is the super low quality while trying to view your vids. It only will turn video clips into 1080p 30fps once you've decided to crop and share them for some reason. Read more
Would be nice if this came with extra mounts. you only get one chance to mount it in the correct spot. On the other hand once the mount is installed the magetic part makes it a breeze to remove from the semi truck I drive at the end of the work day, and to reinstall at the beginning. No suction cup loosing suction and falling off (they do sell a suction cup add on if you need to switch between several vehicles for 15 bucks... have tried it) Otherwise it is a fantastic little dash cam .... have owned several before this and other the superior quality and usability, the option that lets you connect to the cam to your phone on the fly makes it simple to download clips of footage to send to insurance agents, post to social networking, or just to show a friend makes this camera the best availble platform in my opinion. No need to remove the memory card if certain footage could be life altering.... it can be edited downloaded and sent off before you get out of your vehicle after an incident. I also learned on YouTube that this 45 model sometimes has clearer license plate views than the 55 and 65 more expensive models. Not worth the money in my opinion to upgrade, this camera works just fine with its current optics. Read more
