Disappointed with Viofo for Abandoning A129 Duo Owners

These A129 Duo’s (got 6 of them) are a real pain in the behind really. All updated to 1.9 and all have similar issues. Dropped frames in front, duplicate frames rear, random beeps and double beeps while driving and loss of video material. Parking mode just randomly stops after 10 minutes or 2 hours etc.

For example, 2 of my cars were hit while parked and there is zero footage. One of the cars was hit by debris on the road and the GPS speed indicator showed that the car was driving 168km/h while the blackbox inside the car said it was 110. I could go on for hours but one thing is for certain, these are quite unreliable camera’s.
 
So is this dashcam worth buying? Does parking mode work? Skim-reading this thread, people are saying this does not work and parking mode is one of the key features I want when purchasing my first ever dashcam.

What parking mode features do you need?
I have found low bit-rate works fine, but "Auto Event Detection" (Does buffered parking in latest firmware) I have had issues with.
The camera would stop recording to the card after a certain amount of time (usually 2 hours). It sounds like this has been fixed though in the latest beta firmware.

I have a mini 0906 but the parking mode features are a bit more restrictive... No low bit-rate (only time lapse) and just normal motion detection (not buffered)
 
Low Bitrate Parking Mode - G-Sensor Test
FW V1.9T2 Build 20191106


Low bitrate parking mode. Test impact by closing door firmly. G-sensor triggered. File saved in DCIM>Movie>RO folder.
 
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Buffered Parking Mode - G-Sensor Test
FW V1.9T2 Build 20191106


Buffered parking mode. Test impact by closing door firmly. G-sensor triggered. 45s file saved in DCIM>Parking folder. Parking G-Sensor set to HIGH.
 
Buffered parking mode. Test impact by closing door firmly. G-sensor triggered. 45s file saved in DCIM>Parking folder.
Do the files that include a G-sensor event get write protected (either g-sensor triggered or motion triggered files), or are they just included with all the motion triggered parking files?
 
Do the files that include a G-sensor event get write protected (either g-sensor triggered or motion triggered files), or are they just included with all the motion triggered parking files?
Normal driving:
- F&R files saved in Movie folder.
- F&R event files (g-sensor, or manually activated) saved to RO folder.

Low bitrate:
- PF&PR files saved in Movie folder.
- PF&PR event files (g-sensor) saved to RO folder.

Buffered parking:
- PF&PR event files (g-sensor or motion triggered) saved to Parking folder.

I understand that the Movie, RO and Parking folders each have their own loop process, so in theory any file can be over-written, although I have yet to verify that. I also do not know the respective proportions of the memory card reserved for each folder.
 
I also do not know the respective proportions of the memory card reserved for each folder.
The event buffered files were 30% of the space available to the Movie folder, however that is changing/has changed/may change, and it may now be done on number of files. Might be worth checking how it should be working on your current version before doing any testing.
 
- PF&PR event files (g-sensor or motion triggered) saved to Parking folder.
I would hope that the files with a g-sensor event do not get overwritten by motion triggered files, although if you get a g-sensor event every time you close a door then maybe it is not such a good idea...
 
These A129 Duo’s (got 6 of them) are a real pain in the behind really. All updated to 1.9 and all have similar issues. Dropped frames in front, duplicate frames rear, random beeps and double beeps while driving and loss of video material. Parking mode just randomly stops after 10 minutes or 2 hours etc.

For example, 2 of my cars were hit while parked and there is zero footage. One of the cars was hit by debris on the road and the GPS speed indicator showed that the car was driving 168km/h while the blackbox inside the car said it was 110. I could go on for hours but one thing is for certain, these are quite unreliable camera’s.

Sadoka-

Lots of users have experienced the same issues as you with the A129. It's clear that many dash cams have some problems. One has to decide if the inherent problem(s) is worth dealing with. Did you replace any of your A129's? If so, I'm curious what you decided on. - - - On a good note, it looks like TonyM's tests above are showing a glimmer of hope for the g-sensor feature in parking mode.

Btw, I was recently driving on a freeway and a small piece of metal came flying fast in front of me and struck my car. It hit my hood (put a very small hole in it) and glanced off the windshield and nicked the roof (very small). The a129 captured the initial hit to the hood, but I can't see anything after that (ie, hitting the windshield). Although the sound of the impact on the inside of the car was extremely loud, the playback of the video only made a click sound when the metal object hit my car... (not loud at all) ??? Anyway, although I didn't/don't need the video footage for my insurance claim, it's nice to actually see what happened.

So, the a129 works/worked well for me while driving. - - Hopefully the g-sensor iin parking mode problem gets fixed soon!
 
My a129 has been going strong powered on 24/7. I know this isn’t ideal for most users, but I turned off all parking mode features and just leave the camera running all day/night. With parking mode enabled I had some minor issues with the screen randomly turning off and on and the camera powering down after about 2hrs of switching to parking mode. If I remember correctly I have the g-sensor set to medium which is enough to trigger door slams.
 
These A129 Duo’s (got 6 of them) are a real pain in the behind really. All updated to 1.9 and all have similar issues. Dropped frames in front, duplicate frames rear, random beeps and double beeps while driving and loss of video material. Parking mode just randomly stops after 10 minutes or 2 hours etc.

For example, 2 of my cars were hit while parked and there is zero footage. One of the cars was hit by debris on the road and the GPS speed indicator showed that the car was driving 168km/h while the blackbox inside the car said it was 110. I could go on for hours but one thing is for certain, these are quite unreliable camera’s.

Never had issues with beeping and loss of video. That's likely attributed to an incompatible memory card. For instance the Sandisk Ultras didn't play nice and I had that problem. Upgraded to the Sandisk 256GB A2 Extreme zero isues.

Dropped and duplicate frames is ongoing problem.

Low Bitrate record is best in parking mode. No need to worry about if G-Sensor triggers properly. Sure you'll scan through hours of video but at least the event will be captured.

Speed works accurately for me.
 
Buffered Parking Mode - G-Sensor Test
FW V1.9T2 Build 20191106


Buffered parking mode. Test impact by closing door firmly. G-sensor triggered. 45s file saved in DCIM>Parking folder. Parking G-Sensor set to HIGH.
This is getting better news for the camera, I hope the new firmware test out well so we all get update
 
The hidden files on camera, are they read when I place my SD card in the computer? Or must one do something else?
 
This is getting better news for the camera, I hope the new firmware test out well so we all get update

High will pick up a bump in the road. Everything will be saved as an event if you set to high. TRUST ME.
 
High will pick up a bump in the road. Everything will be saved as an event if you set to high. TRUST ME.
Better then no footage, I have a large card and do not need to worry about the camera taking too many pictures, it’s the absent of events I am worried about
 
Better then no footage, I have a large card and do not need to worry about the camera taking too many pictures, it’s the absent of events I am worried about

Well make it very sensitive then. Medium isn't sensitive enough. I believe its the low setting that isnt sensitive at all. And high will pick up everything including a speed bump. Think I have it right on the Low / High. High is the most sensitive.
 
Well make it very sensitive then. Medium isn't sensitive enough. I believe its the low setting that isnt sensitive at all. And high will pick up everything including a speed bump. Think I have it right on the Low / High. High is the most sensitive.

I don't know why anyone is concerned with the g-sensor going off while they're driving their car...lol... Who needs to be alerted that they ran over a bump or hit a pot hole... anyone???? - - And who needs the g-sensor to tell you if you ran into a car or vice versa!...lol - - I think the sitation will be rather obvious.

How about this one: Someone runs into your car while you are no where near your car, i,e, it's parked; that's when I'd like to be alerted by the g-sensor. That's when it serves a purpose!!! - - I could care less if it goes off while I'm driving, because I "normally" know what's going on with my car while I'm driving it...
 
I don't know why anyone is concerned with the g-sensor going off while they're driving their car...lol... Who needs to be alerted that they ran over a bump or hit a pot hole... anyone???? - - And who needs the g-sensor to tell you if you ran into a car or vice versa!...lol - - I think the sitation will be rather obvious.

How about this one: Someone runs into your car while you are no where near your car, i,e, it's parked; that's when I'd like to be alerted by the g-sensor. That's when it serves a purpose!!! - - I could care less if it goes off while I'm driving, because I "normally" know what's going on with my car while I'm driving it...

You may want that g-sensor working properly while driving in case you are ever involved a serious accident, possibly knocked unconscious and/or transported to a hospital in an ambulance. It's an extra measure to help ensure that the dashcam marks that important recording as read-only so it does not overwrite it if no one else bothers to turn the ignition off before towing it away, or even if someone does turn the ignition off but you have a parking mode enabled, which may also overwrite that important recording. (This all assumes that the battery is still functional in the car after an accident of course.)
 
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