Happy Thursday, everybody!
We've got some amazing FAQs lined up for you today courtesy of our Quora feed. This week's questions include the usage of security cameras, how to allocate data storage on your IP cameras AND whether or not it's still worth it to still get a dash cam these days.
Without further ado, let's get started!
Is it worth it to buy a car dash cam?
It’s a worthwhile investment for the long term, not to mention the heap of trouble that it will save you from. Here are some important pointers why a dash cam is a must-have for any kind of vehicle out there.
It’s additional insurance. By having a dashcam, you have undeniable proof in the form of video. So whenever you drive and you run across any kind of event out there on the streets, you’ll have your dashcam footage to ensure you.
It helps with actual insurance claims. If the insurance officer asks for proof, it helps speed along the process of completing a claim if you’re not in any fault with an accident.
It helps with law enforcement. In the event of a criminal case related to automobiles, it can help by providing undeniable evidence in the form of dashcam footage.
It helps you drive better. People act better when someone is watching. If you have some bad driving habits, a dash cam could help with you building better driving habits and attitudes.
It documents your riding sessions. If you’re on vacation or if you’re passing by some nice-looking scenery, a dashcam will automatically record all of that from which you can pull content from if you’re into video making.
If you’re in Australia and you’re looking for dash cams that give you the best bang for your buck, look no further than Elinz.
Are there any CCTV security cameras I can buy for my house that don't require internal wiring?
There are a lot! Take a look at IP security cameras or WiFi security cameras. Here are some of the best benefits when it comes to IP cameras:
WiFi connectivity. As their name suggests, IP means Internet Protocol. This means that it can connect to WiFi and has the full suite of features related to the internet, such as reviewing footage from a different channel, such as your mobile device!
No wires, no messy installations, and little technical skill needed. You can just follow your manual to activate its IP features, and you’re good to go!
Space-saving. With its small frame and even smaller method of storage, you can just slap on an SD card and leave it to record on and on.
Figuratively, this makes sense as well as some IP cameras can be set to the only record if it detects motions within its range.
Aesthetics. Due to an IP camera’s small frame, you can set it up and make it look as if it was a natural part of the room, without having any obvious cameras jutting out.
Portability. In the case of IP cameras that don’t need a power outlet or a power plug AND has an internal battery, you can use pick up the security camera and place it anywhere within a matter of seconds.
If you’re looking for great IP cameras for your home, do visit us today at Elinz.
Do dash cams record when you're parked?
Yes, they do - at least depending on the model of the dash cam that you have, and depending on how you’ve set it up.
As a precaution, you wouldn’t want to have a dashcam for the entire breadth of the time that you’re away from it. Not only will it fill up the storage space on your internal storage and will it consume data (if you have it hooked up to a WiFi plan) - leading to a bit of a frustrating situation with your car battery drained and your data plan maxed out.
What you’d want to do is:
Get a dashcam that can be hardwired AND has motion detection features - preferably this one from us here at Elinz. This one is important so that you’re not draining your car battery AND you don’t have a dash cam that doesn’t record all the time, and only does so when it can detect motion near your vehicle.
A hardwiring kit. As a precaution, make sure that you get one from where you bought it for complete compatibility.
Learn how to hardwire. Do check out our guide here to learn how to hardwire your vehicle, along with the tools you’ll need to hardwire the dashcam directly to your car.
Once you hardwire your dash cam with motion detection features, it will record once it can detect motion near your vehicle provided that you make sure that it’s set to do so.
After hardwiring, we highly advise that you test out the feature first before taking your car out to use this feature.
What are the problems with GoPro?
As a previous GoPro user, I think that the biggest problem with the GoPro is its price tag. It’s an impressive piece of tech for sure, but it barely warrants a purchase especially with that massive 299–749 AUD price tag.
Sure, you can take it practically anywhere save for the heart of an erupting volcano, but it isn’t worth it at this point. Not to mention, the additional doodads that you can add on to the GoPro (which are also priced at a premium) are mostly separate purchases that you need to make.
Again, don’t get us wrong - we think its a great, compact piece of tech but when there are less expensive contenders with roughly the same suite of features, it’s not that hard to look the other way.
Especially since there are tons of different action cameras out there that are excellent alternatives to the GoPro, you can hardly justify its purchase unless you have a lot of extra to spend on such a brand.
If you’re in the AU and you’re looking for an alternative to the GoPro, make sure to check out different websites first before actually committing to a purchase.
We’ve got an alternative for you here at Elinz - our very own 4k action camera at a fraction of the cost. Check out the review from Practical Motoring AU here: Elinz 4K HD Sports Action Camera review | Practical Motoring
Get yours here today at Elinz.
Can I use a security camera as a webcam?
I honestly don’t see why, but I’ll try and get the closest answer as much as possible for this one.
Generally, your IP camera uses its own system and has its own main software (provided of course that it’s an IP camera).
If you do have an IP camera and you’d like to use it as a webcam, there really isn’t a direct option that you can try to make it act like a webcam in a few easy steps. At the very best, you can use it like an intercom system that you can access from your mobile phone, and if your camera supports it, you can talk with the people at home much like you could with an actual webcam.
If that’s what you’re looking for, do check out our security cameras at Elinz.
If not, maybe it would be best if you could just get an actual webcam? They’re not expensive (although it would be quite common to think that way), especially for the webcams we have on offer (which you can see here).
They’re very much plug-and-play and leaves your security camera free to do other things besides trying to use it as a webcam, which can be quite difficult to do so.
How much data is consumed from an IP security camera?
It’s hard to say - that basically depends on the resolution of your IP camera, and if you’d like to figure out how much data is consumed from your IP security camera, you need to know what image quality and resolution your camera capture in.
If you have a 720P camera, then it would generally eat around 2–3 GB of data bandwidth if it's a continuous stream of data upload for around 2 hours.
If you have a 1080P camera, it would take a lot more data, usually twice than that of a 720P camera.
But no two IP cameras from different manufacturers/brands are the same. Some 720P cameras do offload that amount of data if it has no internal storage/SD card. Some have streamlined compression methods that allow them to offload smaller, more compressed videos to transmit into a cloud service.
Factor in that some security cameras don’t automatically record all the time - only recording when there is motion detected in the vicinity or range of its lens; so that also contributes to how much an IP security camera can consume in terms of data.
If you're particular about your data usage, make sure to check out security cameras that we have here at Elinz that can be set to record only when it detects motion, and goes into a sleep state if there isn't anything moving within it's range. It's great not only for data economy, but also for battery life.
If you’re looking for a data-efficient IP security camera, here’s one that we highly recommend.
Looking for some of the items we've mentioned in this FAQ? Here are the individual listings for our dash cams, action cameras and security cameras:
Dash Cams | Security Cameras | Action Cameras
As always, if you have any questions please feel free to chat with us or send us an email at sales@elinz.com.au.
Happy shopping!
