Based on all the comments from this forum I sent with a BlackVue.
Decided on the 720 2 Channel which has a front and rear facing camera.
Bought it from Amazon during a Holiday Flash Sale.
Also have it hard wired, as all my accessories, as I don't like the cords crossing all around the cabin.
The main reason I went with this one is I can't see it at all, nor the lights from the camera behind the rear view mirror when sitting in the drivers seat.
The others seemed a little more bulks and I was looking for something that I can wirelessly transfer videos directly to my phone on.
Here is an example video from last December:
YouTube
Note that the video was removed from the SD card, then spliced together with all the clips, then I had to put a picture in picture view and splice all the rear view camera files, then reencode it all again and upload it ... and this is the quality it produced with just some internet free software.
So if you just want the raw video it's a little better quality that the video there.
Pros:
Can't see it from the drivers seat
Can hardwire it
Easy to set up and install
Can wirelessly download clips directly to phone
Phone clips have GPS map overlap (like a google map view) - This is pretty sweet
Has expandable memory (buy a bigger Micro SD card when they are on sale, I went with the 16GB version and then just bought a 256GB when Amazon had a sale)
Can record audio and audio recording can easily be turned off with a wave of your hand (literally) right near the unit.
Some units have recording after parking for XX Hours to detect impacts
Has (or had, I haven't looked into this in a while) optional Subscription Service allowing for auto uploads to cloud over wifi
Easy to change camera options when wifi connected to the camera from your phone
Cons:
Expensive, suggest buying the lowest memory model and upgrading the SD card when they are on sale.
As mentioned, license plates can be hard to read at distance, even at 1080.
Here is a vid on the same trip following a forum member.
YouTube
Here is another filmed more recently:
YouTube
GPS map over lay is not an option if you don't use the BlackVue software, it's just the raw video clip.
Sharing clips downloaded to your phone is a pita. They are too large for texts so if you witness an accident you'll have to email the clip.
Clips can't be easily spliced together and they have like a 3 second overlap, so when editing the clips and splicing them together using aftermarket software it can be difficult to line up all the right time sections.
Rear camera is a separate file so the video I made takes extra effort
Making anything like the video above means you have to remove the memory stick and download all the raw video files to your computer and then edit and reencode them from there.
If ordered with the Power Magic Pro it can be kind of clunky and cheap. My PMP was broken when it arrived, had to return it, and I've already cracked the plastic housing on the new PMP from accidentally kicking it under the dash.
