Aketek 2.5-Inch HD Rotatable LED IR DVR Video Camcorder with Camera Holder
Brand | EX ELECTRONIX EXPRESS |
Model Name | HD Rotatable LED IR DVR |
Orientation | Drivers Side |
Vehicle Service Type | Car |
Special Feature | Infrared, Night Vision |
Included Components | DVR Camcorder |
Color | Black |
Control Method | Touch |
Item Weight | 0.55 Pounds |
Screen Size | 2.5 Inches |
About this item
- Traffic Dashboard Camcorder
- Video Camera Recorder Traffic Dashboard Camcorder
Additional Details
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Product information
Product Dimensions | 6 x 4 x 5 inches |
---|---|
Item Weight | 8.8 ounces |
ASIN | B0053DDNW6 |
Item model number | 78BW0114064 |
Customer Reviews |
3.6 out of 5 stars |
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
Date First Available | May 30, 2011 |
Department | unisex-adult |
Manufacturer | Aketek |
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Customer Review: Good for the price. Better than expected.
JM Woodworks
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Customer Review: Do not purchase this item
Iván Cruz
Product Description
This HD Rotatable LCD Vehicle DVR with 120 degree wide view angle and Infrared Night Vision 6 IR LED light Camera captures high definition video and displays it on its 2.5 inch TFT LCD Screen. The video is saved in the SD/MMC memory card. (Memory card no included in the package). Files can be saved per 2 minutes / 5 minutes / 15minutes- with recycled recording. With the camera holder/ mount, you can fix it on the car dashboard or car windshield very easily. The high quality video & audio can be timely and strong evidence to address accident and distinguish responsibility. Troubleshooting steps: 1. Cannot use SD card: when used for the first time, need to insert the SD card format, and then use; SD card you need to use the compatibility of good product. 2. About the video images: this product is normal pixel recorder, it cannot achieve the result of HD, please note. 3. About the battery: Battery capacity of this product is very small, it is suitable for inserting used car charger. If it needs to be used alone, it can be used for 5 to 10 minutes. 4. language: this product has about 10 languages: English, German, Russian, French, Japanese, Korean, etc., Please adjust the language yourself.
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Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers like the value of the onboard camera. They say it's not horrible for the price, and would make an extremely inexpensive security camera. That said, some complain about the battery life. Opinions are mixed on the screen, quality, ease of use, video quality, recording quality, and sound quality.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers like the value of the onboard camera. They say that it is not horrible for the price, and would make an extremely inexpensive security camera. Customers also mention that the video is good enough for the money, and the performance is good for the cheap price.
"...V to 12V cigarette plugged adapter this would make an extremely inexpensive security camera...." Read more
"...The mount the camera comes actually is pretty decent. It has a good quality suction cup, and it allows a pretty decent range of articulation...." Read more
"...Ultra cheap plastic piece of junk. I mean literally a piece of junk plastic is what this is...." Read more
"For everything it does, it's unbelievably inexpensive...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the screen of the onboard camera. Some mention that it works reasonably well, while others say that it only worked for a few seconds and stopped working.
"...But with external power it works well and even keeps pretty accurate time over months...." Read more
"...The screen is all but useless. In daylight it's much too dim to see, and at night the video is too dark to see anything...." Read more
"...Otherwise, the little reticle works good.I checked it really carefully and the videos transition without any gaps...." Read more
"...UPDATE: the camera failed to work for me, last night. Not sure what that was all about...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the quality of the onboard camera. Some mention that it provides great quality video and audio, while others say that it's defective and not the best dash camera money can buy. The instructions are also a source of contention, with some customers finding them pretty bad.
"...First one was bad out of the box. Second one developed fuzzy green lines before the first time I tried playing back my SD card...." Read more
"...Video is good at 640x480 pixels. Having it run on battery is kind of useless since you'll never know when it shuts down because of a dead battery...." Read more
"...have a 720p mode... and while it may be 720p video, it's of such poor quality that you could never read a license plate number or anything from the..." Read more
"...A couple of times the camera went all crazy. I mean it froze and either didn't turn off when I unplugged it or I would plug it in and it would..." Read more
Customers are mixed about the ease of use of the onboard camera. Some mention that it's pretty easy to navigate the menus, the setup was easy, and nothing need to be messed with. However, others say that the instructions and menus are a bit confusing, the manual isn't very helpful, and the programming is a little funky. The user interface is clunky and not very intuitive, but with 6 buttons that can.
"...NOTE – It is important to know that the device has THREE operating MODES and FOUR MENUS...." Read more
"...Super easy and nothing need to be messed with. When I'm at a store I can still have it plugged in and record in case...." Read more
"...As such, this feature is pretty useless if you're hoping to record vandals or some other activity that occurs while the vehicle is not in..." Read more
"...The setup was easy, the mount stays stuck to the windshield and won't fall off with vibration or heat...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the video quality of the onboard camera. Some mention that the quality of picture is good enough, while others say that it takes video that looks OK. The picture quality is adjustable, but sacrifices storage space. However, some customers say that the video is always VGA (640x480) regardless of what setting they choose, and is slightly blurry. The resolution is definitely not HD, despite the product title.
"...I've found that the framerate is highest in 320x240 and lowest in 720x480, leading me to believe the sensor is natively 640x480 and it's actually..." Read more
"...Seems to be a good device for the cost. Picture is pretty clear on the device screen but I suspect it will be pretty "grainy" on a large..." Read more
"...- will likely fail if it's left in the sun all the time- definitely not HD, despite the product title-..." Read more
"...This dashcam is not in any way HD like it says. The video quality is fairly poor, but you can still make out the things around you fine...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the recording quality of the onboard camera. Some mention that it starts recording automatically when it is plugged in and shuts down, creating a new file every 15 minutes as desired. However, others say that it fills the card and stops recording, or that it sometimes does not save videos correctly. Some customers also mention that the camera does not record in HD at all.
"...requires a hard-reset (remove battery & unplug usb), and also corrupts the memory card...." Read more
"...You can't replay the video on the camera itself (or at least not that I can figure out). You have to remove the card and play it on a computer...." Read more
"...Extended Operation Can record and play back video, camera, and audio..." Read more
"...You cannot even watch recorded clips at normal speed. Oh, and the camera would not record on a 64 GB flash card. It said the card was full...." Read more
Customers are mixed about the sound quality of the onboard camera. Some mention that it records sound with no issues, the microphone is very sensitive, and produces clear audio. However, others say that it constantly records a very annoying loud noise that doesn't exist.
"...The two cars collided and with a loud bang...." Read more
"...records reasonably usable video + audio files to help prove whatever you want to proveCons:- manual is all but useless-..." Read more
"...This means objects close to it are a bit blurry and the image is pretty noisy...." Read more
"...Over all, this dash camera seemed to have some good recording capabilities and the quality was not all that bad...." Read more
Customers are dissatisfied with the battery life of the onboard camera. They mention that it runs on battery power and is useless. The battery does not last very long, and it drains the camera's battery. Some customers also mention that the batteries in both cameras are worthless and want to explode.
"...the charger but leave it plugged into the camera, it will drain the camera's battery...." Read more
"...Possibly related to the camera's internal battery being completely dead, even though I was using an external battery back...." Read more
"...(since reports are that the battery dies quickly (due to heat?), it looks a little ugly...." Read more
"...The on-board battery had died so I removed it and plugged in the car charger that they supplied with the device in hopes that I could record some..." Read more
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Update 2/6/16: This particular camera had been running in my vehicle for a year without any intervention. It turns itself on when I start the car (because it is plugged into a cigarette lighter that has power only when the key is on). I had occasion this month to remove the SD card to provide the recording of an incident to police. Picture quality from the SD card on a 19" computer monitor wasn't outstanding but was pretty good. But the stunning thing was the officer said my recording was about as good as the recordings from their squad cars on cameras that cost hundreds of dollars. The biggest difference is that this camera is more "wide angle" so distant objects are smaller (but you take in more of in front of your vehicle so it shows things coming from the side which would be good in the case of a crash from the side at an intersection). And to my surprise the sound (including my comments about the incident - so watch it!) was a lot better than I originally believed it was. And I discovered that based on my driving history (I drive about 1,000 miles a month, more than half at highway speeds) a 32 Gbyte card holds a month's worth of driving. I'm upping my rating from four to five stars with a caveat - I've purchased nine of these cameras, three were defective, and two I have not installed yet. At under $20 each it is not worth returning them - especially as I had sent the defective ones (unopened) to family members out of state so shipping costs were exceeding the cost of the cameras just to find they were defective. Condition seems to depend on the seller (based on when I forwarded them), and unfortunately I cannot associate defective cameras with particular seller(s) as I didn't keep records.
Note to reviewers that complain that this camera does not record long on the built in battery. It appears the battery is intended primarily to maintain stored information. On SOME of the cameras there is a choice of whether to power solely from an external source (which I elected when offered) or from the battery. Others don't seem to offer an option. I did by accident put one camera in battery mode and it recorded for about 40 minutes while I was in a restaurant - but whether that was the cause or whether I'd done something else, the wrap-around when the card was full didn't function. I have therefore (2/19/2016) executed a "reset" and reprogrammed the camera. Based on experience when doing the programming I chose the 5 minute segments. I still would not expect the camera to function for hours on the built-in battery. But with external power it works well and even keeps pretty accurate time over months.
And one more thought (which is why I've purchased nine cameras). With a 120 V to 12V cigarette plugged adapter this would make an extremely inexpensive security camera. Now to find time to install and try out this idea.
UPDATE 6/12/2016 Have only tried one camera from Elecmall. After three weeks it is working fine.
UPDATE 9/2/2015 First the good news. Driving through a town with 10K population I saw a town owned vehicle make a dangerous maneuver. I decided to write a complaint to the police department because it was so egregious and dangerous (there'd have been a head-on crash if I had not been alert). I wrote the letter and then attempted to copy the recording of the incident from my dash cam. Watching the dash cam I saw why the vehicle had done what it did and cannot fault the driver (hit my car or a child). Tore up the letter. Convinced me these things are useful. I purchased two dash cameras from FX Victoria in response to a reviewer recommending that vendor. The two dash cams from FX Victoria are still working perfectly and producing very clear images and time stamps.
I was so pleased with the dash cams that I ordered three more, but FX Victoria was out and Amazon placed my order with Beelike.
Now the bad news. Beelike must sell reconditioned or defective dash cams. First one was bad out of the box. Second one developed fuzzy green lines before the first time I tried playing back my SD card. I tried to order three more from FX - Victoria and Amazon is listing Elecmall as the seller. As another reviewer rating the dash cams a one-star said, apparently some sellers are selling knock offs or refurbs or simply bad units returned for a refund. Be suspicious of low prices. There are huge profits to be made by selling, even for a low price, stuff that should have gone in the trash bin. I'll update later on the quality from Elecmall (for $13.50 each).
Original review with installation instructions:
Seems to be a good device for the cost. Picture is pretty clear on the device screen but I suspect it will be pretty "grainy" on a large computer monitor. Mount is reasonably rigid and suction cup holds well. 120 degree field of view is a good compromise between being so broad you can't recognize anything 25 feet in front of the vehicle and being so narrow that nothing coming from the side is not recorded prior to impact.
Caveat – I have just installed and tested this device. I have at this point no long-term experience with it.
I spent hours setting up the device. The instructions are not as bad as with some Chinese products, but are clearly a translation. After one has gone through the installation process in great detail, the instructions make a lot of sense.
In hopes of saving others a lot of time setting up the device, I will share my insights to date.
Caveat – This review is written in American English in American English (Arabic) characters. I apologize, but I am not fluent enough in any other language to express the subtleties involved in other than English.
Caveat – This device is complex. Apparently there are several variations to the basic device available and the sellers do not make it clear which variant of the device they are selling/shipping. For example, the “Features” listed for the ones I purchased stated: “Recording resolution:1280x960 / 720x480 / 640x480 pixels.” I didn’t realize that the little box above the list of features which said “Only 720P” meant I was choosing a variant that only had a single recording resolution. (The little box is similar to the boxes which appear when the product is available in a variety of colors.)
Here is what I recommend when setting up the device.
1. Plug the power cable which comes in the box with the device into the USB connection on the device under the flip-open panel on the left side, and then plug the cable into a power source on your vehicle (a cigarette lighter "plug" most likely). Allow the camera “to charge” for at least an hour (one seller recommends 2 - 3 hours) before you do anything else. Disconnect the device from the external power source. [It is easier and just as effective to unplug the end of the power cable that is not connected to the device.]
2. There are two ways to “turn on” the device. On the back there is a red (on mine) button on the left and white (on mine) button on the right. The red button is the power On /Off. Press and hold the red button for 3 seconds. The device should power up. Allow the device operate for 30 seconds. If you are going to power the device from an external source (12 or 24 volts from a vehicle via the USB connection via the supplied cable and a “cigarette lighter” plug) press the red button again to power off the device. [I have not operated the device using the internal battery, so I’m not sure how one would proceed if one planned to do so.] If you are going to power the device from an external source (a vehicle most likely) there is no need to turn the device on and off ever again using the red button. If power is on continually at your cigarette lighter plug I'd recommend unplugging the cable from the lighter plug rather than using the red power On / Off button, but I believe either approach is viable. If the power is turned off at your cigarette lighter plug when you turn your ignition key off, then the device will power up and down "automatically" when you turn your vehicle on and off.
3. Plug the power cable into the vehicle. The device should power up in the video recording mode. Fold the device’s display window down so it “hangs” below the device.
NOTE – It is important to know that the device has THREE operating MODES and FOUR MENUS. Many of the criticisms in reviews appear to result from the user not realizing this.
[The “Main Menu” which is reached by pressing MENU twice when in any mode, provides for entering such things as Date and Time, Language, “Light Frequency (50 or 60 Hz), Image format, Voice recording on / off, and most importantly “System Reset” which I presume erases all entries and “restarts” the entire system. While my manual says to reset the system by pressing a 1mm shaft gently into the “Reset Hole” I cannot find such a hole on my variant.]
4. I found it necessary at the start of the process to press the white button “to get the device’s attention.” Until I did this the device didn’t respond to any other buttons except the red button. The white button is thereafter the “Select” button which one pushes to choose a selection highlighted on a menu. On my variant the white button is labeled REC and I will hereinafter refer to it by that designation.
5. Just to familiarize yourself with the operation, press MODE (the right most button on the display screen bottom edge) three times at two second intervals. You should see each of the three operating modes. The modes are Video recording; Still image recording; and Playback. On my variant of the device these displays for the modes are labeled “Video” “Capture” and “Play” on the screen. In the first two modes the image on the screen “moves” when the camera is moved, following what the camera lens is “seeing”. In the third mode, “Play”, the image is fixed. What you see on the screen when in "Play" mode is the first frame recorded for the time segment during which recording happened. The date and time will appear on the bottom of the screen indicating when that segment, or photo, was recorded if the user selected to display date or date and time. At this point it doesn’t matter much, you will learn about this attribute when you get the device configured as you want it. The date and time are how you find the segment you wish to view, so I STRONGLY recommend you elect to display date and time during set-up. In the "Play" mode you Up / Down to the desired segment to view, choosing by looking at the first frame and the associated date or date and time. Some users in reviews have complained that the screen is “frozen” and I suspect it is because they have the device in “Play” mode but have not initiated playback of the "chosen" segment.
NOTE – If the display is not in English (the other alternatives are four languages in non-Arabic characters) proceed as follows, otherwise skip to step #6 below.
a. When in any Mode with no menu present on the screen (if there is, press MENU to remove the menu from the screen), press MENU. Press MENU again.
Press “DOWN” once. You are on the Language select line of the fourth menu. Press the REC (white on my variant) button to select Language. Up / Down to English and press the REC button to select. (On my variant English is the language at the top of the list and the word English is in English. Press MENU to exit from menus and continue as described below. If the language displayed is Chinese after doing this, repeat this step and select in turn each of the other languages listed. As there are only four languages, you ought to get English sooner or later.
6. To get to the menu for any Mode, press MENU when you in the mode for which you wish to select the attributes you desire for that mode. The types of selections the user can make for that mode are listed. Up / Down to the items you wish to set. Press the REC button to make selections. It is beyond the scope of my review to explain further how to navigate in menus. To set the date and time use Up / Down to obtain the correct digits for the various entities and REC (white button) to lock in the digits for each category of entry when it is correct (e.g. press REC after the digits for hours is correct, for example. REC is pressed for each category of the Date and Time when they are correct.
7. Put the device in each of its three modes in turn and press MENU once. This will bring up the menu for that mode. Make your selections as to how you wish the device to operate. I STRONGLY recommend that you turn Motion Activation OFF if you are using this device as a drive cam. I would only use Motion Activation if I were using the device as a security camera. I STRONGLY recommend recording in five minute segments.
NOTE: Some sellers recommend removing the lithium ion battery unless you are operating the device on battery power or are in the process of charging the battery. Those sellers say that after charging the battery can get “very hot” if it is left in place with the device powered with the external power cable. Unfortunately, in my experience, if you remove the battery you lose all the menu settings after a period of time. That makes the device pretty useless for me. I’m not going to enter all the settings each time I drive my vehicles; I want the camera to come on when I turn on the key and shut off when I turn off the key. HOWEVER, as the device is exposed to the hot sun by being in the windshield, I have covered the top of the device with aluminum foil to reduce heat absorption. Several reviewers have complained the battery compartment cover has warped in the sun. This may be a fatal flaw in the design for devices used in hot climates.
I will update this review in the coming weeks or months as I gain experience with the device.
One reviewer recommended not using more than a 16 gig card because otherwise there are too many segments to sort through. My opinion is that most of the time you are going to want to access a recent segment so having stored many is not an issue as they are accessed in date order with the most recent last. And if there is an issue about something that happened several days or weeks ago, the bigger the card the more likely you can at least find a recording of the event. Another reviewer recommended recording one minute segments. If the quantity of segments to search through is an issue, having a segment for every minute of recording would maximize the number of segments to be handled. Some reviewers complain about lines on the screen. My unit had what looked like thick blue thread or felt tip pen doodling on the screen. The lines turned out to be on the protective film. The film is not easy to get off. Peel it up carefully with a pointed tooth pick.
This review is for the "2.5-inch" camer
First the physical review:
- The mount the camera comes actually is pretty decent. It has a good quality suction cup, and it allows a pretty decent range of articulation. It would be nice if it were a bit smaller (to take up less windshield real estate), and the clamps do tend to loosen over time (allowing the camera to move), but in general I'm pretty happy with the mount.
- The screen is all but useless. In daylight it's much too dim to see, and at night the video is too dark to see anything. On top of that, mine had some type of quality-control stamp right on the screen itself.
- The charger has a decent length cord, but it requires you to open a "door" on the camera to plug it in - making it look very "untidy" on your windshield. This door could probably be ripped off, but a usb cord with a 90* plug would be needed to avoid having the cable sticking a few inches out from the unit.
As for the video quality:
- It does have a 720p mode... and while it may be 720p video, it's of such poor quality that you could never read a license plate number or anything from the video.
- The video seems to particularly struggle with capturing movement (it blurs movement)... which is particularly annoying in a camera that is mounted to a moving vehicle
As for the functionality:
- Here is where the camera is all but useless. It "crashes" frequently (about 1 in every 3 trips), which then requires a hard-reset (remove battery & unplug usb), and also corrupts the memory card. This also resets all the settings to the defaults - so if you plan on using this as a "set it and forget it".... forget it. It takes about 3 minutes to reset all the settings each time, so if you really want to use it, you'll need to spend about 3 minutes prior to any trip setting up the camera.
- The default video length is 20 seconds, but it takes about 10 seconds for it to write the file... so you only catch about 2/3rds of the action anyways. You can configure this to up to 15 minutes/video (highly recommended), but it doesn't save this setting through "crashes", so you have to reset it every trip.
- The default quality is 240i/PAL. You'll want to change it to 720p/NTSC, but again you need to set this after every "crash"
- The time/date is useless since it resets every trip to 1/1/2011
- The charger back-draws power from the unit's onboard battery, so if you unplug the charger but leave it plugged into the camera, it will drain the camera's battery. You need to unplug the charger from both the cigarette lighter and the usb port on the camera every trip.
In a week of using the camera before returning it, I used it for about 400 minutes of driving over a total of 20 trips. All told I ended up with about 20 minutes of decent usable video, or about 5% of what I should've gotten. If you're hoping to catch something interesting on camera, you better hope it happens in that 5% of the time it's working.