Blackvue DR600GW-HD arrived today

[jokiin]

looks a bit sharper than the old one

 

[Ara]

Yeah, could that'd be from the FOV? Just confirming, the bitrate on the 2013 is Data 9891 / Total 9915 kbps, so it would appear I had the firmware update for improved bitrate in by that time.

EDIT: The definition in the bricks on the roof of the house across the road is a lot better in the 600. It makes me wonder if they didn't improve things after all. Of course it's hard compare footage taken at different times such as this, but yeah the conditions and parking spot are remarkably similar so might not warrant outright dismissal.

 

[jokiin]

yeah I don't think they made a great choice of lens for the 500, this looks like an improvement

 

[erewhon]

Estoril Sport and Ara (any anyone else who has the new DR600GW-HD):

How does the WiFi speed of the 600GW-HD compare to the WiFi speed of the 500GW-HD?

Can you connect a tablet or smartphone to the 600GW-HD using WiFi and play recorded video without all the pauses for video buffering that one experiences with the 500GW-HD?

The reason I am asking is that I found a review video (which I can no longer find) that strongly implies that the WiFi speed of the 600GW-HD is vastly improved over the speed of the 500GW-HD, and that video playbacks are without interruption.

In case of an accident, I would like to play back the evidence (assuming that I am innocent!) without distracting interruptions.

Currently, I carry an Android tablet in my car that supports USB-on-the-go so that I can plug the BlackVue SD card into the tablet USB port (via an adapter) to get smooth playback. However, it would be nice to not have to remove the SD card from the BlackVue at all.

 

[Ara]

Erewhon: Don't rush out to buy it. I hadn't tried it on the 600 before, but did so this morning to answer this post. It is very comparable to what I remember from when I tried the 500 wifi. It takes about 20 seconds to start playing (buffering), will play for 5-10 seconds, then needing another good chunk of buffering. My phone's now a Galaxy S5, so it has even better wifi than when I tried the 500 on my S4.

So if they improved the wifi in the latest 6xx generation, they must have saved those improvements (again) for the 650.

I too saw that wifi had been improved (along with the cmos sensor) but again those were lies or "we reserve the right to change specs / at our whims / last minute corrections".

Another thing that hasn't been noted yet that I've seen is that you cannot configure the distribution % of normal driving / events / parking like on the 500. The settings option is gone; I believe it's just First In, First Out. This pretty much means you *have* to use a 64gb card to have some security anything recent won't get wiped out, especially if using the parking option - which sadly has a 6 hour minimum on the Powermagic Pro (I would strongly prefer 3 hour as an option).

EDIT: http://www.blackboxmycar.com/pages/first-impressions-dr600-dr650 . "Feature-wise, the new DR600GW and DR650GW is most prominent in that it offers a much faster Wi-Fi connection speed." "Though we did not see any significant changes to the video quality of both cameras, the DR600GW is equipped with a slightly nicer hardware upgrade; 2.4 megapixel as opposed to the DR500GW's 2.0 megapixel. "

 

[jokiin]

think I'd wait for the independent reviews to see what people think of them

 

[erewhon]

Erewhon: Don't rush out to buy it. I hadn't tried it on the 600 before, but did so this morning to answer this post. It is very comparable to what I remember from when I tried the 500 wifi. It takes about 20 seconds to start playing (buffering), will play for 5-10 seconds, then needing another good chunk of buffering. My phone's now a Galaxy S5, so it has even better wifi than when I tried the 500 on my S4.

So if they improved the wifi in the latest 6xx generation, they must have saved those improvements (again) for the 650.

...etc...

Hi Ara,

Thanks for checking on the WiFi speed! What a disappointment that the 600 is no better than the 500.

I like a lot about the 500, but I wish that BlackVue would make it just a little bit better on some of the specs.

 

[Ara]

Well, to be honest I'm happy to have what appears to be a 100% functioning dashcam again, and I do appreciate the 64 gb capacity and slightly improved lens - although I agree it's largely underwhelming as far as upgrades go.

I'm hoping the 600 won't later develop my 500's startup issues.

 

[orangepeel]

I've just installed the DR600 into the vehicle and whilst the video is nice and clear, the wifi is ok, one poor thing that I notice...

As the original poster wrote, the GPS speed stamp is not constant.... One moment is will be displaying my speed and then, the next ---km/h

Anyone know a work around for this or a change in firmware?

The location is good. I've had no other item located in that proximity have any problems with a good GPS signal. I cannot really move it as it is the perfect spot for the camera and gives a nice view out the front/sides for recording

Thoughts/suggestions

 

[jokiin]

Signal is dropping by the sounds of it

 

[orangepeel]

As mentioned, no other items (satnav, or other devices that use GPS) have problems receiving the signal on the same day and with the receiver in the same spot.

Seems that two of us have had similar problems.

I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days and report back.

Just wanted to see others views on this and if others have had similar problems

 

[Ara]

I must admit I haven't been looking too closely at the GPS info. The key thing for me is that, with the exception of 1 sd card error (when a format is needed), it's been rock on solid for me. I've even set it to keep recording for 6hrs after shut down of car. I try to keep on top of letting the card format in-unit around once per week.

I've also moved my old 500 to the back door of my Outback now, with wiring installed by Subaru through the brake light connector and then through trim to rear 12V socket, and am super impressed by results (note I still need to service the camera, as it's just really really flakey). There's just no cabling visible, and I love it.

And to bring it back to topic, this is what the 600 looks like at the front:

All up very happy now, just need to get the 600 serviced.

 

[Estoril Sport]

Looks lit it did not take long for the DR600GW-HD to gain a fault!

I am using the DR600 in the same mount as per DR500, however the DR600 has stopped identifying a GPS signal where as the DR500 had no problem in the same mount. I noticed that there is a 'reset' hole, however this is not referred to in the manual. Wounding if this might help, if only I know how to use the 'reset 'feature. I presume you use this with DR600 powered up but how long do I you need to have the switch pressed to reset the DR600?

 

[alexsoll]

DR600GW-HD_v1.001ENG(2014.10.21)_Windows

 

[Smoking Rubber]

I have had the DR600 installed for about a month now. Startup is a little flaky. There have been a few times when I don't hear the "Blackvue" announcement until I'm a few miles down the road. I consistently have SD Card errors about every 4 days. I have to reformat the card, which sucks because maybe there is something I had intended to watch still on it? I went to Huckfest a few weeks ago http://www.ksby.com/news/monster-trucks-will-fill-oceano-dunes-state-park-for-huckfest-/
I parked near the zone and had a great view of the jump. But I had to format the camera after about 90 minutes of great jumps!

Here's a shot of a Chevy pulling a Toyota (real) pre-runner out of a big pit. The camera angle is a little deceiving. That's a big hill and a deep pit. Notice you can't even see the people OR the vehicles down inside the pit? It's so steep the 4x4 Dodge got stuck half way down the hill.

I have the latest 64gb card with 48/mb sec data rates. https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00M55C1I2

 

[Estoril Sport]

Here is a udate! Thanks to alexsoll on the heads up on the new Firmware update, I have installed this. Initially no improvement however a major step backwards on the audio recording, this sounds all distorted now, looks like the internal mic setting is way too high, however there appear to be no ability to lower the mic sensitivity? I Previously put the DR600 as my rear camera to see if the front windscreen heat reflecting film was casing a problem with the GPS but no improvement in the back window either.

I decided I will do one more final test and to try the DR600 in my wife's Audi A3 and amazingly DR600 did identify the GPS signal, which was a big surprise (however the sound recording is still terrible). I then decided to put the DR600 the Alpina again and the GPS has decided to continue to work again in the front and in the back windows.

So what have I learnt, the DR600 appears not as good as the DR500 in picking up the GPS signal, as a precausion turn off the WIFI feature on both DR600 and DR500 when they are both recording (I have also been informed that turning off the WIFI will improve video quality). Put the DR600 as my rear view camera as I can monitor to see if the DR600 continues to pick up the GPS signal from looking in my rear view mirror. Looking forward in a fix to resolve that audio sensitivity.

I have looked on the web if I could find a method of reverting back to a previous Firmware as yet not successful. I am not sure if the firmware did actually resolve the fault and may be the session in the other car somehow resolved the problem.

Does anyone know which hole is for the mic on the DR600 as I would like to try cover aperture this u to see if this improves the sound recording without compromising and heat ventilation of the DR600.

 

[alexsoll]

turning off the WIFI will improve video quality

the video quality is not affected
==============================================================
[Key improvements] DR600GW-HD (v1.001)

1. Speed Alert function
1) Function note : The function that makes the alert sound to inform the user as the user is reached to the set speed.
(The files, recorded after the alert sound, will be saved in event format)
2) How to set : Setting on PC viewer or App -> Sensitivity Setting -> Speed Alert(k/m, mph, off) -> Insert the Speed -> Additional Setting -> Check for Speed Alert Sound
* This option only works under the normal GPS signal.

2, Personal Information Registration function
1) Function note : The function that allow users to type-in their own characters(license plate number and etc) on the recorded video.
(Characters will be appeared on the top left corner of the video)
2) How to set : Setting on PC viewer or App -> Additional Setting -> Personal Information Registration -> Enter characters and letters
3) Character range : Under 20 characters, combination of Capital letters(A~Z), Numbers(0~9), Symbols( : ; ‘ / \ + - _ ( ) $ # )

3. Time Synchronization fuction
1) Function note : The function that allows the time on Blackvue to be synchronized to the time on the smartphone.
2) How to set : Access on App -> Setting -> General Setting -> Run “Time Synchronization”

4. Language Change (Applied on Window)
1) Function note : The function that allows to change the languages within the available language range
2) How to set up : Setting on PC viewer or App -> Select language on the “Language” on the top right
2) Language Support : English/Russian/Chinese/Japanese/German/Spanish/French/Italian
* Language change is only available on Windows viewer. Implementation on Mac viewer is in progress.

 

[Smoking Rubber]

I purchased a new 64 GB MicroSD card (Transcend) and downloaded the latest firmware. I've got my fingers crossed. Formatting the card every 4 days is ridiculous! If this doesn't help I'll be sending the camera back.

 

[randomguy]

Wondering if you have had the same audio playback issues as my post here:

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/major-issues-with-blackvue-600gw-hd.8206/

 

[Estoril Sport]

Yes randomguy I have the same issue as well since upgrading the firmware!