USA based members
Staples Pulling Plug on Connect
I saw this on my Google Now Feed this AM. I don’t know how this will affect the pricing of the Staples Connect yet but I plan on cruising by my local stores more often.
Also need to remind myself to visit the Staples Portal rather than rely on the daily SPAM I already get from them.
Good Luck everyone
What is the Staples Portal?
Staples have their own web site for Connect but it has already had a re-direct to Z-Wave Products and Zonoff activated.
see Here
I really meant to watch the Staples online store page and the Connect page as one “portal”. Sorry if I did not make that clear initially.
Thanks. I did see that they were redirecting after I posted. I was hoping it was a inventory/price checker.
Samsung SmartCam one day only at Sams Club
Assuming it works that’s a good deal. But honestly, given current smart phone capabilities I have to wonder why anyone bothers with dedicated dash cams anymore. The same goes for navigation units. I have a “RAM” dash mount for my Galaxy S7 Edge that, combined with a free yet robustly-featured app (Daily Roads Voyager), the car’s bluetooth-connected head unit and the phone’s other inherent capabilities allows it to simultaneously pull duty as…
Even the old Galaxy S4 I had before upgrading to the S7 Edge was able to do the same thing.
I’ll give you using phone for dash cam and OBD dashboard, even HUD. GPS I still prefer my stand-alone GPS unit. One reason being we travel to a lot of areas with sketchy at best cellular service, and I am too damn lazy to remember to program my trips and any variables, download the maps I might need before I leave. Murphy’s Law clearly states if I take a side trip and get " Temporarily misdirected" ( Men never get lost ) it will be in an area with no cell signal.
That’s a fair point (I just don’t do much traveling in such areas, so I hadn’t considered it).
I will say that another point in favor of the phone is that I take it with me upon exiting the vehicle, leaving one less thing in it to tempt theives.
Same as RLDreams. I can give several reasons, #1 - is I have a large screen GPS , it’s ez for my old eyes to see and many times sketchy to no service. I’ve used Garmin for ever. Marine as well as terrestrial. The ability to load waypoints via the PC and share between units is necessary for me. I use it for Geocaching as well (to get close).
I also have topo maps loaded. Also will use the same maps on the PC, can load a trip or impossible to locate points prior to travel.
On actual vacations I carry a tabled with downloaded maps as the resolution is much better for a just in case.
I keep on old GPS stashed in the SUV also just in case I’m out and “lost”. Only had to use it twice 
Also have a dashcam - even if I used a phone for it - it’s not the same. It’s on 100% of the time no matter who is using the car, no setup, mounting etc.
I guess that makes sense in some cases. In mine, I’m the only one who drives the vehicle. And I’m going to put the phone in the mount any way (I use it for other purposes as well), and there’s no setup for me either. I have Tasker scripts that automatically start the dash cam app when I start the vehicle and then stop it again when I get out.
I also rarely have any need to look at the phone’s screen when using the nav function, relying on the spoken driving instructions instead…which makes it safer to use.
I also heared that insurance companies are investigating in adding a discount in the near future for people with dashcam.
My “fear” is that, unfortunately, the evidence can and will be held against you too. I’m sure the opposing insurance company will supeona the video. Of course, statistically you presume “you” are the safer driver, so in the long run it is better to have the camera than not.
What video? I’m getting older and I sometimes forget to turn the thing on…there was a malfunction…cosmic rays fried the SD card…etc, etc.
You mean to tell me this thing isn’t even solar powered? oops my bad haha.
I’ve found the major draw back of most of these cheap dash cams is the need for power. I hate cords dangling and or snaking through gaps trying to hide them. I had one on the tailgate glass of a E350 wagon and no matter what the cord was always a hassle.
I have both a radar detector and dashcam wires snaked. This is at least the 5th vehicle I’ve done it on. Never comes out. Now the dashcam sucker mount falls off every couple months.
Many cars you can tap the rearview mirror or roof console (or other spot) for power. Kits are even available for some vehicle to ez tap power.
I am a dash cam guy. I would never use my phone or a battery (well, not including the car battery) operated one.
My phone is my GPS and music player. I have a great dash cam you can’t see. It also has a rear cam. It also has a feature that then the car is off and parked, if someone bumps the car ever so slightly the cameras turn on. To me battery is bad, I don’t want to have to charge it. If you are going to snake a wire for charging, why not snake it for power from the cars battery.
It also has wifi so it syncs the videos.
My cell phone is not mounted to the windshield because to me that is unsightly.
Add $350 to the price of this camera for a professional install.
Because…?
Because a real dash cam can do things your phone can’t.
1 - turn on without you having to lift a finger -> always recording.
2 - Rear facing camera.
3 - Watching your car when you are not there. Turn on when the car is bumped.
4 - Never runs out of battery or needs to be charged.
5 - Not drain your phone. I’d have to imaging running Waze + Music + Dash cam software the charge rate n your phone will have trouble keeping up.
6 - To me, phones mounted to the windshield are unsightly.
7 - Larger storage capacity than those of us with iPhones.
