Let me preface this... As a Texan, all my future dash cams will use Capacitors, not LiPos, I could have saved myself a ton of money.
That said, I purchased the Spy Tec A118 Full 1080P HD Video Car Dashboard Camera - Novatek NT96650 Chipset + Aptina AR0330 Lens based on the great reviews on dashcam talk, and my camera was able to prove fault in an accident saving me half of my deductible by proving the other driver didn't use a blinker, so I absolutely think my camera paid for itself ($250-80=Still ahead). This camera installed cleanly, had great quality video and did everything it was supposed to do... Until the LiPo battery died. On my camera I just chalked it up to hot Texas sun, and the fact I had it always powered on. It still works, however if the car power is turned off, there isn't enough juice left to "close" the current video file, so I have to let the car run for 5 minutes after I capture something, no biggie, until I get into something serious and the car loses power, now I won't have a usable video file. I ordered another one of theses figuring the battery issues was my fault as a Christmas gift for my sister less than a year ago, her car is garage kept both at home and work, ruling out the long Texas heat for the most part. She text me the other day a picture of her dash cam with an expanding LiPo battery to the point that the plastic case is bulging and separating. A bulging LiPo is downright unsafe, so at this point I reached out to SpyTec via their phone number expecting a 1 year warranty as answered in the Questions section for this product on Amazon. I was told they only back their products for 90 days and even after offering to give them more money for the capacitor versions, still they made it obvious they don't care about their brand name and customer retention. I have since told two other friends that have purchased this exact camera by my recommendation less than a month ago to return their cameras before they too are stuck with dead or possibly unsafe batteries.
I'm not one to leave bad reviews, but I reached out to Spytec via phone and e-mail giving them every chance to make this right, even offering to give them more money to upgrade to the capacitor version, and still nothing. I do not recommend this LiPo version of this camera, I do not recommend Spytec, and I hope this review saves others from having a camera fail when it was needed most.
Pics of battery expanding:
imgur.com/a/dRW7k
Lucky for me, the price for 1080p Capacitor dashcams has come down to the same price point this year, sweet
Thanks for the great site and as I search for my next camera dashcam talk will again guide me to the correct choice, but this time I will make sure to research the seller and warranty as part of my decision. These would be great additions to the official reviews IMHO, I know I wouldn't have purchased something from a vendor that can't back their product more than 90 days.
That said, I purchased the Spy Tec A118 Full 1080P HD Video Car Dashboard Camera - Novatek NT96650 Chipset + Aptina AR0330 Lens based on the great reviews on dashcam talk, and my camera was able to prove fault in an accident saving me half of my deductible by proving the other driver didn't use a blinker, so I absolutely think my camera paid for itself ($250-80=Still ahead). This camera installed cleanly, had great quality video and did everything it was supposed to do... Until the LiPo battery died. On my camera I just chalked it up to hot Texas sun, and the fact I had it always powered on. It still works, however if the car power is turned off, there isn't enough juice left to "close" the current video file, so I have to let the car run for 5 minutes after I capture something, no biggie, until I get into something serious and the car loses power, now I won't have a usable video file. I ordered another one of theses figuring the battery issues was my fault as a Christmas gift for my sister less than a year ago, her car is garage kept both at home and work, ruling out the long Texas heat for the most part. She text me the other day a picture of her dash cam with an expanding LiPo battery to the point that the plastic case is bulging and separating. A bulging LiPo is downright unsafe, so at this point I reached out to SpyTec via their phone number expecting a 1 year warranty as answered in the Questions section for this product on Amazon. I was told they only back their products for 90 days and even after offering to give them more money for the capacitor versions, still they made it obvious they don't care about their brand name and customer retention. I have since told two other friends that have purchased this exact camera by my recommendation less than a month ago to return their cameras before they too are stuck with dead or possibly unsafe batteries.
I'm not one to leave bad reviews, but I reached out to Spytec via phone and e-mail giving them every chance to make this right, even offering to give them more money to upgrade to the capacitor version, and still nothing. I do not recommend this LiPo version of this camera, I do not recommend Spytec, and I hope this review saves others from having a camera fail when it was needed most.
Pics of battery expanding:
imgur.com/a/dRW7k
Lucky for me, the price for 1080p Capacitor dashcams has come down to the same price point this year, sweet
Thanks for the great site and as I search for my next camera dashcam talk will again guide me to the correct choice, but this time I will make sure to research the seller and warranty as part of my decision. These would be great additions to the official reviews IMHO, I know I wouldn't have purchased something from a vendor that can't back their product more than 90 days.
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