The guy whose video reviews you want to trawl, are those of
TECHMOAN on youtube. He field tests most of what is available and as a result of his findings, I bought two dashcams.
I have removable dashcams in both of my cars. Roadhawk from (
http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/drive-recorders.html) has a GPS mapping facility which allows me to review a route, speeds and of course, 1080p HD footage. The other is far more basic, though in many ways far more versatile due to its size and inconspicuous design. The former fits onto a purpose made bracket which sits behind my rear-view mirror and cannot be seen from inside the car as the wiring is hidden, or outside as it looks like a part of the rear view assembly. The latter is about the size of a matchbox/ zippo lighter and can be carried around on a keyring or fixed in the car in any nuber of ways. This one (Mobius) has a motion sensing facility, so works even when the car is parked overnight.....foxes set it off
but if the car is left somewhere like a public car park or hotel car park, it more than pays for itself.
In so far as my thoughts on dashcams go, as always, it depends. In the event of an incident or accident, where hints and allegations... can lead to a dispute, they are invaluable. However, don't quote me on this but in such an event, i'd imagine the footage could also be seized and used as evidence, so if you are prone to moderately and safely exceeding B road limits, you might come unstuck. Not that i'd know anything about any of that though
As Waremark says, the footage does get pretty boring after a while, though I will say that it helped me when taking my IAM test because it allowed me to review and reconsider things i'd done while out on a practice drive.... and there were lots of them! It's only when you don't have it in the car and something interesting happens (a deer hurdling the bonnet of the car infront of me once) that you'd wish you had one. I once helped the Police to track an elderly gentleman on a mobility scooter, who had somehow made his way onto the entry slip from the A27-A23. He was also going the wrong way up the slip road on a tightening bend. He was picked up by the fuzz and taken to safety. All of this was captured on my Roadhawk, which not only gave exact GPS coordinates (better than saying "somewhere up the A27 near Brighton") but also a time and date stamp should it be required as evidence in the event of an accident.
So you see, it's a mixed bag. I haven't used the roadhawk in ages and it currently lives in it's box but it serves a purpose. Both use SD cards and come with 12v adapters and AV leads etc.
Hope this helps
A wise man once told me that "it depends". I sometimes agree.