Dash cam recommendations, please

[Scalded Dog]

I drive about 30,000 miles/ year, and see a lot of crazy things. Every time that I do, I promise myself that I will get a dash cam.

Yesterday, some clown in a Ford Focus was trying to get burly with me. It was crazy, I won't go into details, but at one point, he was apparently trying to prove that his Ford could out- handle a Camaro on mountain roads (no, we were not racing, I was simply driving as I do on these roads). Dude's blue oval, coupled with his utter lack of skill and judgement, went around a turn, skidding out of his lane, across the double yellow lines, onto the far shoulder, where his vehicle lifted up on two wheels (yes, I saw the bottom of his car), teetered, then fell back onto all fours. Lucky no other vehicles were coming (I hate to see an innocent get taken out by a fluckhead), but I will confess that I wish the car had actually come to a stop on its side.

Anyhow... again, I have vowed to get a dash cam. Every Russian on the planet has one, many cop cars do, and I want one too.

Best Buy shows a very few on their web site... they are expensive, and look like crap. Amazon, on the other hand, offers 28,512 of them, starting at $12, and going up from there. 90% of them are described as, "you will be pleasing of the high qulitys of the good digintal image for the sighting of accidnet or liabilty for the video to share at police and loving familys member."

What I'd LIKE is something subtle: Lens either small and on the leading edge of my rear view mirror, or behind the grill. I'd like one lens looking out the rear, too, so I can get a good pic of the guy tailgating me, just before I brake- check his ass. I'd like at least a 24- hour loop, always recording over meaningless stuff, until I tell it to stop, or it detects an "event." I'd like audio... I'm in California, so gunshots might be critical to record. Night vision and GPS (which I see offered on many models) would also be nice. I want to be able to hard- wire it, so I don't have cigarette lighter plug wires dangling all over.

So... how can I sort through Amazon's 28,512 cameras, and figure out which ones are of acceptable quality, which ones have the features I want, and are still in my price range (Let's aim for under $150, preferably under $100)? What are YOU using (and are you Russian?!?), and where can I get the one that YOU like and use?

[BlueStreakHouTX]

Count me in on this too, I need two, one for each car!

[salva]

g1w. Best dash cam for $50 bucks.

And if you want all the features you described, you're going to have to pay more than $100.

[Bradley]

Go Pro is a little expensive but you can mount and move them anywhere.

[ZeuSS2011]

I have a 2 channel camera set up that does everything you are asking (minus the night vision). DR650GW from BlackVue. Slightly above the price range you listed but well worth it. Go to Dashcam Talk forum and browse through their site. Lots of brands to look through and videos for comparison.