Garmin 67 W Dash Cam has serious App and installation issues
Garmin’s 67 W Dash Cam is a waste of money that is difficult to use and not made for everyday people. The system has flaws. The Garmin App does not work. And there are no good instructions on how to use the system. An expensive $269, the Garmin 67 W Dash Cam is a disappointing waste of money. Buy another brand.
By Ray Hanania
Even after doing your due diligence and online research, you still won’t be able to prevent yourself from purchasing flawed technology that falls far short of its promises.
I purchased the Garmin 67 W Dash Cam, which costs about $269 from Best Buy. The system is difficult to install and Garmin doesn’t provide any step-by-step instructions on how it is supposed to be used.
Does the camera automatically begin recording or can you start the recording yourself? These are simple questions that the makers of good products would included in their “installation” instructions, you might think.
But Garmin doesn’t do that. So, you unpack the box, download the App from the Apple App Store, and do your best to connect it all.
You have to be in the car, of course. Once you turn the camera on, it takes you through several steps to set up the product including finding your geographic country at the bottom of along list of every country int he world. Then you go through a few more steps before connecting the camera to your car internet and to your bluetooth.
Not everyone has internet in their cars but blue tooth is supposed to work. The problem is the Dash Cam identifies itself two different ways, one with a simple ID on your cell phone bluetooth, as DC67W, and also a second identification as DC67W-(numbers) sent by the system.
Maybe that’s why the system won’t connect to the iPhone App.
Before you even get to try to record anything — it is supposed just start recording when “things” happen. It doesn’t. I had to Turn it On using the side button, which is awkwardly placed since everyone grabs the unit by the sides so the bottun gets turned on and off often by accident.
Do I have to turn on the camera every time I used it? Who knows because the system doesn’t come with instructions on how it works.
How long are the recordings. They seem to be short, less than 1 minute. It savs it to a “Vault” on the camera’s microchip which are downloaded to your cell phone App.
The “Vault” saves the videos for up to 24 hours only and of course Garmin wants you to pay even more money to save the videos even for a short period of time.
They force you to purchase a plan either $4.99 a month “plus taxes and fees”, or an “Advanced Plan” that isn’t explained at all for $9.99 a month “plus taxes and fees.”
In other words, you are going to pay to be able to watch your videos. They don’t last very long. They say you can save them for up to 30 days.
Ring Cameras charge 100 a year for unlimited camera video storage and you save the videos for as long as you want and they are accessible using the App or going online.
The problem with the Garmin dash cam is the problem that many tech companies have. They know how to create technology. They just don’t know how normal human beings use it. I really don’t any Garmin employees use their equipment. Of course, Tekkies are not normal people and have no idea how technology needs to be used or is used by normal everyday people.
The Tekkies have no idea so they don’t put basic information into the product or make it available to normal users because normal isn’t something they can identify with.
My recommendations is to pass over the Garmin Dash Cams. The 67 W is supposed to be the best. What a joke. But the other models which cost less surely offer less.
Buy another brand.
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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