After all my doubts I bought one!... DavidUK's A119 odyssey

[Nigel]

The SG9665GC may be one of the best at $300 but the A119 is reckoned to be best value. Plus, for $200 I can buy another bottle of Krug!

Can you upload a comparison (new thread please) between the two, or are they in different vehicles? Not for me, but others who are interested in day, night, dusk, comparison.

You will need some of that $200 for the rear view camera once the A119S is available...

 

[Sutton]

The SG9665GC may be one of the best at $300 but the A119 is reckoned to be best value. Plus, for $200 I can buy another bottle of Krug!

Can you upload a comparison (new thread please) between the two, or are they in different vehicles? Not for me, but others who are interested in day, night, dusk, comparison.

You know I'm only pulling your leg. But getting serious if you want a good comparison I think @jokiin may have a comparison to post to you. I own both dash cams and the SG is far superior in every way.

 

[DavidUK]

@Sutton which did you buy first?

 

[Sutton]

@Sutton which did you buy first?

I bought the SG first, The playback of the SG on my laptop has such vivid colors. The playback of the A119 is ok for what it is needed for. But if you are fussy about the screen colors the SG is much better. It is compared to colors on a top brand flat screen tv.

 

[DavidUK]

So, what made you buy the A119 also?

 

[Sutton]

So, what made you buy the A119 also?

For rear window

 

[TonyM]

Have you used it yet?

 

[DavidUK]

Who? Me?
Fitting it tomorrow.

 

[TonyM]

Yes, you. It's your thread
Just realised it's been a whole day since it arrived and we haven't heard from you. Thought you must be playing with your new toy.

 

[DavidUK]

I plugged it into my Mac indoors last night and had a fiddle.

Only things I'm not sure of (at the moment!) are:

• how to view on my Macbook, via USB cable, where it's pointing to set it up (A119 screen too small I think). I.e. what software? Mac has Windows 7 on it too.
• which software to use to view clips when microSD inserted into Macbook (iOS or Windows software. iOS preferred.) Samsung 32GB card.

BTW, instruction booklet has very feint printing of diagrams and button symbols. Almost as bad as on their web site where these are invisible!: http://www.viofo.com/download/VIOFO A119 User Manual.pdf

 

[Harsh]

VLC and QuickTime work well for viewing with OSX. QuickTime has the trim feature too, for snapshots VLC suffices.

Use the AV out to connect to a monitor or TV if you need a bigger view.

 

[DavidUK]

In instructions it says:

If I connect in this way, A119 turns on, but that's it. Is that because the supplied mini-USB cable is just a power cable and doesn't contain data wiring?
UPDATE: Yes. Now found a digital camera mini-USB-to-USB cable and using this entered mass storage mode. Files appear on PC.

I was thinking it would be another way of viewing whilst setting up.

Also...

If I press this button whilst in record mode (what is "video mode"), I just save a file. How do I access the playlist on the device itself?

 

[DavidUK]

This is handy... I found my Samsung S7 micro-USB-to-USB adapter. Used the video cable I found and this to plug the A119 into my S7 and immediately it went into mass storage mode and all the files appeared on my S7. I just tap one to see it play on the S7's screen. When installing the cam I'll just record a clip then unplug the power cable, plug in the video cable and my S7 and I can check alignment. Easier with an "AV Out" cable, but I don't have one right now.

 

[DavidUK]

VLC and QuickTime work well for viewing with OSX. QuickTime has the trim feature too, for snapshots VLC suffices.

Use the AV out to connect to a monitor or TV if you need a bigger view.

Thanks. Installed both on MacBook and both work, either from data cable to A119 or with microSD removed and plugged into Mac.

I'll decide which I prefer to use when I have more time.

At some stage I'll need to know how to transfer a clip from SD card to show it on the forum. What's the simplest way? Thanks.

 

[TonyM]

At some stage I'll need to know how to transfer a clip from SD card to show it on the forum. What's the simplest way? Thanks.

To share a video clip you can upload it to one of the supported websites then insert a link here. YouTube seems to be the most popular. I use Vimeo as I already had an account there.

If you want to share the original data file, you can upload and share with sites like Google drive or Mega.

 

[DavidUK]

Thanks @TonyM

One thing I worked out was that when I switched the format message off...



it still showed on start up...



...so I guessed I had to format it one last time before the "format warning OFF" would apply and actually turn off. Once formatted it disappeared on start up.

Is it wise to set the format warning to a certain period, and if I do will I need to format once again for that period setting to apply?

I've test fitted the cam using a small bit of double sided tape on the 3M backing and I know where to permanently fix it now. The grey 3M tape is going to show up so I'll replace like @Cainor has with some tape I have already, as here: http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/p/c...esives-tapes-sealants/tape/?BARB621&0&cc5_144
Used this for a number plate and it dropped off, so not sure how it'll do.

I wonder if anyone has sourced some grey/black 3M pads, or if Viofo are going to make them available cheaply. Postage will be the killer I guess?

This stuff is great, but it's WHITE!!!...



Permanent fitting tomorrow... hopefully.

 

[Cainor]

All 3M pars are grey... I abandoned your thought once I seen only grey 3M parts on other types of products.

Just use Bison
https://www.ebay.com/itm/222284442591

 

[Harsh]

Get a roll of 3M VHB 5952. It's the same tape used by Viofo and SG for their adhesive pads.

 

[DavidUK]

Get a roll of 3M VHB 5952. It's the same tape used by Viofo and SG for their adhesive pads.

You mean the old thick grey Viofo pad or the new thin black one?

 

[Mtz]

The new thin black is 5952. First time was used by Street Guardian after users requests. Now Viofo buyers asked the same thing and now they are offering black tape too.

enjoy,
Mtz