312gw vs 412gw?

[Taylor7500]

Simply put I've seen both of these models, and they cost more or less the same, so I'd like to know whether one is a clear winner compared to the other.

The main, make-or-break point of contention here is video quality. I need the quality to be good enough to ensure that I would be protected in the event of an incident with minimal quality issues. That said I'm not going to split hairs over resolution and frames per second so long as that is covered. This is only going to be for accountability in the event of a crash or fraud attempt so am not all that interested in features which exist only for keeping track of where I drove and when and at what speed and so on. The big question are either of these models noticeably better than the other in this respect?

I have a couple of other questions about both/either of these models if people would be able to give me a hand.

* Regarding the manual record button to save a clip manually, does that protect the same 2/3/5 minute segment you'd get if the g sensor was triggered or is it on another system with a different clip length?

* I've seen a review of this camera which claimed that 32GB of storage is only good for 45 minutes of recording. Is that true? If not, what sort of recording time would I get on a 64GB card?

* Is there any risk of the protected/read only clips being overwritten? I've seen some comments which say a handful of dashcam models can do this under certain circumstances?

* Is there anything about either of these models that you wouldn't expect from the marketing and which could make the difference in which to purchase?

* With either of these models it is possible to review footage on the camera itself or does it need to be transferred to mobile/pc first?

 

[Kremmen]

From memory, each 3 minute clip is about 350Mb, give or take. I can get just over 8 hours recording on a 128Gb card so do the maths from that.

Whilst driving you're recording constantly and the latest clip won't be overwritten until your card capacity is reached again. So if you have a 32Gb card you're incident clip will be safe for ~2hours under normal recording.

I'll double check my saved files and maths when next at the PC.

 

[Tony lovelock]

I have a 312G and it’s running on a Samsung evo 128gb no problems recording! Just re formatted it to EXfat also the 412gw will run upto 128gb if formatted correctly.

Personally I’d wait until next month before deciding whether to purchase the 312/412gw as the new series range is coming out! So the prices may be even cheaper for the 312/412gw

 

[Taylor7500]

Whilst driving you're recording constantly and the latest clip won't be overwritten until your card capacity is reached again. So if you have a 32Gb card you're incident clip will be safe for ~2hours under normal recording.

Thanks, that's good to know. I know that high quality video recording can fill up space pretty quickly but that reviewer who claimed that 32GB gives you 45 minutes seemed a little extreme.

Personally I’d wait until next month before deciding whether to purchase the 312/412gw as the new series range is coming out! So the prices may be even cheaper for the 312/412gw

Thanks for the tip. I may well hold out a little and see if prices drop. Plus there's a slim chance that the 512gw will drop into my budget range which may be worth holding out for if it's better than the 312 and 412.

One other quick question for you - from what I can tell I'd need to buy a very particular type of SD card for this as traditional cards aren't made for the constant read/write cycles that come from a dashcam. Even if I get the right card for the job, what sort of lifespan can I expect the card to have?

 

[Kremmen]

Look for 'Endurance' cards that are now being produced, and, more important, buy from a reputable source as fakes are prolific. Ebay and Amazon Marketplace is a minefield.

I bought my card from Scan and it's still going strong, but that was before Endurance cards were available in the numbers they are now.

 

[Tony lovelock]

As above I’d say buy from scan or even a place online called ‘mymemory’ I buy my Samsung evo sd cards form here for a few years now & never had an issue. Personally if I had to choose between the 412gw & 512gw I’d go for the 412gw, read the forum pages for 512gw as there are on there have reported issues with this particular model over the last few months/years.

 

[Taylor7500]

Personally if I had to choose between the 412gw & 512gw I’d go for the 412gw, read the forum pages for 512gw as there are on there have reported issues with this particular model over the last few months/years.

I can't say I've seen those reviews. What sort of issues are coming up?

 

[Tony lovelock]

Just a few issues like night vision, files missing when recording & sd card issues but that happens to almost everyone that has owned a dash cam in their lifetime