I recently tested Magellan’s MiVue 658, a vehicle video recorder with unique features. This is the handiest law enforcement products not for law enforcement.
“Wait, what?” you ask.
No, really. I think everyone should have one — not just law enforcement.
Real-World Situation
The MiVue 658 is a dash camera with 1080P full HD recording. It has a 150 antiglare lens and a touchscreen. One can swivel it in its mount for passenger compartment recording. It has integrated WiFi that allows the user to put camera data on their IOS or Android device.
The first week of testing, I was driving home from work. As I approached an intersection, a pickup truck in front of me pulled out in front of another vehicle. We had a stop sign, the other car didn’t. The victim skidded off the road and hit a telephone pole.
I abandoned my temptation to chase after the suspect vehicle. Instead, I stopped to render aid, dialing 911. The victim was clearly shaken, but all right. When I looked around, I noticed there weren’t any skid marks or evidence of the suspect vehicle. The point of impact from the suspect vehicle was covered up by the impact to the pole. If there wasn’t a recording, few would have believed there was a hit and run. Later, I emailed the recorded video to the officer.
Plenty of Great Features
The MiVue 658 embeds metadata into the recording. Anything a GPS would record is in the video, including a constant readout of speed. It records audio also, so don’t have a private conversation if you are planning to have an accident.
The MiVue 658 can even be quickly dismounted to take photo evidence. Its three-axis sensor records impact data like direction and magnitude of force. If the impact sensor is activated, it prevents overwriting this data. Users can also use the touchscreen feature to tell the device to save a file or take a picture. I got to the point where I could do this without looking at it. You know all the crazy vehicle videos posted online? This is how they are done.
When the vehicle is turned off, the internal battery takes over. It sleeps until someone hits your car in a parking lot. The sensitivity can be adjusted. Although I really liked this feature, I would have liked a little more adjustment in the sensitivity. If my car was bumped hard, the camera would begin recording. However, it would not pick up something like a door being opened into the side of the vehicle.
I have had the opportunity to look at other dashboard camera products. The features that set the MiVue 658 apart include metadata embedding and its Wi-Fi feature. Originally designed for seamless downloading of files, the MiVue 658 connects to a tablet device via Wi-Fi, and allows files to load directly into that device. The purpose is really for sharing files via social networking. However, the product allows seamless backing up of files to a connected device. For the smaller agency that is operating without funding or infrastructure, this is a great way to have a dashboard camera without the big bucks.
The product came with an 8gb SD card. When I first saw this, I did a little mental math. I thought that it was a little small for 1080 HD video. I found that it could easily accommodate more than a couple of days of recording. Since one does not need to dismount the product in order to retrieve the data, it’s not even an issue.
MSRP for the MiVue 658 is $249.99. This is the most expensive product in their line-up of dashboard cameras. This really makes it a no brainer for applications such as the transportation industry. Like body cameras, event recording often exonerates people wrongly accused.
The MiVue 658 shares the same level of quality as other Magellan navigation products. It is robust enough for everyday use and very simple to operate. It is also one of the most affordable full featured dashcam in the industry.
