Unboxing and review: GDR33

[CheckYourLights]

GearBest was kind enough to send a Garmin GDR33 my way so lets take a little look and see what we have here.

Chipset Name: Zoran
Image Sensor: 3M, 1/3 inch CMOS Unsure of brand
Decode Format: H.264
Video Format: AVI
Video Resolution : 1080P (1920 x 1080), 720P (1280 x 720)
Bitrate: 9MB
Audio: Mono
Angle of View: 110 degree
Operating Temp.: 0 - 60 centidegree
Card Type: Micro SD
Plug Type: Mini B
GPS:Yes*(Garmin product page claims yes, but I think it is wrong)
Shipped Firmware: 3.60
Most Current Firmware: 3.60
Gearbest Product Page: Here
Get 30 dollars off by using coupon code GDR33


Unboxing Video

I just got this one in yesterday so I have not had a chance to put it in the car yet. at first look it seems to be a well built no frills camera which is nice. As mentioned in the video it has been awhile sine I have tested a Zoran based device so this will be a nice change. It is nice to get what seems to be a rather small camera that still retains a screen.

Garmin's product page (here) claims GPS but an Amazon review I came across says they don't have GPS so this will be something I will try to look for. There are also no menu choices about GPS.

The camera only comes with one mount, and it seems to be real 3M stick, It is black unlike other cameras that use a lighter color 3m stick. It also must be heavy duty because in between typing I am trying to get it off, and it is putting up a fight. It's not get a corner up and roll like the lighter stuff.

 

[CheckYourLights]

Some notes
I took my first run yesterday. I had the Exposure set a little low while I was going through the menus so the videos seem to look a little dark. I will have to adjust this and make a second run.
The PC software (found here) seems to be hit and miss and can be a bit unresponsive. Both video and audio seem to drop out in the player from time to time.

There is no lock washer on the mount, but it seems to hold well. I did not seem to have any issues. The mapping does not seem to work for me so it seems like this camera does not have GPS. there are no GPS related settings in the menu and nothing moves on the map in the application. I locked about 3 files, but can't seem to find them either by using the application or browsing the card.

Clips are all 3:51 long which seems a little weird to be such an odd number, and there does not seem to be a way to select clip length. They come in at 254MB a clip. Garmin's product page says all three resolutions are the same size (254MB) which I found kind of odd.

One of the really neat nice things about this camera is that it will keep recording even while you are in a menu.

The car lead is rather long and seems to be well built it looks like one you would get with one of their GPS devices.

 

[jokiin]

Odd for a manufacturer so well know for GPS to have a camera without it

 

[Sunny]

Is it out of focus on the right side or your windshield?
The grass, bushes look fuzzy.

 

[CheckYourLights]

I'll have to take a look at it better. I just got around to getting some of the stuff edited down with out re-encoding it.
The player it comes with has been horrible to work with for me. So I used FreeMake and was able to keep from re-encoding it and just cutting it.
I'll defiantly get some video up now that I can easily work with it.
The bit-rate is still a little to low for my tastes though at around 9MB.

Odd for a manufacturer so well know for GPS to have a camera without it

That's what I thought as well. Personally I don't mind the design, but I think the firmware needs a little more work.

 

[CheckYourLights]

Okay sorry it took me a bit. Had some different things to get sorted throughout my week here, but I finally got everything set and had some time to work with the camera.
It's growing on me a little. I still would not mind a higher bit rate, and the AVI files were a little troubling to work with for me at least because I had problems finding an editor, but the cut tool Sunny recommended seems to be working well for me.

Anyhow video fun time.