Does your 2 yr plus dashcam work as well now as it did on day 1?

GTA Driver

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Dash Cam
Iroad 3300CH, G1W-c, Mobius C, A119 v1 & v3, A118-c2
Some time ago, on an automotive forum, a poster mentioned his expensive dash cam broke down a year after use and has purchased less expensive ones.

For myself, my Jaewoncnc Iroad Ione-3300CH 2CH two channel dash cam has experienced a number of issues
  1. GPS stopped working. For my iroad, the speed doesn't go on the video, but in a separate window on its propriety viewer, which shows a speedometer. It also had a window with a map. The speedometer and map window stopped displaying anything, and I stopped using the viewer a month or so later. I wasn't that concerned as I prefer VLC anyway and use started using Linux almost exclusively on my home computer. I never bothered to upgrade the firmware to see if it would fix the problem. 15 months or so after purchase
  2. Time loss#1. In parking mode, it seemed to lose about 5 minutes an hour. This becam an issue when I used my dash cam to record vandalism between my home and my neighbours. 15 months after purchase
  3. Time loss#2. After it stops running on the car battery, it sets the clock to January 2013. This was about 28 months after purchase
  4. Rear channel camera dying. Not getting a rear channel recorded any longer. Not sure if its the cable or the camera. Oddly when I disconnected the rear camera, problem #2 went away. Rear channel/cable issue happened 30 months after installing the rear camera.
So curious, has anyone else notice a decline in performance in their dash cams a dozen or so months after it has been installed?
 
I had a small handful of the Chinese cheap ones, under £20 at the time was considered dirt cheap for dash cams a few years ago, 3 failed comletely within a matter of months, one had its charger fail, used a different charger for a while but noticed it'd sporadically miss files despite always showing as recording.

bought a mio mivue 508 nearly 18 months ago, with clubcard points from Tesco it only cost me £37 and has been belting since day 1. it now lives in my rear window. I managed to get another mio 508 off ebay last december, it was brand new and cost me £21.30, I use it in the work van and also as an interior cam in the car because I can't leave it in the van when I'm not using it, but as it's 4 months old it doesn't count yet :) my car's front cam was a monkon G1W-c, which would probably still work if I hadn't smashed it trying to open it up!! I only had that one for about a month and it cost me a tenner brand new (and was genuine). I have a Viofo G1W-s in the front now and hopefully i'll get a good couple of years out of it!
 
Indeed they do, my lukas LK-7500 are on its 4 year or something, and still going strong, and might i add on the same 64 Gb memory card.
My innovv C3 are also going strong now 2 years old i think ( since release day ), and on the same 32 Gb memory card. ( rarely get a format and if so it is on the computer )
My first 9665GC did slide in focus, but i adjusted for that before i installed it in my friends car, also going strong since release day.
My mobius 1, well what can i say, the damn thing just will not die, memory cards have died in it but the camera just keep on like the energizer bunny.
I have "killed" 2 X cameras, but the #3 production model are still going strong, but not in use ATM as i await a camera that will replace it in the rear.
I will try to kill the x camera this summer, but i doubt i can do it unless i go to extreme measures like strapping it to a RC plane and then crash it.
 
I have several cams that are over two years old and still work just fine, with their LiPo battery still allowing correct shutdown process after 12v supply stops (and still holding enough charge for recording for many minutes without 12v power).
Most mid-market and higher-end dashcams seem to last fairly well, except those branded by Nextbase (DOD).

I don't use my 2+ year-old Mio-5 series, Cobra or Transcend cams much nowadays due to their bulkiness so I've often thought about putting them up for sale but decided not to sell in case as soon as I sell them to someone they stop working!
 
My 2 SG9665GC V1 cams purchased just after their public release are trucking along today just as they did when I first got them in February 2015 (hardware wise, there have been firmware updates).

Now that I've said that I've cursed myself and they will both melt down into a black, gooey mess the next time I start the car. o_O:D
 
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"A" lens, battery, was from late 2014. Original battery.
"C2" lens, Super Capacitor, was assembled from parts from late 2015.
Both Mobius have been working fine.
 
I have 2 Lukas LK-7900's since Feb 2015.....both work just fine and looks as good as day 1. Kingston 128gb cards since day 1 as well, reformat when I fill up. No issues so far....knock on wood!
 
Kind of encouraging to see so long time Mobius users not experience any problems as I have one.

I would have expected some problems approaching three years use as similar small electronic items like network equipment and phones start to decline. Also these things are in cars which may experience extreme heat or cold.

We do hear about users having their dash cams and forgetting about them and discovering they don't work during an accident but its mostly a cable or SD card issue.
 
My Mobius keeps going strong well after 2 years, and my G1W-C was close to a couple years good when a fire destroyed it. Knowing something of electronics I know that cheaper components tend to fail sooner but any component can fail at any time. Build quality matters a lot too. Better made cams get better components but sooner or later they will all die from the variable-temperatire and vibration-laden automotive environment they live in. Nothing lasts forever :rolleyes:

I live on the "KISS" principle. The more there is which can go wrong, the more there is that will go wrong. That's why I'm not a fan of integrated GPS, LDWS and all that crap. You don't really need it so why have another potential failure point in something which you want to be as reliable as is possible? If you want the other stuff get it in a separate device and keep your cams simple :cool:

In reading these forums you'll notice that most cam failures are in 'features' which didn't work correctly or total cam death rather than simply a failure to record caused by the cam itself. And most cam failures occur on or shortly after start-up so always check them a few minutes into their operation to be sure all seems well. P/S and SD card issues are not the cam's fault so I'm not speaking of those here, only cams ;) Given their low cost I'm truly amazed at how good most decent or better cams function and endure the ravages we put them through.

Phil
 
I have a Shadow GT550WS from @russ331 which he was kindly giving away. I'm not sure of its exact age, but, I think it would be 2 years old easily, probably going on 3.
Video wise it has been perfect, records at every startup, quality is good, no missing files. The original battery was completely shot and no good for anything. I put two smaller RC mini heli LiPo's into it that I had spare and it runs fine.

The only two issues it has now... I can't get the GPS to work in the car (yet it works running on the new batteries in the house) and sometimes it takes 2 or even 3 button presses to lock a file as read only. Neither are major problems though, it does the basics well and that is what's important. It handles 128GB cards, I bought a low(ish) profile sticky mount and sprayed the front half of its shell with black PlastiDip so it's even quite discreet now.
 
The Li Ion battery expired in my original cam at about 2 years, a DOD LS300W. It apparently took out the charging circuit too, because a new battery would not charge through the camera. So I got to buy a new camera with a super cap that will eventually fail too. But at least super caps don't have a reputation for catching fire.
 
I have a Shadow GT550WS from @russ331 which he was kindly giving away. I'm not sure of its exact age,
Bought the GT550 on 18 December 2014, so it's 2 years 4 months old. Good to know it's working ok with new batteries.

My oldest cams are Mobius. The oldest is 3 years 6 months old. The other is 2 years 11 months old. Both still working perfectly.
 
3 Mobius cams, all around 4 years. Ordered as soon as Techmoan's review came out.
The cam I use in the bus at work runs around 60 hours per week, subjected to extremes of temps and some horrendous bumpy roads. It's been dropped a couple of times as well!
Even though it / they have more than paid for themselves, I can't really justify swapping them for something else.
I'm rarely on the road at night - which would be my only reason for looking to upgrade.
 
WTF............ What did you pay for it then ???????????????

$70 bucks on Amazon at the time. Still available between $55 and $70. Kingston does not have a dash cam exception in its warranty...so that's a plus. Can't complain...happy with the price and the capacity.
 
used blackvue dr550gw-2ch and two dr650-2ch cams for several years, one of the 650s I used over 2 years. worked great until I finally switched to thinkware f770.
 
I have in the family 5 nextbase dash cams, not a single one works perfectly and most have a whole host of issues, hence why they are being replaced!!
 
My Mini 0801 is still going strong, and I bought one of the first ones almost 4 years ago. No idea why the mini series has a bad rep. My G1w didnt even last 6 months.
 
Mini 0801 plus 3 Mobius ...not in heavy use as i play around with mounts etc & change them around. Use Mobius as travel cams recording car trips . Never needed as accident cams but 2 are in my car always as dashcams.
 
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