A229 Pro, when?

abl3n said:
Do we know roughly how long new cameras usually take to show up on the UK version of the site? viofouk.co.uk
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A word of advice from an old timer. If you are willing and able to be patient I recommend never purchasing from the first batch of a newly released model coming out of the factory. My experience over more than a decade is that it is not uncommon for the first one or two production runs from any dash cam brand to reveal some undetected manufacturing flaw that needs to get sorted out. While Viofo is very good at catching and preventing these kinds of problems, they can and do happen. My practice when purchasing a newly introduced model is to watch these pages for a few weeks or perhaps a month for reports from early buyers and when I'm satisfied there are no major issues I go ahead and make my purchase. This has saved me some grief over the years as well as caused me some grief when I leap before I look.
 
I have heard of this early adopter tax in the computer game, but i have to admit that it have never hit myself, now this could be out of pity for the tax burdened poor Danes.

Never the less, it is not stupid to have this in mind.
 
Dashmellow said:
...I recommend never purchasing from the first batch of a newly released model coming out of the factory...
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Can't agree more. And the more complex the product the longer you should wait. I've twice made the mistake of buying a first model year car and both of them turned out to be some of the most frustrating purchases I've made. In both cases the issues I had were widely reported by other early adopters and if I had waited would likely have made a different decision.
 
I think the recent reports of previously unreported focus issues with the Viofo A119 Mini 2 are a case in point. I understand this issue has been sorted out now or is in the process of being sorted out as new product is reaching the market.
 
kamkar said:
I have heard of this early adopter tax in the computer game, but i have to admit that it have never hit myself, now this could be out of pity for the tax burdened poor Danes.

Never the less, it is not stupid to have this in mind.
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Has hit for me several times in my time in the phone industry, so I know it well.

Very good points made there, wait for the product to flesh itself out and by that time there might have even been a sale or two, so can get it cheaper.
 
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Nigel said:
That website is owned by a distributer of several brands, it is not a Viofo owned website. As such, it will probably receive cameras around the same time as Amazon UK receives them. Viofo will probably sell the first small production batch from their own website with pre-orders, and if everything goes well the second production batch will be sent to the distributers not long after. There may be a shortage for a while though, the pre-orders from Viofo will guarantee you a place near the front of the queue, without any guarantee of when they will be ready to send out, which may be some time yet...
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Thank you for the information. I was under the assumption that the uk site was owned by Viofo directly, so I was confused as to why the preorder was on one but not the other.

Dashmellow said:
A word of advice from an old timer. If you are willing and able to be patient I recommend never purchasing from the first batch of a newly released model coming out of the factory. My experience over more than a decade is that it is not uncommon for the first one or two production runs from any dash cam brand to reveal some undetected manufacturing flaw that needs to get sorted out. While Viofo is very good at catching and preventing these kinds of problems, they can and do happen. My practice when purchasing a newly introduced model is to watch these pages for a few weeks or perhaps a month for reports from early buyers and when I'm satisfied there are no major issues I go ahead and make my purchase. This has saved me some grief over the years as well as caused me some grief when I leap before I look.
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This is actually exactly what I was explaining to my dad the other day. I bought the a139 pro 2CH last week (upgrade from Garmin 45) after watching multiple reviews and articles. I read that it required multiple firmware updates to iron out bugs and issues.
 
abl3n said:
I bought the a139 pro 2CH last week (upgrade from Garmin 45) after watching multiple reviews and articles. I read that it required multiple firmware updates to iron out bugs and issues.
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A139 Pro, and the original A139 worked well from the first prototypes. There have been improvements made, but the original version did work well and was reliable, probably the worst example to chose, normally there are a few things that need sorting and do get sorted, and occasionally some minor hardware issues. Very rare for cameras to need sending back, the Mini 2 lens being the only recent example. The pre-order cameras are not the first to be sent out, they are already out there being tested, the pre-order cameras will be sent out once Viofo are pretty certain there are no issues that need more thsn a firmware update.
 
For any fellow Aussies here...

I contacted Viofo Australia yesterday, asking when we can expect to see the A229 Pro here in 'Stralia.
(It doesn't appear on the viofo.com.au site yet)

Thank you for contacting Viofo Australia!

Unfortunately, we haven't got a solid release date for VIOFO A229 Pro/Plus yet.

We will have to wait for the update for some time so please understand we are not able to provide the price atm as well.

You're welcome to check out other models in our website and many thanks for your interest in VIOFO products!

Kind Regards,
Support Team
------------------------------------------
VIOFO AUSTRALIA
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5.0ALM said:
For any fellow Aussies here...

I contacted Viofo Australia yesterday, asking when we can expect to see the A229 Pro here in 'Stralia.
(It doesn't appear on the viofo.com.au site yet)
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Shows as 470 or so for the 3 channel but that could have been global conversion. Expect some markup for us here in Oz
 
Nigel said:
A139 Pro, and the original A139 worked well from the first prototypes. There have been improvements made, but the original version did work well and was reliable
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But what you are saying isn't really true. Both the A139 and the A139 Pro have had a number of reported early issues such as failures to record or suddenly not recording, missing videos, overheating problems, freezes and other glitches.

One needs only to look through the lists of threads on theses cameras to see the various reported issues.

As a long time "operative" for Viofo we often see subjective bias and spin in these kind of remarks you make about the brand rather than objectivity.

That said, Viofo tends to have a pretty good history of reliability and attention to issues that may appear compared with certain other brands.
 
I agree with the "it is better to wait" crowd and usually, that is exactly what I do. I am generally not an early adopter of technologies or new devices that hit the market.
However, I simply threw caution to the wind and ordered two A229 Pro units. I was feeling lucky that day :) but if matters go south, I am sure @viofo will take care
of the issues.

I am still using an iPhone 7 Plus and will defintly wait for the reviews to come out on the iPhone 15. The 7 Plus is still working but it is long in the tooth and I have an
yen for a new phone. :)
 
Dashmellow said:
But what you are saying isn't really true. Both the A139 and the A139 Pro have had a number of reported early issues such as failures to record or suddenly not recording, missing videos, overheating problems, freezes and other glitches.
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Interesting couple of threads, I jumped to the ends to see the outcomes, seems both OPs are happily using their cameras with latest comments of:

tchavei said:
I hope this dashcam will work in the years to come. The front video quality is just mind blowing. Things that I barely notice in real life are crystal clear in the footage. I use hdr always on and also the polarizer. With my climate, there are no issues with them whatsoever. That might change in the winter but let's see.
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TonyM said:
Nothing to report. My A139 Pro is working OK.
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So apparently fine with the mid-summer heat of Portugal, yes, there have been a few issues, as there are with all cameras, but of all the dashcams I've tested, the A139 and A139 Pro are the only ones that surprised me on how well they worked from the earliest version. I don't expect the A229 Pro to be as good as far as being issue free is concerned, but it will get sorted.
 
Nigel said:
Interesting couple of threads, I jumped to the ends to see the outcomes, seems both OPs are happily using their cameras with latest comments of:




So apparently fine with the mid-summer heat of Portugal, yes, there have been a few issues, as there are with all cameras, but of all the dashcams I've tested, the A139 and A139 Pro are the only ones that surprised me on how well they worked from the earliest version. I don't expect the A229 Pro to be as good as far as being issue free is concerned, but it will get sorted.
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You are ignoring that the cameras were introduced with problems that needed to be resolved, Nigel.

TonyM initially reported that his A139 Pro stopped recording suddenly on December 20, 2022, yet you conveniently use his post from July 7, 2023 that he had nothing to report about his A139 Pro, while ignoring all the troubleshooting he had to go through with the camera for 7 months. Frankly, that is a BS reply if I have ever seen one.

You are cherry picking your quotes. As always, you are not fooling anyone.
 
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The testers will soon have a new FW for the front cam.
 
Its a shame that they did not use low diameter cabling with this new camera :(
 
Panzer Platform said:
Incorrect.
Both Coax, and Type-C have their Pros & Cons.
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Chili asked for "low diameter", didn't mention anything about coax or Type-C.
Low diameter cables are definitely easier to install, so are desirable.
What are the cons of coax?
 
New member here looking for some advice. I was just about to purchase the A139 Pro 2 channel Dash Cam when suddenly I see the new A229 Pro is now being released. Looking at the specs, my understanding is that the A229 Pro has the advantage in that the rear camera also has the Sony Starves 2 Sensor just like the front camera. Whereas the A139 Pro only has that newer sensor on the front camera. The A229 Pro rear camera is 2K compared to the A139 Pro which is 1080P. Both cameras are are MSRP at $329 and currently on sale on the Viofo site for $300 which is confusing me why is the newer dash cam not more expensive. Am I missing something about the A139 Pro?? I guess my question is, is my analysis correct in that the A229 Pro is the better choice?? Let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.
 
Y-Man said:
New member here looking for some advice. I was just about to purchase the A139 Pro 2 channel Dash Cam when suddenly I see the new A229 Pro is now being released. Looking at the specs, my understanding is that the A229 Pro has the advantage in that the rear camera also has the Sony Starves 2 Sensor just like the front camera. Whereas the A139 Pro only has that newer sensor on the front camera. The A229 Pro rear camera is 2K compared to the A139 Pro which is 1080P. Both cameras are are MSRP at $329 and currently on sale on the Viofo site for $300 which is confusing me why is the newer dash cam not more expensive. Am I missing something about the A139 Pro?? I guess my question is, is my analysis correct in that the A229 Pro is the better choice?? Let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.
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Correct about A229 Pro, in a nutshell. If I was cross-shopping I'd personally go for the A229 Pro too for the rear camera quality.
 
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