Shadow GT680W

[petepete]

At 5fps you're going to miss vital detail/frames when fast movement is involved e.g. impact at high speed or a child running out etc.
Recording audio is also very important as an impact or skidding may be recorded.
I've had to rely on camera footage for an incident that happened not long ago and had it not been full speed video I wouldn't have received the satisfactory compensation that I did.
Parking Mode is for time-lapse, Motion Detection for guarding your car etc against damage or vandalism and constant full frame HD video for when driving around.
The more detail the better as it may be all you have standing between a prison sentence and an acquittal should something awful happen.

good points - and I hadn't noticed the sound missing...

( with a convertible I have to have 2 cameras in the back, one in the rear window and one housed in the clear reverse light and it will be this one I probably leave on parking guard.)

 

[BMbler]

Shame its not that easy to flick between them functions.... all via stopping recording, going in to menu etc.... which means got to get it out of mounting bracket etc (obstructed by mirror)

If not completely auto, at least one touch function (bottom right button), instead of Mic on-off would be such an awesome operational improvement! BTW motion detection not that good! I left DVR in "mode" went in to diferent corner (6 yards- 4 meters away) sat there, then stood up, went sideways to the DVR- it didn't start... only once got back to DVR it started up again...

 

[DeLorean]

All these low cost cameras require you to go into the menus to change most of their functions... developing firmware and functionality is expensive and time consuming.
A low cost product receives less development time than a Blackvue etc. They tend to use a generic base firmware and then tweak it as required for their product.
As it's dusk now the motion detection feature probably won't work as well as it would in broad daylight.
Come the night time I bet it will hardly trigger at all unless it's monitoring a very well lit area.
I've had a few dashcam and for £25 + free delivery and a free anywhere tripod these were an absolute steal

 

[BMbler]

we "stole" it that offer price from JOOVUU!
Else, these units are sold ~£60= $90 and still have near 5* reviews on amazon ...

But to update function operations to the right bottom button to be three (even 4) main functions switch shouldn't be a problem, instead of useless function of Mic on/off
As: Main DVR; press again- Motion Detect; again- Parking mode; and again- Still camera

 

[DeLorean]

Remember dashcams are forbidden by law in Austria, Switzerland and now recently Germany
What a pain in the arse... and how stupid as it's the only way to cover your backside!
Take it from me... the German police have no sense of humour and can be downright obnoxious

 

[DeLorean]

Does anyone have firmware version v2.9 for the GT680W or worked out how to backup the current firmware in this camera?
I'm tentative about upgrading to firmware v3.0 as I'm not experiencing any problems and the newer firmware apparently still doesn't allow you to select any other bit rate.
If it ain't broke... blah... blah... blah...

 

[petepete]

how about going on the makers website which give v 3.0 and there you will find a facility to Skype the staff..

cant see any reason they wouldn't give it to you having released v 3.0 to public domain ...

 

[BMbler]

Basically I had it via DL link in email with instructions for 3.0 as:
Thanks for your message.
Please kindly refer to attached upgrading firmware for model GT680W.
Warm remindinglease kindly decompress the file first,then copy it into your TF card,it will automatically power on,
after upgrading finished,please remember to format the TF card to be empty before you use TF card to record video files.

Kind regards,

http://www.shadow-tec.com/Download.asp
lists 3.0 only
http://www.shadow-tec.com/Clkj_Images/upfile/2014122215155032421.rar

HOWEVER!
https://dashcamtalk.com/gt680w/#Firmware
lists 2.7...

So as you are after 2.9... hardly going to be needed, but in worse case scenario of 3.0 being not good enough, you should be able to get 2.7

 

[DeLorean]

As we all know changing the firmware doesn't always come with benefits, so I'm going to stick as it's running superbly on v2.9.
When I'm in the mood for fiddling or encountering a problem I may decide to take the plunge
Thanks for all your input guys

 

[Padwanjoe]

Hello. My Shadow is running on v.2.6, the one that came from the seller, and it works ok since April this year. When I asked the manufacturer, she said that if all is ok is better to stick with the firmware version it came since there were some hardware changes made and the new firmware versions are designed considerring this new hardware. So, I did not make any firmware updates.
On the other hand, I wish you all a Happy New Year!

 

[DeLorean]

Thanks for the info... and a very Happy New Year to you also

 

[Tajger]

Hello. Shadow 680w came with firmware 3.5. Tell me where to download a new firmware. Thank U

 

[FaiRLane]

I recorded last night my driving around one hour, and first 25 minutes goes fine (5 x 5 minutes ok) then later on, mov files do not work any more, vlc player do not play them, mpc player for not regonize file (it is .mov).
Size of file are almost same, but something is wrong... i try to find out what happen to mov files. Anyone other encountered this kind of problems?

 

[DeLorean]

Carry out a full format of your SD card using this: https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/
Set the the options as below.

Once completed try the card in the camera again and see how it goes.
If it appears to corrupt again try another known good SD card to determine whether the original SD card or the camera is the problem.

 

[FaiRLane]

Carry out a full format of your SD card using this: https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/
Set the the options as below.
View attachment 10341
Once complete try the card in the camera again and see how it goes.
If it appears to corrupt again try another known good SD card to determine whether the original SD card or the camera is the problem.

Thanks! i will try that.

Happy new year!

 

[DeLorean]

Very disappointed as my GT680W has just gone berserk
I popped out for an hour or so in the car, so power up the camera... no problem there.
When I returned I unplugged the power plug from the lighter socket and the camera refused to power off automatically and appeared to keep recording.
I ended up manually switching it off and noticed the camera was very hot!
I removed the SD card (which was also hot) and found the video footage was fine for ¾ of my car journey, but the rest of the files were corrupt... probably due to the SD card getting hot.
I now have my GT680W sitting unplugged on the desk next to me, however the icon on the screen appears to indicate the battery is empty but the power is still connected?
If off it will turn back on and record when power is applied, but keeps recording until the battery is empty if the power is disconnected.
It’s still getting hot (especially around the SD card slot), so I guess developed a major fault.
Not even 4 full days use and it’s already faulty... not good.
I just hope it hasn't destroyed my 32GB Micro SD card

 

[BMbler]

Very disappointed as my GT680W has just gone berserk
I popped out for an hour or so in the car, so power up the camera... no problem there.
When I returned I unplugged the power plug from the lighter socket and the camera refused to power off automatically and appeared to keep recording.
I ended up manually switching it off and noticed the camera was very hot!
I removed the SD card (which was also hot) and found the video footage was fine for ¾ of my car journey, but the rest of the files were corrupt... probably due to the SD card getting hot.

Sounds like battery packed up?

I now have my GT680W sitting unplugged on the desk next to me, however the icon on the screen appears to indicate the battery is empty but the power is still connected?

It does the same here, basically, I have an theory, that Battery colour indicating light when DVR is OFF- that is indication about the charge etc, when on charge- plugged inn- its hardly matter what it says for the charge level.

If off it will turn back on and record when power is applied, but keeps recording until the battery is empty if the power is disconnected.

You must have forgotten to turn parking or motion mode's off!?

It’s still getting hot (especially around the SD card slot), so I guess developed a major fault.
Not even 4 full days use and it’s already faulty... not good.

More like SD already buggered, but the speeds it needs to record-transfer data, I wouldn't be surprised

I just hope it hasn't destroyed my 32GB Micro SD card

I hope its only SD card....

 

[DeLorean]

Nope... Parking and Motion modes are off... for 4 days it behaved perfectly and now it just acts all weird
My thoughts about the battery were the same as yours as the battery as it's mounted on the other side if the PCB to the SD card slot.
Fortunately the SD card has tested fine indicating the heat is being generated elsewhere.
... anyway it's duff so contacted JooVuu
Bit gutted really as it was absolutely perfect for where I needed it in the rear window (using sticky mounting bracket) and the quality of the video was superb.
After a little scouring the net it appears that the battery in the GT680W appears to be it's Achilles Heal.

 

[petepete]

I m wondering if it could be the seriously cold weather ? ( both my gt1w s that have run fine almost constantly for 6 months wouldn't detect sd card on one particular recent very cold day and I reinserted the card and both ran fine then )

All the gt680s I bought same time as you are running fine and do get quite hot and have had them in the motorhome looking for the dog owner that lets their dog dump on my grass ! ( not switched off to get cold ).

 

[DeLorean]

My G90's been fine (only 3 months old) and my old VGA dashcam I made for 99p has been running for over 3 years in the extreme cold and blistering heat of the UK and Central Europe.
If the GT680W can't handle a few degrees below zero then there's going to be a lot of unhappy Russians
The battery appears to be holding a good charge, but the camera can't sense when the power has been removed and shut-down.
I guess the camera getting very hot and the icon permanently indicating power is applied is a sign that the battery/power monitoring side has failed.
Anyway it's useless now, but these thing happen so just waiting for a response from JooVuu.