Questions about capacitor version

[neilgunton]

How does the capacitor version keep track of time/date when disconnected from power? Does it have some kind of button cell to do that? If so, how long will that last, and is it replaceable by the user (e.g. by popping the cover off), or is it more involved (e.g. soldered to the board)? I think it must have some kind of button cell, otherwise how would it keep date/time when turned off. I mean, the whole selling point of the thing is "no battery", so I don't see how the date/time is retained when powered off. And if there *is* some kind of small battery, then doesn't that negate the whole point of having the capacitor?

Also, the marketing talks about batteries failing (which is why the capacitor version is being touted), but don't capacitors have a finite lifetime too? I thought I remembered reading about how when most WiFi routers fail, it's usually due to a capacitor. How long is the main power capacitor supposed to work in the G1W-C before it starts failing to hold a charge?

If I am only interested in using the dash cam while powered by the car, are there any other factors that would make the battery version preferable to the capacitor?

I was looking at SpyTec as a "reputable" seller to order one of these capacitor models, but to be honest I wasn't impressed with their customer chat on their website. I asked about how long the capacitor will last, and they told me 15-30 minutes. For one thing I was asking about the capacitor lifetime, not the runtime after you disconnect power, but in any case, their apparent misunderstanding of my question raises doubts about how much they know about the product they are selling. As far as I know, the capacitor version only runs long enough after power disconnect to save the last video file. I've not heard of it lasting 15-30 minutes. This makes me doubt anything else they would tell me.

So then I tried calling their main number, and asked the same questions. The lady asked me for my order number. I explained again that this was a pre-sales question, and she put me on hold. After a few minutes of that I just gave up. The whole thing kind of turned me off ordering from SpyTec, to be honest. I was going to order the regular battery version from estore009 on ebay, but they are apparently on vacation. I'm not getting any joy here.

Thanks for any tips...

Neil

 

[jokiin]

It has no RTC battery, it will keep time while there's a bit of charge left in the capacitors, if left for too long it will lose the time and date settings

 

[Deleted member 46308]

Welcome neilgunton!

 

[neilgunton]

It has no RTC battery, it will keep time while there's a bit of charge left in the capacitors, if left for too long it will lose the time and date settings

Ok, thanks. That actually contradicts what I was just told by Spytec, they said there is a button cell inside, but it's not replaceable. Hmm.

How certain are you of your information here? For example, are you speaking from experience of opening one of these things up, or are you a vendor, or is this from what someone else said etc.

Also, how long is "too long"? If the car isn't used for a few days, will I have to reset the date/time? Or is it a week? I don't always drive regularly, so that would be a hassle. What's the time scale we are talking about here?

 

[neilgunton]

Welcome neilgunton!

Why thankyou! Hope I don't sound too demanding here. Just looking for info before ordering. I already tried one of these G1W's from Amazon, and I'm sending them back because a) the battery won't hold a charge, and b) the video is fuzzy around the edges, and c) the camera was well nigh on impossible to jam onto the holder. I eventually did it. The files were .mov and seemed to be the right resolution, but I just got a bad feeling about the cams and want to buy again from a reputable vendor. I'm getting two, one for front and one for rear window.

 

[Deleted member 46308]

I purchased mine from @Pier28 and it is manufactured by @jokiin, and I think you will find that these two are over the top in customer service and standing behind their products. They are very knowledgeable and most importantly, highly respected on this forum. I pre-ordered a SG9665gc from @Pier28 even before they are available because of a total confidence in product quality and customer service. You cannot do better in my opinion. Good luck and you will find the members on this forum are very bright and helpful!

 

[jokiin]

A118C that Spytec sell has an RTC battery, have yet to see a G1WC that has one, clock might keep for up to a week

 

[neilgunton]

I purchased mine from @Pier28 and it is manufactured by @jokiin, and I think you will find that these two are over the top in customer service and standing behind their products. They are very knowledgeable and most importantly, highly respected on this forum. I pre-ordered a SG9665gc from @Pier28 even before they are available because of a total confidence in product quality and customer service. You cannot do better in my opinion. Good luck and you will find the members on this forum are very bright and helpful!

Thanks. I just noticed after my reply to jokiin that they have "manufacturer" on their profile, so I hope my question about how much they know wasn't offensive. I'm obviously new here and am not familiar with everybody's reputation etc. If they actually make these things, then I guess I can take it that the capacitor version really does NOT have any button cell inside. In which case, I appear to have been given bad information on that chat with Spytec. That's a shame, I thought Spytec was supposed to be one of the "good" vendors for these things. Well, maybe they are, but bad info is bad info. It's kind of off-putting.

Do people here think in general that the capacitor version of the G1W is just all-round better than the battery version, given that I don't care about running it away from a power source?

I'd also still like to know just how long the capacitor version will hold on to date/time if it's not used. Like, if we're talking weeks then I can live with that, but if I have to be careful to power it up every few days then that could be a hassle...

Edit: Just saw jokiin's reply posted as I was posting mine. So, it'll hold the date/time for maybe a week off power? I'm not sure how I feel about that. Probably ok in reality, but I am not used to having to think about devices keeping their settings like date/time for a matter of days.

Also, anybody have info on the expected lifetime of the main capacitor in these units?

Thanks again!

 

[DT MI]

...I pre-ordered a SG9665gc from @Pier28 even before they are available because of a total confidence in product quality and customer service. You cannot do better in my opinion....

+1

 

[DT MI]

Thanks. I just noticed after my reply to jokiin that they have "manufacturer" on their profile, so I hope my question about how much they know wasn't offensive. I'm obviously new here and am not familiar with everybody's reputation etc. If they actually make these things, then I guess I can take it that the capacitor version really does NOT have any button cell inside. In which case, I appear to have been given bad information on that chat with Spytec. That's a shame, I thought Spytec was supposed to be one of the "good" vendors for these things. Well, maybe they are, but bad info is bad info. It's kind of off-putting.

Do people here think in general that the capacitor version of the G1W is just all-round better than the battery version, given that I don't care about running it away from a power source?

I'd also still like to know just how long the capacitor version will hold on to date/time if it's not used. Like, if we're talking weeks then I can live with that, but if I have to be careful to power it up every few days then that could be a hassle...

One thing to be aware of is the G1W-x, and likewise A118 are really 'styles' of cameras and not a particular specification. They are manufactured by various entities and might/could/may/will vary from one source to another.

Street Guardian makes a version of the A118 but it carries their own product designation so it's easily identified. They do not make a G1W-x product - at least that I'm aware of.

 

[neilgunton]

One thing to be aware of is the G1W-x, and likewise A118 are really 'styles' of cameras and not a particular specification. They are manufactured by various entities and might/could/may/will vary from one source to another.

Street Guardian makes a version of the A118 but it carries their own product designation so it's easily identified. They do not make a G1W-x product - at least that I'm aware of.

Thanks. I am aware that G1W is a style rather than being a particular brand. I'm interested in it currently because it hits the sweet spot for me in terms of price. At around $50, I can get both front and rear facing camera for half the price of a lot of other cameras. It's probably "good enough" for what I need, so I'm not currently interested in (probably better) cameras like the the A118 that also cost quite a bit more.

 

[neilgunton]

Hmm - quite a few people seem to talk about the G1W-C not holding settings after power off...

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...camera-nt96650-ar0330-1080p-30fps.3543/page-8

This makes me wonder if it's actually worthwhile getting the capacitor version. It seems that it'll be a bit of a crap shoot ordering one of these - will I see the benefits of not having a battery to wear out, or will I see constant hassles from the unit forgetting my settings, date/time etc?

 

[DT MI]

Hmm - quite a few people seem to talk about the G1W-C not holding settings after power off...

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...camera-nt96650-ar0330-1080p-30fps.3543/page-8

This makes me wonder if it's actually worthwhile getting the capacitor version. It seems that it'll be a bit of a crap shoot ordering one of these - will I see the benefits of not having a battery to wear out, or will I see constant hassles from the unit forgetting my settings, date/time etc?

That's why when I decided that when replacing my G1W-H cams I wanted a capacitor version and that was a concern as well. In conversations with @jokiin I confirmed the SG9665GC did have a RTC battery. You may have to spend a bit more than you planned in order to get the functionality you want.

 

[neilgunton]

Well, I could also just go for the standard battery version of the G1W from estore009 (assuming they ever get back from vacation):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/310891426086
It seems that the price we pay for these low low prices is that every purchase is a bit of a crap shoot. The problem is, even if you pay a lot more, it still seems to be a crap shoot. So why not pay less, at least it's a cheaper crap shoot... ;-)

 

[jokiin]

I would say if you want to gamble on a cheaper product (nothing wrong with that) then I would suggest buying locally to you if possible, it may be a little dearer but service and support are will likely be better, you may also help keep someone in your own country in a job

 

[scrappy]

I got a G1W-C because summers are hot where I live and I didn't think batteries would like baking in a hot windshield when the car is parked for hours in the sun. Considering it cost $60, I have been happy with it. I travel a lot for work and my cam has retained its settings when I've been gone from Monday through Friday. When I'm gone for longer international trips, I have to reset the date/time when I get back home. That said, others here have said their particular cam does not retain settings so YMMV.

Like someone posted above, these are models of generic dashcams and not brands - "brands" are kind of a tricky subject with China. Jokiin will know better than me, but I'd guess there are several places in Shenzhen assembling popular cams like G1W or A118. I'd bet most are assembled in pretty nice facilities. I'd also bet these generic cams don't go through a very rigorous QC once they're assembled.

 

[neilgunton]

Thanks. I'm talking about one from one of the recognized "reputable" dealers such as estore009 on ebay, or SpyTec.

Honestly, even given that, I am somewhat torn between the battery and capacitor version of the G1W. We generally park our car in our garage, and we live in Oregon, where it CAN get really hot sometimes. I mean, there's no reason why we wouldn't travel somewhere where it is hot at some point, and park the car out in the sun. So really the capacitor version's qualities could come in useful just about anywhere, couldn't it? But reading some of the questions from people on that thread link I posted earlier, about their G1W-C not holding any charge... these people don't always say where they got their model from, so you can't tell if there are any patterns there with regard to manufacturer. But if there was a chance that my unit would "forget" the date and time after just a day or three of not being used, then that would get old pretty quickly.

Also, nobody has answered my question about the projected lifetime of the capacitors used in these devices. Batteries have a lifetime, sure, but so do capacitors. I'm just not sure which way to jump on this, capacitor vs battery version, to be honest. I'm not sure if it's telling that Spytec is sold out on their site of their battery version, but they have plenty of the capacitor version. And estore009 don't even seem to sell their capacitor version any more, only their "upgraded" battery version with the 320mAh cell. If I order that, am I going to get zapped by hot days, and the battery dying after some short period of time? Or if I jump for the capacitor model from SpyTec, will I get zapped by the thing forgetting who it is every time I turn the car off?

 

[jokiin]

I'd bet most are assembled in pretty nice facilities.

you'd lose your money on that one

I'd also bet these generic cams don't go through a very rigorous QC once they're assembled.

your money would be safe now

 

[jokiin]

Also, nobody has answered my question about the projected lifetime of the capacitors used in these devices.

500,000 cycles

 

[neilgunton]

500,000 cycles

Aha, ok, thanks. So, if you talk about a "cycle" being a car trip (I assume - i.e. turn on, go for a ride, turn off), then you could do three rides a day for 456 years before that capacitor would fail. That sounds pretty darn near "forever" to me. Is that true in reality, though? I guess people probably see those things fail prematurely sometimes, just as some people see their battery fail prematurely. But I'd guess that the capacitor is maybe a bit simpler in terms of construction than the battery.

Listen, let's boil this down to a simple question: If you were putting either the G1W or the G1W-C into your car, which one would you choose? The prices are very similar, the functionality is identical, and as I said, let's assume one of the reputable vendors like SpyTec or estore009. You gotta choose, is there any consensus as to one being better than the other? (talking about capacitor vs battery, not vendor vs vendor)