DOD GSE520 Car DVR Black Box Vehicle Dash Camera Video & Audio with 1.5" LCD Record 1080p @ 30fps I

• 1920 x 1080p @ 30fps Video Recording; Audio Recording Option (can be turned off)
• H.264 Video Encoding; 1.5" LTPS TFT LCD Screen; AV/HDMI Outputs; 12megapixel still image photos;
• Loop recording; Supports upto 64GB microsd
• Wide angle 120degree lens; Supports 4x Digital Zoom
• Includes HDMI Cable, AV Cable, Vehicle Charger Cable and Wall Charger DC Cable as well as Vehicle Mount

This is one of 2 DOD car cameras that I have, and it's the more basic one. This camera comes with only time and date stamping, and does not come with GPS statistics such as speed, and location. Seriously, I don't think anyone would miss out a lot without the GPS cos I have the GSE 580 which comes with GPS datalogging and it takes 10 to 16 minutes to log on to the satellites in an area with only low-rise houses. The image quality for 520 is quite decent, and goes up to full HD (1920 x 1080; 30fps). There are other image qualities that you can choose from: 1280 x 720(30fps) 848 x 480(60fps). Do take note that the 120 degree wide angle is only available when you choose 1280 x 720(30fps), and is not available at full HD. At full HD, the angle is about 90 degrees, which is sufficient to cover about 2 lanes to either your left or right, but not enough to cover the whole windscreen from A pillar to A pillar. Personally, I can do without the 120 degree wide angle, because I learnt from experience that such a wide angle will create a fish-eye effect which makes it harder to capture clearly the license plates.

Because I have owned a horrible car camera that couldn't ever capture any license plates, even if I was nose to bumper with the car in front of me, I am more than pleased with the image quality of this camera. At about 50 mph, I can make out quite clearly license plates about 2 car lengths away ( I'm driving a smallish hatchback), directly behind me, and in the next lane (I use this as a rear camera). When the car is parked or stationary, it can capture license plates about 2 and a half car lengths away. The built-in screen is good only for checking the angle of coverage, and for choosing the settings of the camera, and while you can play back on the unit itself, the screen is too small to make anything out.

To change the settings, you can do it either in the car with the camera plugged into the cigarette socket, or at the computer with the camera plugged in through a USB cable. There's a screensaver function which turns off the screen after a few seconds (you get to choose the interval). This is really neat because it doesn't attract unwanted attention when you leave it in the car for surveillance.

Overall, this is a really decent camera. So why didn't I give it 5 stars?

Reason no 1: I've only owned it for about a month or so and can't comment on the durability.

Reason no 2: The camera does not have a built-in battery which means you have to connect it directly to the car battery if you want to use it for surveillance.

Reason no 3: This is not a small and inconspicuous camera; don't be fooled by the clamshell design. When using the suction mount, the whole unit is quite bulky and there's no way to really hide the camera from outside view. The clamshell design means that you can't use the camera if you want to 'close' the camera and minimise the windscreen space that it takes up.

Reason no 4: The clamshell design also means that the camera tends to shake, especially when going over bumps or at high speeds. My other unit, GSE 580, which is built like a small camera, does not have this problem at all.

The information posted by the seller is really quite minimal. Go to the official website for more demo videos and

Update 30 Nov 2011:

I've reviewed my videos and found that a more realistic estimate would be one to one and a half car lengths away rather than 2 car lengths away when the car is moving. There were a few videos when the camera could indeed capture license plates about 2 car lengths away, but I must have changed the angle at which the camera is mounted because I can now only capture license plates about 1 car length away. This is another problem with the design of the camera; when you take the camera out from the suction mount, you will most probably change the angle of the mount, which will in turn affect the position of the camera when you mount it the next time.

Buy DOD GSE520 Car DVR Black Box Vehicle Dash Camera Video & Audio with 1.5" LCD Record 1080p @ 30fps I Now

I was recently involved in an accident caused by a red light running driver who plowed into me later claiming they had the green light. Unfortunately, no cameras or witnesses were present, so it became a my word vs their word case that is still in the process of being sorted out. I did a little research online and found out that individuals can purchase their own personal "dash cameras." Because the circumstances of this accident are obviously in dispute, I decided to purchase this camera to protect myself in the event that something like this happens again in the future.

So far, so good, I toyed with the settings until I found the best and clearest (from my POV) picture settings and have left it on those settings. I was looking for a good camera that wasn't going to cost a lot and I found it. I'm aware that there are higher models offered by this company, but I just wanted something bare-bones and reliable, and so far that expectation has been met. This camera now goes with me wherever I go, even if it's just a short trip uptown to the local store. I feel relief knowing that if an accident like the aforementioned one happens again, and there are no traffic cameras or physical witnesses, I now have a "silent witness" that can prove who's telling the truth and who's lying. I hope nothing like that happens again but if it does, at least I won't have as much of a burden of proof (if any real burden) to show who was right and who was wrong.

My only regret, is that I didn't know about these kinds of cameras sooner, otherwise I would have gotten one and this accident claim would probably be settled by this point...