Do I really need to reformat every time?

Drake3287

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Dash Cam
Rexing V1
New Rexing V1 owner with a question. The manual advises to reformat the SD card every time you download videos to your computer. Do I really need to do this or can I just place the SD card back into the camera with the prior videos still on it?

I'd rather just save my "locked videos" on the card if possible. I'm using a 64GB card so space isn't really a concern. It's not like I'm going to have hundreds of "saved" videos.
 
Formatting puts extra wear on the card. A few times a year, yes- that may help keep things going smoothly. Otherwise no unless you encounter a problem where formatting may help. And always format in-cam where possible as that seems to usually work better than a PC formatting alone.

Phil
 
Thanks for answers! Also, by chance can we view videos on our computer by simply plugging the microUSB cord into the V1? I'm assuming not but it would certainly cut down on the wear and tear of the SD card and the slot.
 
The SD socket is likely rated for at lest 10K insertion cycles or more and the card for more time than it will last even if you pull it daily, so I wouldn't worry about that. Just be gentle with everything and watch that the card locks in correctly. And be careful that it doesn't go flying and get lost when you pull it :eek: Micro SD cards are trained at hiding in the most inaccessible places it seems :p

Phil
 
it won't hurt to format the card, the camera only resets the file allocation table so won't cause any appreciable wear, it's a bit of a one size fits all recommendation to tell you to format the card each time you've had the card in your PC but it would save them a lot of support calls also, deleting files ad-hoc, not deleting files correctly, not ejecting the card correctly etc can affect how the card works when you put it back in the camera and is no fault of the camera when things go wrong, formatting the card in the camera after it has been in any other device I would consider to be good advice for some end users
 
Thanks for answers! Also, by chance can we view videos on our computer by simply plugging the microUSB cord into the V1? I'm assuming not but it would certainly cut down on the wear and tear of the SD card and the slot.

most cameras make for pretty poor card readers, better to eject the card and use a proper card reader
 
A "quick format" doesn't involve much writing, it just writes a blank directory structure. In fact it probably does little more than writing a single file, since that also involves writing back at least some of the directory structure and FAT tables (for example.)

A regular (non-quick) format will try to write to every sector to zero it, so avoid that. But even then, newer operating systems might understand you are dealing with flash memory and avoid doing this to reduce wear and tear.
 
Thanks for all the info on this! I'm sure I'll have more questions as time goes on though, so far the camera has been pretty simple. Just returned from my first real trip with it to San Diego from the Bay Area (1,000 miles) and surprisingly I only had a few good episodes worth "saving".
 
I format every day sometimes as I am asked to because of where I have been, other weeks just once a week, I have not noticed any issues at all, card is fiddly to grab so I filed 2 gentle grooves on it's sides, much better now.
 
Jokiin, will trying a non branded sd card in my F770 damage the card or the cam ?, by non branded I mean a known good brand of card just not a thinkware one, thanks
 
Jokiin, will trying a non branded sd card in my F770 damage the card or the cam ?, by non branded I mean a known good brand of card just not a thinkware one, thanks

won't hurt the camera, as I mentioned elsewhere some cards can go into read only mode if they encounter a problem, that would be a pretty rare occurrence just from trying to format the card though, if they do get messed up just from formatting they can most often be recovered but that's something you'd need to do in a computer
 
Thanks Jokiin, you sir are a legend.
 
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