Mini 0801, The Good The Bad & The Ugly...

[BobDiaz]

I'd be interested in hearing from Mini 0801 users as to what they like and what they dislike about the unit.

I've read that there are still some issues with the firmware and don't know if that has been fixed with the latest version or not.

Does the xxx.TS file pose a problem for users in terms of software compatibility?


Bob Diaz

 

[jokiin]

TS format itself is no problem, just more limited file handling options is what most dislike, the quality of the video is no different though

 

[Street Guardian USA]

I want to be able to quickly edit/crop/piece together a specific time sequence into a single .MP4 file.

RegistratorViewer does this but it's only compatible with .MOV or .MP4 files. (won't work with .TS)
http://registratorviewer.com/index_en.html

The Mini 0801 was originally designed to use the .MOV format from the very beginning. All the marketing material still said it used .MOV even when they were shipping .TS versions. The whole reason the engineers went with .TS was a last minute decision to prevent the looped/recycle mode from choking like we've seen it does. They supposedly fixed it, I'm hoping anyone using firmware's 20130913 or later that this is the case.

.MOV is also nice because it's supported on iPAD so you can easily import it for iMovie editing. .TS is not flexible at all for editing and that's why I'm not a fan.

Ok, so assuming things are finally sorted on the newest firmware and hardware revisions, I like the 0801 because...........

LIKE:
-It's tiny enough to fit behind the rear view mirror and not attract too much attention to it from outside. (smash and grabs)
-Building on my first point, I can't even see the DashCam at all while driving, completely blocked by the rear view mirror. (nice)
-Even though it's tiny, it still has a play back screen! (amazing)
-The GPS is built into the base, no need to run a long wire and separate GPS antenna.
-The price is right, any full featured best bang for the buck DashCam needs to be around $100 in my opinion.
-@17Mbps the video quality is mighty nice in such a small package!
-Auto Exposure Control is very smooth driving through shadows etc. (instant, natural looking)

Don't Like:
-I don't like that they have so many hardware revisions and confusing firmwares out there. (that's what happens when too many cooks are in the kitchen)
-It's a race to the bottom with this low price DashCam's (enabling the last point I just made)
-I had to return my first one from dead pixels and incompatible hardware to use the latest and greatest fixed firmware.
(They (e-prance) paid for my return shipping at least!)
-The instructions are confusing that it says not to use Class 10 cards, yet all the re-sellers are bundling Class 10 cards for sale.
-The Night recordings are "acceptable" but I'd really like to see WDR/HDR
-The Mono audio should be mixed mode, but they instead made it record as 2-channel stereo all in the left speaker. (hardware bug apparently)


I'm sure I can think of more

 

[manja]

Hi JazJon, Thanks for your detailed review. I bought the GPS version after reading the forum posts. The GPS always resets the time zone and wondering if there is a way to fix it?

 

[jokiin]

Hi JazJon, Thanks for your detailed review. I bought the GPS version after reading the forum posts. The GPS always resets the time zone and wondering if there is a way to fix it?

Have a look if your version has it but there's a timezone option to the left of the date and time which is not obvious at first

 

[manja]

Thanks a lot jokiin. I have the 0913 firmware with GPS and did find the time zone (really tiny) to the left of time settings. I have set it to +10 and assume that it should set the GPS to AEST time zone.

 

[efoo]

Thanks a lot jokiin. I have the 0913 firmware with GPS and did find the time zone (really tiny) to the left of time settings. I have set it to +10 and assume that it should set the GPS to AEST time zone.

If you are living around Australian Eastern States (except Queensland) you have to choose +11 due to recent daylight saving. In 6 months time, you have to change to +10 again. Only Queenslanders leave it at +10 all time.

 

[manja]

Thanks efoo. I will change it to +11 as I live in the eastern state.