Recently this item was sold at Aldi for $100. It’s now $60 on eBay (+$11 delivery) and even cheaper for the “remanufactured” model. (I have no idea if what I bought is brand spanking new or “remanufactured”).
I have never had a dash cam and was interested in what Aldi advertised, so after visiting several stores over a week, I finally got my hands on one.
I have not opened the box because (a) b/w visiting stores for the item I was unable to find anything on Choice about the item (not in reviews or in this community) and (b) I began to think I purchased a lemon when most reviews on productreview.com.au gave the item a big, big thumbs down.
Looking into the matter further, I discovered the model was launched in Oz in 2019, yet on sale 4 years later.
Does anyone have anything good to say about the item?
My main concerns are that the images captured are very clear and that there is no ambiguity about number plates caught on camera.
Looking at reviews, the Uniden has a maximum comparable capacity of 32GB. There are also reports that not all SD cards are compatible and information about which ones are and aren’t can be difficult to find.
Overall online user reports aren’t all that positive. Image quality and number plate legibility poor if user reviews are correct.
It is getting some age to it and being a poor quality product could be why Aldi might have their hands on it…and selling it as a special buy.
In previous years, Aldi sold then for $79.99. This year ‘inflation’ pushed them up by 25% to $99.99.
Aldi usually have a reasonable change of mind policy. If you open it up and find quality is poor, you should be able to return it. You can return it under the Australian Consumer Law as being not fit for purpose. It appears some on ProductReview returned it for a refund on this basis…which doesn’t give a high level of confidence for the product.
Choice and members of the community have found Aldi special buys are a bit hit and miss
Why not try it out and do a review on the community.
@evanstrish3 Thanks for the two replies. I suppose like many, I am unsure what to think. The URL you included is very +ve for CarWatch Pro, but my other go-to site, other than Choice, is productreview.com.au where there are 6 reviews of CarWatch Pro and all are -ve.
@phb I agree that Aldi’s special buys are a hit or miss affair. In my experience, they have more often been +ve. I am inclined to follow your advice, try it and if I find it is of poor quality, to return it. If I do so, I first need to buy the appropriate SD card: ScanDisk High Endurance microSD I was told is required. My only worry is that, as you state, the model is a tad long in the tooth. Your comment is supported by what I saw on UNIDEN’s website. Naturally such a vintage item would not appear as a “Product”, but more troublingly is that it doesn’t even appear as a “Discontinued Product”. It must have been discontinued a while ago.
I shall keep you posted as to what I decide ie test it or return it.
Would not hurt to do some reading in the Dashcam forums…
REading there is why I decided to get a VIOFO, which has no internal battery and which draws its power from the car battery whilst running. There have been a few explosive or melting incidents in some with internal batteries and that aspect worried me enough to switch from a Navman to the Viofo 119A
I have just completed a test of dashcams and we managed ( with some difficulty ) to buy an iGO CAM 345 to include in the batch.
A possible reason for us not testing it earlier could have been COVID getting in the way of purchasing at the time.
The test results are currently being verified. The article will unlikely be published this year ( there is a backlog of tests and this one just happened to finish ahead of schedule ). Without giving too much away, the performance is about what I would expect from a $100 dashcam with no GPS.
When you turn off the ignition of an ICE vehicle, or get out of an electric one, the dashcam needs enough power to complete the saving of the most recent video recording before it shuts down. To enable this, the dashcam has either a rechargeable battery or a super capacitor.
These days, batteries are no longer as common as they were in dashcams of old. Super capacitors are most often seen as the temporary power storage solution.
One more note: if you want to have your dashcam continue to operate when your car is parked, you need to use a hardwiring kit ( rather than a lead plugged into the 12V ‘cigarette lighter’ socket ), so that there is power available all the time. Dashcams with parking mode monitor the voltage from the car battery, and when it gets down to a certain point, they will turn themselves off, so that you don’t come back to a flat car battery.
Many thanks for the feedback. I look forward to reading your reviews of dash cams. I am now inching towards Aldi and returning the item, lest I open the box, install it in the Toyota and it proves to provide poor quality resolution coupled with a less than impressive lens, no GPS and demonstrates issues one should expect with what phb indicated was a $80 item last year.
If I return the item after using it, aldi could rightly say that while it did not meet my expectations, it’s features are what one should expect in a low priced item and possibly turn down my request for a refund.
ALDI have a fairly decent “not satisfied” refund policy for both their everyday and special buy items. So “try and return if not satisfied” for customers is fully supported by ALDI.
" If you’re not completely satisfied with one of our everyday grocery items or Special Buys, you can return it for a refund or replacement within 60 days. Simply bring the product back to any ALDI store with proof of purchase (eg. receipt, bank statement, warranty card, credit card statement), ideally with the product packaging. Our friendly staff will then assist you with a refund or replacement.
Visit the Help Centre for more information on Returns & Warranties.
Change of mind
At ALDI it’s okay to change your mind. Your satisfaction is important to us.
Grocery items
From 19 May 2020, we will refund or replace any everyday grocery item you are not entirely satisfied with. Please provide your original receipt (or other proof of purchase) when you return the item to us.
Special Buys
We will refund or replace any non-grocery specials within 60 days. Please provide your original receipt (or other proof of purchase), ideally with packaging, when you return the item to us."
If any doubt exists as to whether the item may have been used or not prior to return, the following on items that use fuel should clearly indicate that they can be used prior to return
" Safety requirement regarding ALDI products which use fuel.
Should you need to return a fuel-powered product to ALDI for a refund or exchange, we kindly ask that you safely and responsibly remove all combustible liquids (e.g. petrol, motor oil, etc.) added after purchase, prior to returning to store."
“Remanufactured” means it was repaired while under warranty, so it should be okay. At that low price, it seems ok to me. It may prove who is at fault in a prang, & save you much more than $100, so it is worth having one.
True, also to note there are other brand name options including dual camera kits. Certainly not the Aldi bargain price but more recent product designs.
The wisdom of the cameras is that it will always be you the driver who is not at fault and they the other vehicle that is. For some of us it may be a 50/50 kind of thing. Evidence of being in the right every second time.
It’s human nature that most other drivers also do not want to cause or be in an accident. Their 50/50.
An unintended consequence if we think about our own camera showing our failings. To make us more careful and considerate so as to not catch ourselves out.
