Thinkware F50 vs A119

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Superdon

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Think i have narrowed down to these two choices.

Both very similarly priced including hardwire and GPS (i am in the UK). The A119 would actually be more expensive if i bought from my preferred source - Amazon.

The F50 can be bought direct from their UK distributor so hopefully warranty would be easy. Perhaps not so with the A119.

Help me choose!
 
Maddog1974 said:
F50!! Very reliable unit that NEVER needs the memory card formatting either - Not sure if our discount code works still, it was meant to go off on the 1st August but our Web guy has been off this week so might be worth a try!

Edit it does still work! See this thread - https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/some-thinkware-discount-codes-inside-exp-31-07-16.19374/
Click to expand...

Ah...you would say that though 🙂

New to the dashcam world so struggling to work out what features i need and what the real differences are between the A119 and F50.

I have to be honest if the A119 was available from a reputable UK seller i would probably go for that but i do like the idea of a bigger established brand
 
jokiin said:
Thought the F50 was the newly released model?
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It is fairly new we've still sold several hundred already and haven't seen a single unit returned as yet (Hoping i don't jinx it by saying that!) We also know Thinkware as a brand make reliable units as overall we have had very few returns full stop for the number sold. we are running at less than 0.5% failure rate. With our experience for electrical products we consider up to a 2% failure rate as acceptable.
 
Maddog1974 said:
F50!! Very reliable unit that NEVER needs the memory card formatting either - Not sure if our discount code works still, it was meant to go off on the 1st August but our Web guy has been off this week so might be worth a try!

Edit it does still work! See this thread - https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/some-thinkware-discount-codes-inside-exp-31-07-16.19374/
Click to expand...
I assume you're basing assertions of the new F50 model's reliability on Thinkware brand reputation? Edit, have now seen your Post above.

Does the mount allow enough rotation to mount the F50 on a near vertical screen?

image.webp

I cannot find this discount code, please confirm it.
 
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Maddog1974 said:
It is fairly new we've still sold several hundred already and haven't seen a single unit returned as yet (Hoping i don't jinx it by saying that!) We also know Thinkware as a brand make reliable units as overall we have had very few returns full stop for the number sold. we are running at less than 0.5% failure rate. With our experience for electrical products we consider up to a 2% failure rate as acceptable.
Click to expand...

only just released here, not even sure it has started selling here as yet
 
russ331 said:
Does the mount allow enough rotation to mount the F50 on a near vertical screen?
.
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Very close (see image) also if you literally took about 1.5mm off the corner of the mount you would get incredibly close to 90 degree angle!
 

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I've just made the same decision. For me it was the F50,without the GPS, with 8gb and no hardwire kit.
I've posted my thoughts elsewhere on the forum but I initially planned to fit the GPS and hardware kit later on.
However after upgrading the memory to 64gb it's "just worked" and I can't be bothered to do anything else.
To me that's the clear indication of a perfect buy - one that goes in and I've had no inclination to fiddle (which I've a reputation for doing).
Even works perfectly with my cars stop/start, which the 0903/A118 never did.
I found I was over analysing the purchase after reading all the posts on this forum!
Just buy either one. I'm sure their both good.
All I know is that the F50 is just about perfect for me.
 
Add a GPS Nitram, you will get Speed Cam alerts then too!
 
Maddog1974 said:
Add a GPS Nitram, you will get Speed Cam alerts then too!
Click to expand...


That's an option, but my car already has that and its annoying enough already!
I might put the hardwire kit in so I have have Parking Guard but I'm just enjoying the ease of use.
Just get in and drive!
 
Nitram. Thanks.

Read a review earlier that slated the F50 video quality 🙁
 
Maddog1974 said:
Add a GPS Nitram, you will get Speed Cam alerts then too!
Click to expand...
Couple of questions. If i get the hardwire/gps package. Do i still get the standard car charger?

And...the hardwire kit appears to have three connections? The other cams i have looked at have hardwire kits with two connection.....live and earth. Can you confirm how the hardwire is wired in?

Lastly. How much power does the cam use in parking mode? Just thinking about my battery.
 
Mmmn Do you have a link?
See the challenge here is that everyone seems to have a view of what's technically perfect but we're really only recording us driving along a road not producing a film for the cinema.
There's always a price/performance compromise and if you compare a F770 with the F50 I'm sure technically the F770 will win.
But for the money and ease of use the F50 seems fine to me.
Admittedly I've not sat down on a PC and scrutinised the output (I've just looked at it on my phone) but it seems perfectly acceptable to me.
Hopefully I don't ever need to use it, and I don't intend to get all self righteous by posting other peoples driving errors on this or any other site.
I paid £65-£70 with the discount code for it and have confidence that should the worst happen it will at least capture something, which is more than I felt the latest camera off of ebay with all the whistles and bells would do 🙂 I don't care if the colour saturation is a few degrees out of the sky isn't quite blue enough.

I also found that I was looking at the reviews on the forum and the A119 was getting criticised too. All this information just confused the hell out of me.

Buying in the UK or using Amazon is one thing that I'd definitely recommend though. Buy what you want and then you can always return it if you find its not quite right.
I've tried and returned both the Mini 0903 and A118 as they just weren't up to it.

You must have a slight favourite though! -buy that. 😉
 
Lots of sense in that post. The criticism of the video quality was on youtube. But so long as its not terrible and picks up the details needed thats the main thing. Howver it was described as "awful" which is quite strong.

Have to say i am edging towards the F50 now as its slightly cheaper overall. Just want clarification on the hardwire kit as above.

Interesting you had the A118 and returned it. What was your thoughts with that?
 
I found the A118C video quality really rather poor, at least compared to the mini 0903.
It was dark and lacked detail.
It would also power off when the cars Stop /start kicked in. But then again so did the 0903.
Great form factor though.

Let me upload some video from my camera.
 
Video upload would be great!

I did think about saving money and going for an A118 but havent looked into ot that much but dont think i will bother with that.

Its the form factor of the A119 that i really like. I can see i can install that and it would be almost invisible. The F50 looks nice but i am not sure it cam be so well hidden.
 
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