327
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #74,115 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★★
Extremely easy to use
**** MANY OF THESE REVIEWS ARE NOT FOR THE COBRA CDR 840 - PLEASE READ THEM CAREFULLY - MY REVIEW (THIS ONE DATED 6/21/14 ) WAS THE FIRST REVIEW AND SUDDENLY ALL THESE OLDER REVIEWS FOR DIFFERENT MODELS APPEARED ON 6/25/14 ***
I Ordered this yesterday afternoon (Friday 6/20/14) and got it early this morning (on a Saturday!) less than 24 hours after I ordered it so definitely 5 stars for that. Less than 5 minutes from opening the box to taking it for a test drive.
The manual is small but you can see the full size one on line. Just Google COBRA CDR 840 and go to the COBRA site. There you can see the 840 manual in full size which is a whole lot easier to read.
Warning: The micro SD card that is shipped with the dash cam was laying under the camera so be very careful when you remove the camera from the plastic packaging so you don't lose the SD card - it's very small. I suggest doing all the unpacking in or over a box so if anything falls out you can find it. I used the amazon shipping box and the SD card fell out right into it.
When peeling the plastic from the suction cup be sure not to pull the entire clear suction cup off with it. Before you can attach the mounting bracket to the camera you need to unscrew the locking knob and remove the mounting screw. Note there is a small metal nut in the end of the locking knob. Don't lose this. I did all of this over the box and the nut fell out after i unscrewed the knob just like the sd card.
Attaching the mount to the camera just requires sliding the mount onto the GPS portion of the camera by lining up the holes and adding the screw and knob. Make sure that little metal nut in back int he end of the knob
Putting the SD card in was a little tricky. It did not want to stay in. I had to use my fingernail to put it all the way in for it to stay in. Make sure you have it with the bumpy side down as the manual says.
To attach it to the windshield takes about 2 seconds. With the lever for the suction cup pointing down push the suction up against the windshield where you want to mount the camera and press to make the suction cup stick. Then flip the black lever up to lock it in place.
To remove it from the windshield hold the camera with one hand and flip the black level down and then pull the suction cup by the little clear plastic tab located at the top of the suction cup. This will release the suction and the mount and camera will be free.
Plug the power in and you're all set.
There is an excellent video viewer that Cobra has for download for free for this camera. It not only shows you the video but also the time, direction and speed. Also on the right of the screen is a Google map showing exactly where you drove on your entire trip!
To view the videos, I plugged the camera into the supplied USB cable and attache it to my computer. There is a menu option to set your camera to be viewed as a storage device (came set as the default). Just press the menu button on the left side of the main button and then use the down arrow to get to General Settings. Then press OK and then the down arrow to get to the USB function then set it accordingly.
When you go to select the files to view you need to specify the camera drive (mine showed up as H) then there are two folders. Select the second one then you have to go down one more level to see the movie files.
The picture quality is outstanding and so is the sound (you can turn on/off the mic with the up arrow on the main knob) .
I haven't tried this at night yet but will update my comment as soon as I do.
Based on my experience so far (all of ten minutes) I give this 5 stars for super fast delivery, easy setup and great recording
Update: Tried it at night and it gives a clear image of the road and street signs. You can see the cars in front of you clearly.
So far I'm very pleased with this and recommend it based on my short test
Update 2: The manual doesn't say this but when you are using the Cobra viewer software (download it from the Cobra site - it's really very good) you can play the files in auto sequence if you select the entire folder that the files are in and not just selecting the file. If you select a file it will only play that single file and will not auto play the other files in the sequence.
June 2014 · Electronics · verified purchase