2 Viofo A119 mini 2 + BMW 3 G20

Ok guys, I have received the package in good order.
Now I have called a few people for installation, result is 3 to 4 weeks waiting time and 250€ for installation, which seems to be excessive for an hour work.
Judging from installation videos online, self-installation seems to be doable. I am an amateur with cars, is this doable by myself or should I wait for a month?

p.s. I am in Germany, Munich area, if anyone is willing to help, PM me.
 
Can't say if 250€ is a lot, but it's a fair price imo for properly laying the wires under the covers from the front to the back + perhaps warranty on the electric installation.
You can always try it yourself first and if you fail you can bring it to the mechanics.
 
deepocean1358 said:
I am an amateur with cars, is this doable by myself or should I wait for a month?
Click to expand...
Test cameras BEFORE you install them in your car.
Test focus.
Test SD Cards.
Make sure they power up, record, power down.
Download clips to your smartphone.
Remove SD Card, download clips to your computer.
Make sure cameras go into, and out of parking mode.
Perform every operation that you will use in your car by testing it out in the comfort of your home first.
Let them run for 24 hours in normal recording mode.
Let them cool down in the fridge for 1 hour.
Let them run another 24 hours in normal recording mode.
Repeat as necessary.
Based on my experience if the camera can survive a week / month of these harsh / torture conditions the camera will last through the 12 / 18 month warranty period.
If the camera is a lemon, you want it to fail in the first 30 days, so you can take corrective action, (return / warranty policy).

How disappointed would you be if you paid $250 for "professional" installation only to discover the cameras are defective soon after install?
You will have to pay a second "installation fee" to remove the cameras so you can return them, or file a warranty claim.
Then you get to pay another installation fee to re-install them.
Check the return / warranty policy of the retailer you purchased the cameras from.

Quality Control is a thing of the past.
You are your own QC Inspector.
Sorry for the rant. lol
-Chuck
 
@Panzer Platform that's kinda overkill lol. If the camera fails, I imagine the retailer or Viofo themselves only want the camera itself for testing, not the wires and accessories.
So you can just easily remove the camera without touching the wires and put the replacement camera back there within seconds.
 
Panzer Platform said:
Test cameras BEFORE you install them in your car.
Test focus.
Test SD Cards.
Make sure they power up, record, power down.
Download clips to your smartphone.
Remove SD Card, download clips to your computer.
Make sure cameras go into, and out of parking mode.
Perform every operation that you will use in your car by testing it out in the comfort of your home first.
Let them run for 24 hours in normal recording mode.
Let them cool down in the fridge for 1 hour.
Let them run another 24 hours in normal recording mode.
Repeat as necessary.
Based on my experience if the camera can survive a week / month of these harsh / torture conditions the camera will last through the 12 / 18 month warranty period.
If the camera is a lemon, you want it to fail in the first 30 days, so you can take corrective action, (return / warranty policy).

How disappointed would you be if you paid $250 for "professional" installation only to discover the cameras are defective soon after install?
You will have to pay a second "installation fee" to remove the cameras so you can return them, or file a warranty claim.
Then you get to pay another installation fee to re-install them.
Check the return / warranty policy of the retailer you purchased the cameras from.

Quality Control is a thing of the past.
You are your own QC Inspector.
Sorry for the rant. lol
-Chuck
Click to expand...

Panzer Platform said:
you have mastered the art of overcomplicating things.
Click to expand...

Jeez PP, for a guy who accuses others of "over-complicating" things you sure don't follow your own advice.

Not everyone has the kind of free time on their hands that you apparently do, nor the interest or willingness in engaging in your OCD approach to all things dash cam.
 
Well I have updated to latest firmware (V1.0_0509) and a wifi bug, that caused camera to hang, is now solved.
However, now with the new firmware the record settings are somehow not remembered. Everytime I restart the camera it defaults back to 2560x1440,30fps instead of the 60fps. In fact with one of the cameras it simply refuses to stay on 60fps and just stays on 30fps all the time.
 
deepocean1358 said:
In fact with one of the cameras it simply refuses to stay on 60fps and just stays on 30fps all the time.
Click to expand...

Do you have HDR enabled on the camera?

The firmware will drop the frame rate to 30 fps even if the user has selected 60 fps because HDR functions by shooting two different simultaneous 30 fps exposures and stacking them.
 
deepocean1358 said:
Yes as a matter of fact I did enable HDR. Which one is more useful, hdr or 60fps?
Click to expand...

It depends on how you use the camera. Most find HDR works best at night to capture license plates (especially European style plates) but HDR often doesn't provide the best image quality during the day.

If you want to use 60 fps during the day you can use the HDR timer function to change HDR on/off according to schedule.
 
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