STACK #210 Apr 2022

LIFE TECH FEATURE

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Buying a microSD Card Occasionally, dash cams come with a microSD card as part of the purchase. But more often, you’re going to need to add a microSD card to your spanking new dash cam purchase as an extra. Here are some buying tips to ensure you get the right one. 1. It might sound obvious, but it’s an important point: while it can be tempting to shave a few dollars off with a no-name option, only buy a card from a reputable brand that specialises in microSDs. You won’t regret it. 2. Don’t use a dash cam microSD card on another device. You may risk corrupting a file: one dash cam, one microSD card. 3. We’ve already talked about memory capacity. We recommend a minimum of 32GB. 4. Remember that microSD cards have a shelf life. That can range anywhere from 12,000 hours to 20,000. These lifespans are not a hard and fast rule, though. Be mindful that loop recording will increase the wear and tear on a microSD card. 5. We live in Australia, where internal car temperatures can reach 70C. On the strength of that, you’ll need a microSD card that is durable and can also withstand extreme temperatures. 6. The safest way to buy the right microSD card is to ask a staff member in-store or refer to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Navman MiVue 900 Dash Cam What’s better than one dash cam? Two! The feature-packed 900 comes with a front and rear-facing camera to keep you covered from both ends; the front camera has an easy-to-navigate 2-inch screen. A wide-angle lens captures GPS tagged footage in 1080p on both cameras and incorporates STARVIS CMOS, a technology designed to capture low light and nighttime video in high quality. A suite of safety additions is included, like speed changes, school zones, driver fatigue alert, upcoming railway crossings, and notifications of red-light and speed cameras.

Garmin Dash Cam 57 The Dash Cam 57 is a compact and stylish unit with a 140-degree field of view. Windscreen-mounted, it captures video in 1440p and has a high dynamic range (HDR) to lift shadows and improve picture quality. The camera can be voice-controlled, so you don’t have to take your hands off the steering wheel, and it comes with safety alerts. A 30-minute onboard battery will cover any incidents that occur when you’re parked and away from the vehicle, and a feature called Travelapse will time-lapse your drive into a video you can share online.

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Uniden iGO85R Ultra HD 4K Smart Dash Cam Another front and rear

camera combination, with the front camera recording in 4K (3840 x 2160p) and featuring a sizeable 160-degree lens. A wide dynamic range sensor enhances low or bright light images for better details. The colour screen comes in at 2.4 inches and has a large speedo display for easy reference. GPS geotagging is included, speed camera and red-light camera alerts, and it’s powered by a supercapacitor that extends the battery life and ensures that the dash cam will operate in hot conditions.

Navman MiVue 1200 Sensor XL Dash Camera A two-channel dash cam, the MiVue 1200 has front and rear-facing cameras capable of capturing video in Full HD 1080p via a wide-angle lens. The front camera captures at 60 fps and the rear at 30 fps, while WDR (Wide Dynamic Range) ensures the best quality vision in both day and nighttime conditions. Video is GPS geotagged, and a clever in-built sensor can determine the direction of a crash. This is the largest screen in our recommendations at 2.7 inches, and the dash cam can detect red-light and speed cameras and offer safety alerts like driver fatigue, known accident blackspots, changes of speed on highways and school zones. And to top it all off, it comes with a microSD card for ready installation.

62 APRIL 2022

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