Reviews for Products Supplied Free

[petepete]

I don't believe any of your posts have been deleted on this thread. The number of posts deleted on this forum is very minimal (obvious spam and offensive posts only).

Well, since you've edited out the parts of your initial post I took issue with I can no longer refer to them but now that you bring it up and I think back on it, I guess part of what troubled me was the very fact that your post was in such stark contrast with the sentiments you expressed on this subject in private.

Anyway, I really don't wish to get into a further pissing match here, it would only be counterproductive. How about we move on? You know, there's an old adage around internet forums that goes, "Attack the post, not the poster". That was what I was initially trying to do and I apologize if you feel or if in fact, I have done otherwise.

Being as i have a sense of humour...

I m disturbed our admin supports water sports !

 

[DashCamMan]

I thought about this some more. I know some people will consider reviews of products provided by retailers / manufacturers as a "paid promotion" but I don't agree.

I get offered cameras all the time and unfortunately do not have the time to review them. Since 2013, I have asked for reviewers to volunteer there time to take a look at new products. https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/dash-cam-reviewers.2234/

The reality is the vast majority of these reviews have been balanced. They allow all of the community to learn about new products that are out and this shared information, while not perfect, is better than an absence of information. Personally, I am glad that retailers and manufacturers are reaching out to enthusiasts to try out new products. I also have no problem with the reviewer including a link to the seller since they contributed the product.

I actually want to thank everyone who has done these reviews in the past: @Bubbah @CheckYourLights @chris-s @FourEyes @Gibson99 @GJHS @Mtz
@niko @reverend @Sunny @USDashCamera and @VIIVIIIXIII (hope I didn't miss anyone). I know that each review takes a lot of time and I for one appreciate the effort they put in to their reviews.

 

[Dashmellow]

It is not a question of whether members should or should not be doing reviews of products but how they are presented.

Every other "enthusiast" forum I've ever been a member of or participated in features reviews of products by forum members but each review states clearly if the product was provided by a manufacturer or retailer and reviews are always presented in a dedicated review section rather than being mixed in with general discussions. FWIW, I really can't think of another forum that permits sales links and discount coupons to be included with reviews to avoid any question about the integrity of the reviews. Sales incentives like that are always confined to a merchants section.

 

[jokiin]

while on the subject I have supplied SG9665GC cameras at no cost to the following users @reverend @kamkar1 @Mtz for the purpose of helping out with upcoming firmware releases, (have not asked any of the guys to review), this is for the purpose of evaluating what we're doing with firmware, there are no referrals or sales incentives for anyone involved, they may offer thoughts on the cameras or comparisons against other products they have but this is their own choice to talk about it or not

I have asked @Pier28 to send a sample to @USDashCamera at no cost so he can review, primarily because he reviewed our last model and it just makes a worthwhile comparison about what we've changed since, also for the prior one he paid out of his own pocket for it which we don't expect, while there's no referral or where to buy etc that would benefit any particular seller the style of review that @USDashCamera does is very useful for us as a walkthrough of the product so that customers know what the product is about which is why I would like him to have one

there's already some experienced users with the camera as mentioned above, along with @niko @Pier28 @alexsoll but we may look at sending out some for review if we feel (or the community feels) it's needed, there's perhaps quite a few experienced users with it already so I'm not sure if that will be needed or not at this stage, if anyone has thoughts or feedback on this I'm always ready to listen

 

[kamkar]

I will just do a head to head with my lukas LK-7500 as its my primary camera, and i think it was in the same price range then as the 9665GC is today.
Allso it might be interesting for ppl with "aging" lukas 73 - 75 - 7900 and simmilar has been high end cameras, is it worth the update or should i wait a year before i update my gear.

But i have no doubt the lukas will have to surrender its prime spot on my windscreen soon.

Other than that i will be sure to accumulate some footage from my test spots that i often pass thru, so that when new firmware come arround i have somthing to compare with.
The optimal would offcourse be having 2 dashcams 1 with old FW and 1 with the new FW, but i will focus on covering the 2 extremes that be high sunshine & high sunshine with low sun, and then offcourse the dealbreaker night footage.

Allso i have some other ideas i will have to try out, not sure if it can be helpfull but i have to give that a try too.

Allso i dont think Ricks hardware need a lot of reviews with lost of praise and metafors in them, it seem like his hardware talk for itself along with the dedication Rick put out on this forum.

 

[reverend]

I totally see where you're coming from @Dashmellow - I've had free cameras sent to me for review but I've also paid out full price for a lot of them too (I'm well over £1k invested on cameras and memory cards now).

I bought my Mobius, Panorama X2 and 2 Panorama G's at full price (and many others) and I'm usually the most vocal about those as they work best for me and the X2 is what I use full time so it's in my interest to get that working right.

The original G90 I got for free and the second G90C I paid for and it failed within a week so like anyone would be I'm a bit cautious of those. Ironically the free one didn't skip a beat and Tobi@s has that now and for the people that they work fine for they love them.

Like anyone here I'd like to see these things used to the most of their potential and it's why I fiddle with the firmwares - I'm still looking for a solution that meets my requirements the most and so far the X2 is my favourite but I'm also a big advocate of not putting all my eggs into one basket so do run two or even more cameras at the same time.

The SG9665GC is a nice camera and fits nicely on the other side of my rear view mirror and @jokiin is dedicated to getting the most out of all his products and it's nice to see something that small that beats say the DOD LS460W but with all the things wrong with that actually fixed

 

[kamkar]

So far i have only gotten the camera Rick sent to me and the C3 rockthinking sent to me, dident do a review of the C3 and i dont think Rock expected me to do so. ( at least i hope not otherwise i am late a lot )
I still use and like the C3 and i will keep on helping rock and the other users of the C1 & 3.

And as with all dashcams and other matters i will say what i think about stuff, just have to be carefull not to go too far offtopic too often.

Edit forgot the 0806 witch i allso did a little helping on though the other guys beat me to a lot of the issues.
Seem like me getting cameras mean i will be a week or 2 after the other guys getting one too.

 

[CheckYourLights]

I totally see where you're coming from @Dashmellow

I do too. I never thought of that. it would keep things a lot more manageable.

I have bought
G1W
G90
Vico TF2
Vico WF1
Vico Marcus 3
Innovv C3 x 2
GT680W

I have tested
Mini 0803,0805,0806
Innov C4
BlackView BL950

and maybe one or so more in each bracket (my mind is still half asleep)

The 0805,C3, and 0803 are in family members cars, and if I take them in my car the Mini0803 goes in the back.

I have tried giving the G90 to other family members, but they are still in the don't want to bother with a DashCam camp.

Also as per my other post I still have and give out printed cards with the site logo and address. tagged a Subaru or two last week

I have been using the Mini 0806 in my car a lot because it fits so nicely behind the mirror.

 

[jokiin]

I have bought
G1W
G90
Vico TF2
Vico WF1
Vico Marcus 3
Innovv C3 x 2
GT680W

I have tested
Mini 0803,0805,0806
Innov C4
BlackView BL950

myself personally I don't care too much for reviews of my product, if I do it right then it will find a market, someone like yourself though that has had and used many different products from a wide variety of sources, if I get some feedback that helps me improve something, or fix a problem or whatever, that's far more valuable than any review

sellers might have a different idea but for me it's all about the product

 

[CheckYourLights]

it's all about the product

That's where it should be. I wish more people would stand behind their camera both pre and post production the way you do. If they did way more cameras would come out the right way the first time.

I have tired to get some problems addressed, and features added but sometimes I seem to hit a bit of a wall. The screen off time is a big one for me, and the horrible G90 mount

 

[petepete]

myself personally I don't care too much for reviews of my product, if I do it right then it will find a market, someone like yourself though that has had and used many different products from a wide variety of sources, if I get some feedback that helps me improve something, or fix a problem or whatever, that's far more valuable than any review

sellers might have a different idea but for me it's all about the product

All sounds very noble and productive but.....

Are you informing us some forum dashcam part hobbyist is able to help more than your own paid development team on a product that you ve invested heavily in ?

And if you re relying on this for development rather than your own team of skills - could this be why there is so much disappointment, as high as 45% on an unnamed product !

 

[jokiin]

That's where it should be. I wish more people would stand behind their camera both pre and post production the way you do. If they did way more cameras would come out the right way the first time.

I have tired to get some problems addressed, and features added but sometimes I seem to hit a bit of a wall. The screen off time is a big one for me, and the horrible G90 mount

I see some very silly mistakes made sometimes, even you try and tell people they very often don't listen, you want to make a big order they're all over you but otherwise it's like talking to a brick wall sometimes

 

[jokiin]

All sounds very noble and productive but.....

Are you informing us some forum dashcam part hobbyist is able to help more than your own paid development team on a product that you ve invested heavily in ?

I've done 10 months of work to get our SG9665GC out already, I don't think I could get there by working with enthusiasts that aren't familiar with how things are done, I think I would probably put people off it altogether if they worked through some of the problems you go through to get it done, would it send me nuts, maybe would the hobbyist help more than what we can do ourselves, of course not (sorry guys, no offense but it's harder than it looks), however once we have a release product the enthusiast that has had a wide variety of product can offer some valuable ideas, field testing (try as we might we just can't test every situation) and help with beta testing updates before wider release

 

[airgreek]

This was my issue in the radar detector industry and radar detector forums. Same things started to happen there and what you started to see was misleading reviews. This is why I am fortunate enough to buy my own RETAIL product and test it out. In the RD industry what you started to see what manufacturers send HAND PICKED JUICED units meaning they performed better than the product that ended up being mass produced. Manufacturing variance is an issue and I am sure it is an issue in this industry as well.

 

[jokiin]

This was my issue in the radar detector industry and radar detector forums. Same things started to happen there and what you started to see was misleading reviews. This is why I am fortunate enough to buy my own RETAIL product and test it out. In the RD industry what you started to see what manufacturers send HAND PICKED JUICED units meaning they performed better than the product that ended up being mass produced. Manufacturing variance is an issue and I am sure it is an issue in this industry as well.

yeah I'm not a fan of sending out ringers, the units we sent out last week were all pulled from mass production stock, not that they were sent for review purposes anyway

for real independant reviews the products should be purchased from retail outlets without letting on

 

[USDashCamera]

I am pretty sure any video review of mine I mention if a retailer/manufacturer provided me one for review. I have even put a coupon code in from blackboxmycar.com on the few I have reviewed from Alex. Although I actually only wanted that so I can see if my reviews led to any sales (which I know my dr3500 review led to 2 sales at blackboxmycar, and I wish I could see if my reviews help make decisions on amazon but my state does not allow amazon affiliates). I don't make any money from my reviews other than advertising revenue from my youtube partnership. After 70,000 views on my channel I just last month finally passed $100 in ad revenue. I have spend easily $1500 on dashcams and accessories out of pocket though. I also have to return any blackboxmycar cams.

A few companies, have given me a discount but didn't expect linking to their store. Diggcams and gearbest gave out review units asking to link back to their store which I did and personally had not seen an issue with it as I think any smart shopper will go there and can decide for themselves if that is a good price or not if they want it. In the US, everything is available on amazon too. Sometimes sites like gearbest ARE cheaper.

I also tend to review only cameras I have an interest in, and review more with the mindset: "This is what is good and bad about the camera, if you want a camera that can do this or that, this is a good option." I tend to think of any product as something that could be the right product for someone out there as long as they are aware of the pros and cons. for example, I would never use the G1W as my personal cam, but it is a good starter cam for many people.

But if anyone thinks my review methods do have a conflict of interest or un-professionalism I would love to hear the criticism and would adjust accordingly to keep the forum and my youtube channel integrity up.

edit: before last summer I had never done a product review FYI.

 

[GJHS]

This was my issue in the radar detector industry and radar detector forums. Same things started to happen there and what you started to see was misleading reviews. This is why I am fortunate enough to buy my own RETAIL product and test it out. In the RD industry what you started to see what manufacturers send HAND PICKED JUICED units meaning they performed better than the product that ended up being mass produced. Manufacturing variance is an issue and I am sure it is an issue in this industry as well.

Oh there not handpicking them here. We have all gotten turds. They ask that we contact them to make it right first before the review yet that turd moment makes it into the review. I have one now that I'm waiting for the manufacturer to make right, out of respect, yet he is being silent so tomorrow if I don't here from him, it's getting reviewed as is. A month is plenty of time to make it right.

 

[airgreek]

I have bought the following and have been putting up low light videos on my YouTube channel:

Panorama S II 2014 model Sony IMX122
Vicovation TF2+
Mobius B
Mobius C
A118C
Mini 806
Papago 520 with custom Firmware
Innovv Tech C2
DVR207
DVR27
The new revised A118 from Pier28

 

[kuoh]

I don't know if the origin of the product matters much, as long as other members follow up with their results. I made a purchase not long ago based partly on a review here seemingly from an ordinary user, but found the product was far from the performance touted. I had checked some of the Youtube videos supposedly recorded by the unit or a very similar one and it looked good, but what I got was far inferior in quality.

I guess my point is that if they wanted to, they can just lie about the origin of the camera being reviewed and say they bought it. Who here would be able to prove otherwise? I'd rather see the review, biased or not and hopefully be able to decide myself from the features, price and videos posted, than go in completely blind. Yes we can still be deceived, at least once as in my case, but at least the rest of the members would be better informed and we'd get an idea of the character of the reviewer over time.

KuoH

 

[Sunny]

I do get samples for review but if you check my review threads, there are bad reviews as well as good.
I do give chance to sort out the issues but if it's truly bad, it's bad regardless of what I say, the pictures and videos will have bigger statement.