Smallest Ambarella Car DVR a.k.a. Mini 0801

[jokiin]

new version due shortly will probably see the end of this version before too long

 

[bugelrex]

To be fair, the manual on page 4 tells you not to use class 10 cards. Keep us informed on your class 4 test

Just came back from a few short drives locally, and yep like expected my 0801 with Samsung 32Gb class 10 micro SD card did auto shut down twice. Sigh, looks like I will have to try my older Samsung 8Gb class 4 card next. If the problem still persists, I suggest the manufacturer stop selling this dashcam until the problem is sorted.

 

[twoscoops]

new version due shortly will probably see the end of this version before too long

Do you mean a new 0801 or a new firmware?

I sure hope it's a new 0801(0802, perphas? ) because I'm getting ready to buy a second 0801 for the back of my truck.

Thanks!

 

[jokiin]

new version of the camera

 

[twoscoops]

new version of the camera

Do you have any guesses as to how soon? Any chance of buying it before Christmas?

Thanks!

 

[jokiin]

Do you have any guesses as to how soon? Any chance of buying it before Christmas?

Thanks!

I would reasonably think the updated model will be in the market before Christmas, engineering samples are a week or so away last I heard

 

[Lunar]

I would reasonably think the updated model will be in the market before Christmas, engineering samples are a week or so away last I heard

May be interested buying the new version myself

BTW, I can confirm that the comment below you posted is definately NOT stated in any of my 2 manuals.
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NOTE: Anytime the VIDEO QUALITY or RECYCLE settings are changed the memory card should be formatted and then power cycle the DVR, the free space calculations vary depending on the chosen settings, altering these settings without formatting the card may impact the ability to recycle correctly
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I agree, it does make sense to reformat and re-start, but in a perfect world the firmware should be clever enough to adjust it's calculations to take any settings changes into account, but AIS previously I never change mine anyway. I suppose it depends where the camera was sourced from.

 

[jokiin]

BTW, I can confirm that the comment below you posted is definately NOT stated in any of my 2 manuals.

I can confirm that also, when I said 'we have this note in the manual' I meant it was from the manual of one of my products that I make, sorry, thinking about it now I didn't really make that clear enough

 

[nuxator]

So far i'm a little desapointed of my cam :

• Dozens of dead pixel on sensor.
  
• Noise on the sound recording (electrical noise + vibration noise, maybe the mic is not fixed properly)
• Stability issue that i maybe solved with 0903 and 64K format.
• Gps fix is a little slow (1~4 minutes)
• Noisy gsensor. Even totally stable, the reported levels are not zero but some noisy values...

I hope jokiin will make/sell a similar product as he seems to make proper firmware changelog and userguide. Things we miss with mini 0801.
This guy is so helpfull.

 

[Lunar]

I can confirm that also, when I said 'we have this note in the manual' I meant it was from the manual of one of my products that I make, sorry, thinking about it now I didn't really make that clear enough

ah.. I understand now, I thought maybe it depended from where sourced.

Whats making it more comlicated is the fact that as you stated we don't know whether say E-Prance and Givoe get their camera's from the same factory source, I'm suspecting not as they seem to be shipping different firmware versions, but again that may simply be due to difference in stock they are selling, as I don't know whether they update every camera they sell with the latest firmware they have before shipping, or merely ship the stock they have, (as is) so the customers only receives later firmware when the seller receives new stock. ie, move old stock first obviously.

 

[jokiin]

they'd be shipping whatever they receive, different firmware versions is a good indicator that the stock is from different production runs and/or different factories

 

[Squid]

I would reasonably think the updated model will be in the market before Christmas, engineering samples are a week or so away last I heard

Jokiin, can you please tell us how it will differ from the current model?

 

[Squid]

I'm inclined to get the GPS version but only display the date and time when recording (or maybe display nothing when recording). Is this possible?

Are some displays always recorded or can you choose some or none?

Thanks

 

[nuxator]

You can select different mode( by memory my cam is in my car):

• None
• Date Time
• Car (date Time GPS and speed)
• Driver ( no speed but some custom text)
• ....

 

[jokiin]

Jokiin, can you please tell us how it will differ from the current model?

There's a new hardware version being done, higher spec, externally it could look the same although I'm not sure if that has been decided yet or not, its a popular form factor so they may decide to leave it as is

 

[Squid]

You can select different mode( by memory my cam is in my car):

• None
• Date Time
• Car (date Time GPS and speed)
• Driver ( no speed but some custom text)
• ....

Thanks very much for the quick reply.

Pleased to read that you got yours working again.

This is the first dashcam that seems to be 'the one' which is how I discovered this forum.

 

[Squid]

There's a new hardware version being done, higher spec, externally it could look the same although I'm not sure if that has been decided yet or not, its a popular form factor so they may decide to leave it as is

Jokiin, as a newbie I have to say thanks very much for all your posts. It's great to be able to talk to a manufacturer.

Have you ever considered writing video simultaneously to two micro SD cards, one hidden & one more obvious, i.e. one in effect backs the other up as the video is made?

This has two advantages - as dash cams become more common, drivers at fault might start looking for dash cams and take your card. We might start to read of punch ups after accidents with an allegation that someone tried to steal the SD card. If one is obvious but one is hidden, I'd feel more secure.

And it guards against SD card failure.

 

[efoo]

You can select different mode( by memory my cam is in my car):

• None
• Date Time
• Car (date Time GPS and speed)
• Driver ( no speed but some custom text)
• ....

Thanks nuxator, I was just wondering how to set mine to display GPS position and speed.

 

[jokiin]

Jokiin, as a newbie I have to say thanks very much for all your posts. It's great to be able to talk to a manufacturer.

Have you ever considered writing video to two micro SD cards, one hidden & one more obvious? This has two advantages - as dash cams become more common, someone at fault might start looking for them and take your card. We might start to read of punch ups after accidents with an allegation that someone tried to steal the SD card. If one is obvious but one is hidden, I'd feel more secure.

And it guards against SD card failure.

likewise it's great to get end user feedback, it works both ways, I get a lot of ideas from end users here about what features and functionality to include when we do updates and for hardware ideas

we do have dual card models coming although what you suggest is possibly more relevant if the cards weren't located together, remotely writing to another card would be tricky, we do have models coming that can support external hard drives though, would be possible to hide one away in some installations I suppose, when we get to that though we will do a remote dual cam DVR later on so the DVR could be hidden away (can go up to 5m from each camera) and make it harder for that to happen, I'm not sure how big an issue this might be, I'd think if anywhere it would be the type of thing that would happen in Russia before anywhere else, no offence to any Russians but the road rage there seems particularly brutal sometimes

 

[Squid]

Regarding running two cameras, one front and one rear:

My car has a single cigarette lighter socket, in the front dash (as opposed to near the handbrake for example). I need one socket (to charge my phone) plus one or two more for a front and posssibly rear cam. Really, I potentially need 4 (!), the 4th to run a sat nav (I suspect that that may be impossible as it'll exceed the current the circuitry was designed for).

A triple cigarette lighter adaptor will be bulky, unsightly and may get knocked. I'm also concerned that the weight of a triple adaptor and the leverage effect may make it come loose, helping it to fall out (the socket's not firm as it is - not a good design). Does anyone have a better solution to buying a triple adaptor?

Thanks.