Anyone with GOOD experience with DR500GW-HD?

[erewhon]

I ordered a DR500GW-HD yesterday (8/8/13) from Amazon, based on the generally good Amazon reviews. However, I just finished looking at the various DASHCAMTALK forums and found all the reported problems with getting a correct time on the BlackVue device. (Yes, I did things in the wrong order!)

Anyhow, is anyone getting their BlackVue DR500GW-HD working properly, with no problems?
If you have no problems, what is your secret?

It looks like I should be prepared to send the thing back to Amazon.

 

[duction]

ive had mine a few days, doesnt get over the top hot, works fine.. the firmware 1.0.0.5 it ships with is fine.. i just updated to the New firmware 1.0.0.8 from the main site and its works fine,, nothing wrong with the time either. aslong as you follow the steps correctly and format the card correctly as by the instructions it works fine.. you made a great choice!

i was going to wait for the 550 version but the thought of having to run another cable from the front cam to the back cam a bit rediculous, plus the websites are stating the 550 is the same cam but with a slightly reduced viewing angle boggles the mind paying an extra £120?

i love mine. just need to hardwire it in with the free smart power device i got with it.

 

[tonyg02910]

I have had mine for a month.. Video is excellent, installation is very easy and the software works. have it showing on an ipad, and samsung galaxy 3 and my Imac with NO problems. It worked the first time, and I really thought I would have a problem, but it just does what it is supposed to do. Take excellent videos

 

[venezian]

For the features and video quality I think it's on the expensive side for a dash cam. Otherwise, I've been content with mine. Video quality is good enough, the wifi feature is nice to have to be able to save video clips on the fly!

Blackvue will need to make huge improvements in order to keep me buying their products. The DR500GW-HD is my third BV product.

If BV reads this:
Improve video quality
reduce the field of view slightly
improve night recording
fix the time zone issue

If these things are improved and done soon, like the holiday season I will hold out on buying something else.

 

[Hillbilly]

Am running 3 cameras, a 350,400 and 500 and apart from a few minor issues with the 400 regarding video not appearing on one occasion have had no trouble at all.

It seems that the time problem is isolated to one time zone or one batch of cameras.

95% have had no trouble whatever.

A narrower angle lens would be an improvement.

 

[vbx]

I think the wide angle is fine. But they just need to allow us to adjust the focus manually because different countries have different sized license plates.

And yes, the video quality needs to be better. I mean, the video files on this cam is 70mb! My phone takes clearer and crisper 1 minute videos at half that size.

They need a better lens and better hardware. Use a Sony next time.

 

[defbear]

Yes. When I was running 1.005 I thought the video was acceptable and sometimes even better. I could read the license plates of those cars close to me. It synced with the GPS quickly. Once I pointed the camera lower the white balance got better and when I added a black mat finish dashboard cover it got even better as there was less glare for the camera to deal with. Before I bought the camera I perceived the on-board wi-fi as mostly a sales pitch. I expected YouTube style view and wait and view and wait. I was right. I'm not disappointed at all. The wi-fi is great for pointing the camera. I've never had a problem with live-view. And Apple users can copy video to their iPhone or iPad without iTunes. The windshield mount is brilliant. The camera is completely out of my vision being behind the mirror yet I could change the angle via live view with the easy way it is to adjust the camera in the mount.

 

[tonymy01]

Wow, unexpected post defbear, much better tone than previous. I like my camera too, no probs at all, 1.008 file size is a bit big to Wi-Fi stream smoothly now, but quality is good,I don't have any of the troubles you read about in some other threads about date/time with this new f/w (Sydney for what it is worth). Obviously defbear and some others have had some upgrade quirks that have stuffed the date/time up, hoping this gets resolved quickly!

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk 4

 

[duction]

took this quickly yesterday with max settings on bitrate and 2nd setting on brightness, the new higher quality on firmware 1.0.0.8 really helps!

 

[erewhon]

Thanks for all the comments!

I can now look forward to the arrival of my DR500GW-HD on Monday (Aug 12) with more confidence.

In the meantime, I purchased a high-quality micro SD card and thoroughly tested it with three different programs, to look for defects or possibly bogus merchandise. All looks good.

I then carefully prepared the card with the 1.008e firmware, following all instructions to the letter. The card is ready to install.

Let's hope that I can post a favorable update on Monday.

 

[e30blitz]

Yes sir

Mine works perfect and is perfectly fine for my everyday use



Sent from the half eaten apple

 

[duction]

one thing ive noticed is when you upload the video to youtube the quality drops and you get a juddery play on it, real strange as the raw video plays fine with no lagging.

 

[jokiin]

real strange as the raw video plays fine with no lagging.

YouTube re-encodes the video to make it smaller, quality gets lost in the process

 

[Chuck W.]

I have a BlackVue 400 in one car and a BlackVue 500 in another. Besides the 16GB Micro SD card dieing in the 400, they have worked great. Relax, you'll be happy with it.

 

[erewhon]

I did the original post, asking about your experiences with the DR500GW-HD.

My device arrived today (Monday, Aug 12), and it seems to work fine, with one minor glitch in the process.

I prepared an SD card with the 1.008e firmware update and my desired configuration settings, and inserted it into the BlackVue before powering it up for the first time.

I turned on the BlackVue, and the nice lady inside the unit told me that she was busy updating. Then, it came on and started recording. I connected my Android tablet using WiFi, and could play recorded video and real-time video. Success!

However, I noticed that the dates and times in the file names and in the playback were all wrong. Aww nuts!

The BlackVue thought it was July 25 around 10 AM, instead of August 8 around 2 PM like it really was.

So, I thought I'd revert back to the original firmware, which I assumed was on the original Pittasoft SD card, which I had removed. I looked at the card, and it was blank. EDIT: The adapter that I used to connect the Pittasoft SD card to my computer USB port was defective (I was not using the adapter that came with the BlackVue). So, I do not know the original state of the Pittasoft SD card.END EDIT

So, I put the original blank Pittasoft card into the BlackVue and powered up. No reason to do so - I just thought I'd try. The nice lady told me that the Pittasoft card was being prepared, and when that was done, the recording started. Bingo! The dates and times are now correct! (I have no idea why...)

Anyhow, I'll play with it more tomorrow and report any interesting stuff. So far, I'm thinking that the BlackVue DR500GW-HD is rather nice. I have not yet studied closely the video quality, but I like the small size of the unit (including the mount), so that it does not hinder my forward view, and I like that the unit can be easily detached and hidden from potential thieves.

 

[Hillbilly]

I did the original post, asking about your experiences with the DR500GW-HD.

My device arrived today (Monday, Aug 12), and it seems to work fine, with one minor glitch in the process.

I prepared an SD card with the 1.008e firmware update and my desired configuration settings, and inserted it into the BlackVue before powering it up for the first time.

I turned on the BlackVue, and the nice lady inside the unit told me that she was busy updating. Then, it came on and started recording. I connected my Android tablet using WiFi, and could play recorded video and real-time video. Success!

However, I noticed that the dates and times in the file names and in the playback were all wrong. Aww nuts!

The BlackVue thought it was July 25 around 10 AM, instead of August 8 around 2 PM like it really was.

So, I thought I'd revert back to the original firmware, which I assumed was on the original Pittasoft SD card, which I had removed. I looked at the card, and it was blank.

So, I put the original blank Pittasoft card into the BlackVue and powered up. No reason to do so - I just thought I'd try. The nice lady told me that the Pittasoft card was being prepared, and when that was done, the recording started. Bingo! The dates and times are now correct! (I have no idea why...)

Anyhow, I'll play with it more tomorrow and report any interesting stuff. So far, I'm thinking that the BlackVue DR500GW-HD is rather nice. I have not yet studied closely the video quality, but I like the small size of the unit (including the mount), so that it does not hinder my forward view, and I like that the unit can be easily detached and hidden from potential thieves.

Did you take it outside and let it reorient itself from where it was set to Usually London


In the Blackvue viewer click on the exclamation mark on the top bar and it will show which version firmware and viewer You should have put the original card in and started it up FIRST before you tried to update it

 

[AmericanDriver]

I ordered a DR500GW-HD yesterday (8/8/13) from Amazon, based on the generally good Amazon reviews. However, I just finished looking at the various DASHCAMTALK forums and found all the reported problems with getting a correct time on the BlackVue device. (Yes, I did things in the wrong order!)

Anyhow, is anyone getting their BlackVue DR500GW-HD working properly, with no problems?
If you have no problems, what is your secret?

It looks like I should be prepared to send the thing back to Amazon.

I have two BlackVue 500's and both have been working rock solid for many months now. I also purchased both from Amazon and have never had an issue. I just upgraded the firmware and yes the clock was off about an hour, but all I did is reformat the card by holding the wifi button for 10 seconds. It seemed to fix the issue. For the money, you do get a lot of feature for this little DVR cam. BlackVue seems like they are willing to help people on this forum. Customer service is good with this company.

 

[erewhon]

Did you take it outside and let it reorient itself from where it was set to Usually London

Yes, I did all the work outside, and the BlackVue picked up the GPS signal quite quickly.

In the Blackvue viewer click on the exclamation mark on the top bar and it will show which version firmware and viewer You should have put the original card in and started it up FIRST before you tried to update it

Yes, too late for that now! I learn from mistakes. However, I cannot figure out why I am not a genius by now... :shock:

 

[erewhon]

I have two BlackVue 500's and both have been working rock solid for many months now. I also purchased both from Amazon and have never had an issue. I just upgraded the firmware and yes the clock was off about an hour, but all I did is reformat the card by holding the wifi button for 10 seconds. It seemed to fix the issue. For the money, you do get a lot of feature for this little DVR cam. BlackVue seems like they are willing to help people on this forum. Customer service is good with this company.

Yes, I am getting more familiar with the BlackVue 500, and am getting more impressed with it. A lot of careful thought seems to have gone into the design. The minor glitch I had in getting it working could have been self-inflicted.

 

[Hillbilly]

I have two BlackVue 500's and both have been working rock solid for many months now. I also purchased both from Amazon and have never had an issue. I just upgraded the firmware and yes the clock was off about an hour, but all I did is reformat the card by holding the wifi button for 10 seconds. It seemed to fix the issue. For the money, you do get a lot of feature for this little DVR cam. BlackVue seems like they are willing to help people on this forum. Customer service is good with this company.

Yes, I am getting more familiar with the BlackVue 500, and am getting more impressed with it. A lot of careful thought seems to have gone into the design. The minor glitch I had in getting it working could have been self-inflicted.

When you get the camera the software is loaded in the camera When you first start it up you should put a BLANK card in the camera and it will load the required software onto it.

Only after that do you put a different version on a card into the camera to do an update.

It is not well explained,if at all in the manual.