DR900X-2CH PLUS VS Thinkware U1000? what one?

[wozzzzza]

i was a blackvue fan 10-12 years back then defected to streetguardian as they were a tonne better, but since jokiin left us they have been going nowhere so im defecting either back to blackvue or thinkware but cant workout what one to go with??
i want decent parking mode as well as night recordings. what one is better? Thinkware U1000 2ch or DR900X-2CH PLUS

 

[egonvdv]

My quick 2 cents:

Seems in general TW has a bit better image, whereas BV has better cloud service

BV used to have overheating issues (in summer) but maybe that's fixed now.

the U1000 does very well in hot weather, but of course will also shut off when i gets too hot (sticking on heatsinks does help)

But both cameras are great, so in the end i guess it mainly comes down to which design you prefer

As to the PC software;
BV is much better; much easier to find images based on date
with TW this is quite difficult, as the file names (that have the date) are very small & difficult to read.
(it's better to just read the files off the card, without using the software)

 

[Vortex Radar]

Yeah I prefer the BV for the notably improved cloud capabilities and more configurable voice notifications for parking mode. I also like that its CPL is removable for the winter when it's dark a lot.

The U1000 has a little better video quality, especially for the rear cam and the energy saving parking mode is a big advantage.

 

[mentadent]

Have you considered VIOFO A139 Pro for the new sensor? It seems to be able to capture licence plates at speed.

 

[Vortex Radar]

Have you considered VIOFO A139 Pro for the new sensor? It seems to be able to capture licence plates at speed.

It seems to offer improved low light performance, but not faster shutter speeds and an improved ability to freeze frame moving plates, at least based on my own findings so far.

 

[egonvdv]

Yeah I prefer the BV for the notably improved cloud capabilities and more configurable voice notifications for parking mode. I also like that its CPL is removable for the winter when it's dark a lot.

The U1000 has a little better video quality, especially for the rear cam and the energy saving parking mode is a big advantage.

disagree on energy saving though, as it won't film the actual impact, so pretty useless

 

[Vortex Radar]

disagree on energy saving though, as it won't film the actual impact, so pretty useless

Obviously everything has trade-offs. Often capturing something is better than nothing so I wouldn’t describe it as useless. If that capability is important to you though, you can add Thinkware’s radar module and you’ll get both buffered impact detection (up front) and long term parking recording.

Another option is to spend a few thousand dollars worth of batteries and expansions and then drive for several hours to charge them all (or recharge at home). Then you can get a week of buffered parking recording front and rear.

 

[CB91710]

Obviously everything has trade-offs. Often capturing something is better than nothing so I wouldn’t describe it as useless. If that capability is important to you though, you can add Thinkware’s radar module and you’ll get both buffered impact detection (up front) and long term parking recording.

Another option is to spend a few thousand dollars worth of batteries and expansions and then drive for several hours to charge them all (or recharge at home). Then you can get a week of buffered parking recording front and rear.

I have the radar unit on mine and it captures a LOT of non-events. It doesn't record every time someone passes, but it seems like any time someone with a louder exhaust passes it saves.
The one drawback is it only records from the front camera based on the radar trigger.

So the radar unit does make the parking mode power saving function much more useful. I get a couple or three days of parking standby time.

 

[Vortex Radar]

I have the radar unit on mine and it captures a LOT of non-events. It doesn't record every time someone passes, but it seems like any time someone with a louder exhaust passes it saves.
The one drawback is it only records from the front camera based on the radar trigger.

So the radar unit does make the parking mode power saving function much more useful. I get a couple or three days of parking standby time.

Yeah, the radar transmitter really seems to be designed to capture larger vehicles, not smaller people. I get some recordings like that too with many brands of the dashcams. The car drives by which triggers the motion detection and then the vibration from the exhaust can trigger an impact detection. You can always try reducing the parking G sensor sensitivity.

 

[egonvdv]

Obviously everything has trade-offs. Often capturing something is better than nothing so I wouldn’t describe it as useless. If that capability is important to you though, you can add Thinkware’s radar module and you’ll get both buffered impact detection (up front) and long term parking recording.

Another option is to spend a few thousand dollars worth of batteries and expansions and then drive for several hours to charge them all (or recharge at home). Then you can get a week of buffered parking recording front and rear.

that's indeed what i have. i get abt 5 days on my batteries .

the radar is also no use to me, since (as @CB91710 also mentioned) it doesn't work for the rear cam

​

 

[CB91710]

Ya, the radar does trigger/record on a person if there is an impact.
It works fine since I normally back in when parked at home, so a person walking by to an adjacent car and slamming their door into mine will be captured.
At work, I have to park head-in in the structure, so I get a lot of recordings of loud cars passing on the other side, but I generally grab an end space up against the wall and tweak my angle a bit so there's actually enough room to ride a bike between my car and the next parking spot. Only real risk of impact would be someone from the other side backing into me.

Overall, I am very happy with the setup. My only complaint is the limited cloud support.
I would gladly pay a fair subscription fee... even $100/year... to have a useful/flexible cloud functionality along the lines of Blackvue.

One thing I really wish it did was upload parking recording clips when the camera reconnects to the hotspot.... and also better error correcting logic on driving impact uploads.
I've tested the app notification and video upload while on the road by rapping my knuckles against the camera. It sent the app notification of impact (and I forgot to tell my wife I was testing), but it only uploaded the rear camera. MAYBE since the impact was from the rear, that's what it uploaded? But if it had been a situation where I were stopped at a red light, I would want the forward view to confirm that... though it is still recorded on the SD card.

 

[Puffnstuff]

I have a U1000 2 channel with a cellink neo battery and with the radar module it can go for long stretches in parking mode without depleting the neo. YMMV but my unit only consumes about 30% of the neo per week while parked. Too bad it doesn't have a rear radar module. I would love to see a unit that adds that and side channels plus an interior camera but the cost for such a thing would probably be prohibitive.

Cloud service on the other hand seems to be hit and miss but I don't use it myself. Impact sensitivity seems to be good with my unit and it think it has a lot to do with how securely its mounted to the glass so it can feel the impacts along with the sensitivity setting. I had to turn mine down as it would alert while driving down the interstate each time I would hit an expansion joint on overpasses and bridges.