You can play back footage on the device’s three inch color monitor, but the clunky controls and small screen make this impractical. This is useful, since the memory is essentially a loop and once capacity is reached on the card, older, unsaved videos are recorded over. As an added safety feature, the Dash Cam 35 has what Garmin calls “Incident Detection,” a G-sensor that automatically saves videos when a crash is detected. Video is recorded to an included 4 GB micro SD card, but Garmin says memory can be upgraded up to 64 GB (which I recommend-4 GB runs out quickly). In some states recording someone without their consent may be illegal, but I also seriously doubt any of us will gain much sympathy in court from what we were saying before, during, or after a car crash. Take my advice on this: turn off audio recording straight away. The user can define a few settings, such as whether date and time stamps are included on the recording, as well as whether audio is recorded. When powered on, the device automatically starts recording, and while the screen darkens after a few minutes to reduce driver distraction, a red LED indicates the unit is constantly recording. Set a few preference parameters, stick it on your windshield, plug in the included charger to your car’s lighter (it can also run on battery), and record away. Straight out of the box, the 35 is simplicity itself. The 35 will also warn you of red lights or speed cameras, something I never encountered, so I’ll take their word for it. One of the most unique features of the Garmin Dash Cam 35 – the thing that really drew me to it – is the Forward Collision Warning feature, which provides visual and audible alerts to users when they are driving too closely to the vehicle ahead. The GPS-enabled Dash Cam 35, with a suggested retail price of $199 ( as of this writing), not only records video, but labels footage with date, time, latitude, longitude, and speed so the user knows exactly when and where events take place. The Garmin Dash Cam 35 was released in September, the newest and most capable of the company’s small family of dash cams. Thus, when the opportunity to test one of Garmin’s newest dash cams with some innovative new features was offered, I was eager to find out for myself whether a dash cam should become a must have for car owners.Īnd maybe I just might capture something on video never before seen, like Bigfoot or maybe Donald Trump admitting he’s wrong. Dash cams, while certainly serving a practical purpose, tend to strike me as possibly another tech innovation that answers a question no one ever thought to ask. I’m a bit of a vehicular technoskeptic and generally find most new in-car technology ranges from semi-useful to “gimme-a-break” useless.
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