On The Road To Test The Mio MiVue 388 Dash Cam
Dash cams in vehicles are almost the norm in Asia and Europe, but here in the United States, they’re just beginning to catch on. You may remember the meteor shower in Russia last year – it seems almost every car in the area captured footage of the event, and it piqued public interest in dash cams as the device to have in your car.
Although there are many dash cam options out there, thanks to Shawn Haruno, owner of FUSH Enterprises, I’ve been testing out the Mio MiVue 388 camera during my daily drives for the past couple of weeks. He told me about this cam he found on a recent trip to Taiwan: “One of my goals for the trip was to find a dash camera for my personal use. After walking around Guang Hua Digital Plaza for a few days and speaking with various people, the consensus was that the Mio was the best buy for a reasonable dash cam. I realize the benefits of utilizing drive recorder technology are many.”
The purpose for a dash cam is more for liability. It’s helpful to have in case you’re wrongly accused of something, but there are other applications. It’s useful, in the unfortunate case of accidents, in assisting claims adjustors by documenting actual events, and it’s nice to record scenic drives or keep track of the driving habits of new drivers – possibly a good fit for rental car companies in the near future. Plus owners of fleets can see what their drivers are seeing on their routes, people can post videos of interesting views on their drives on social media sites, and when drive recorders become more prevalent in vehicles on the road, hopefully people will pay more attention to their driving and bring back aloha on the road.
A whole line of Mio MiVue cameras was launched by MiTAC last year in London. The 388 is the most advanced of the three cameras released. It mounts right to your windshield with a suction cup, and comes equipped with a 3-axis G-Sensor that detects sudden changes in motion and instantly records and saves protected files for future analysis. It uses glass lenses to capture clear images, while the 120-degree wide-angle camera ensures that there are no blind spots and takes 1080p HD videos with the latest H.264. There is a slot for a mandatory microSD card – up to 32GB is supported, but it comes with an 8GB card. There also is a mini HDMI output so you can hook your camera up to a larger screen later.
It comes with a Parking Mode that monitors your car’s environment when you’re away. Motion detectors activate the camera and record videos when there is movement around your vehicle. The GPS tracking allows you to review information about your speed, altitude, longitude, latitude and directions. It also provides safety camera alerts, which highlight the location of dangerous zones along the road.
You can find the MiVue 338 for $150 and the MiVue 388 for $250 through FUSH Enterprises (facebook.com/fushenterprises) or fushenterprises@gmail.com.
Click Chick’s Mobile App of the Week: Postale
Postale has been out for a while, but I figured I’d try it when I grabbed it off the “Pick of the Week” card from Starbucks. The app recently has been updated and allows you to make custom e-postcards for free and real postcards to mail for $1.99. Postale is available for your iOS or Android device and is a free download for the Express version, and costs $1.99 for the full version.
clickchick@outlook.com
