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

cranky said:
So am I reading this right there is no firmware update to the 20130903's? I have been using mine without fault for a week now on a 16Gb class 4 Kingston card, all stop starts, looping ok. :-/
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If its working well I'd say don't touch it
 
jokiin said:
No, unfortunately the bottom, a version that costs $30 less is only going to be full of comprises, people will buy cheap thinking they're getting something better than what it is, never ends well
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I agree. All I can say is that when I started looking at dash cams, I dismissed all of the cheapest ones on the ground that they can't be any good - didn't even consider them.

I'd rather there were a $30 price increase for a higher quality product. A falling price would make me wonder about reliability - reliability is essential in a product like this. I'd hate to find out, after 6 months of use, that I needed it but it had stopped working without my knowledge.
 
Rayman.Chan said:
I talked with our manager last night and got the authorization to provide custom wanted accessories to the Mini 0801 fanatic, on Ebay and Aliexpress.
factory delivery directly, factory warranty, one site collect.
backup GPS base, individual mounting bracket, backup adhesive pad, 30 degree and 270 degree USB charge, and so on.
that will be done after Hong Kong Show.

if you have more thoughts, advice, suggestion, or anything, please mail me to rayman@megcn.com. (anyway, i can not spend too much time on DashCamTalk but just login everery one or two days.) Thanks
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Thats good news, access to accessories and spare bases ect is a good idea and will be welcomed by us all I'm sure.

It's great having you guys contribute, your input is very much appreciated. Thank you.
 
DDP said:
Checked the camera this morning, after having deleted all the files last night. So the files names started from 001.

The camera had indeed deleted the oldest files. When I checked the first 28 files had been deleted. So I think I can say mine is loop recording, did also cycle ON/OFF last night and this morning as well and the 0801 did not throw a wobbly and crash out.

So hopefully mine is loop recording is OK.
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Thats good to hear, I think if people use a decent class 6 card or maybe C4 cards it helps with reliability. Though I have some good class 10 cards I'm tending to stick with class 6 Samsung cards, I bought a few, as I notice Class 6 starting to become less available as class 10 and UHS-1/UHS-2 becoming the most popular now.
Anyway great to read all is well. One of mine has been going almost solidly for 24hrs (weather cold at the moment so barely warm) and I've had no issues since I received them 2wks ago.
 
nuxator said:
I have new issue with my 0801 : It didn't switch on sometimes.
The battery is full, but i have to press the power button for 10 seconds and then plug and unplug t e usb cable to have it switch on.
I had this problem twice.
Anyone had similar problem?
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I've mentioned something similar in a previous post. Happens when camera is off it's base inside the home.

I have 1 camera sitting in front of me as I type this on my PC, (battery is good, and camera is off) now if I were to plug in a USB 2amp cable it will start to charge with red led showing, then if I remove the cable after few minutes or when fully charged when LED goes off I can almost guarantee it will not come on until I give it a long reset.
(and yes, sometimes I have to plug in usb and unplug as it seems to encourage the long reset to work)

Once its come to life I can switch on-off many times no problem, it only occurs if I plug in the usb charging cable when the camera is off. On the base it works normally.. so I've tended to ignore this strange behavour, I tend to switch on now before plugging usb cable in to camera, and unplug before switching camera off. BTW this happens on both camera, but it's not a problem now I understand how to avoid it, and AIS it always comes back to life anyway with a long reset.

Does that sound similar to yours ?
 
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JazJon said:
I wouldn't mind trying a Samsung class 6 card but they are way over priced.
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I agree mine cost more that most class 10 cards, Class 4 are still reasonable price, but I assume you are thinking, like I did, the C6 give you that little extra speed advantage without the potential risks associated with C10 cards on this camera.. So C6 is probably the best choice. I use mainly Samsung as you know, but I also bought 1 TDK C6 16gb microSD and that seems to okay too, probably had 24-30hrs in one camera. Was bit cheaper than the Samsungs.

Class 6 seem to be getiing less available, everyone's falling into the trap of thinking C10 has got to be better. ;-) and its not always the case. or as my old Mum used to say. more haste less speed... lol

I have about 3 C10 cards here, well known brands too and tests I did showed their write speeds were slower or equal to some class 4 I have... lot of variables involved with these cards I think.
 
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nuxator said:
I have new issue with my 0801 : It didn't switch on sometimes.
The battery is full, but i have to press the power button for 10 seconds and then plug and unplug t e usb cable to have it switch on.
I had this problem twice.
Anyone had similar problem?
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Yes, I have too ... Firmware seems to be a little buggy.

By the way, I just received the cam yesterday and am running the 20130903 firmware. However, I have the GPS base and I don't see the GPS on/off/open/close option on the setup menu.
  • Do I need to be outdoors and have acquired signals to see this in setup?
  • I only received one base with this cam ... is there an easy way to verify that it is the GPS base? I see a PC board and a few components through an opening in the top
Thanks for any coaching!
 
Joe Beets said:
Yes, I have too ... Firmware seems to be a little buggy.
By the way, I just received the cam yesterday and am running the 20130903 firmware. However, I have the GPS base and I don't see the GPS on/off/open/close option on the setup menu.
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The GPS tab was going to be hidden as the device will detect GPS moudle automatic.
here is the small GPS moudle with RED adhesive pad, upon camera, it is between USB cable and camera body
ebay5.jpg
 
Joe Beets said:
Not that I can see :(
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Make sure you have the cam connected to the mount (which supposedly contains the GPS unit inside). GPS icon is a yellow satellite . If you are indoor it may have trouble picking up satellite signal, so go outdoor into open space and try again. Mine also comes with firmware 20130903, it does not contain GPS menu.
 
Rayman.Chan said:
The GPS tab was going to be hidden as the device will detect GPS moudle automatic.
here is the small GPS moudle with RED adhesive pad, upon camera, it is between USB cable and camera body
View attachment 1681
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Thanks, Rayman. That's a big help. So the "tab" refers to the GPS menu option ... and my unit has the red adhesive pad ... so I think I'm good.

I'll take it outside after breakfast and see if I acquire GPS signals.

Appreciate the help!

Chris
 
another photo. the left block is the GPS module

ebay3.jpg
 
Menu option to turn it on and off was pointless anyway

Also the base does need to be powered for GPS to work, if running from batteries it won't be active
 
efoo said:
Make sure you have the cam connected to the mount (which supposedly contains the GPS unit inside). GPS icon is a yellow satellite . If you are indoor it may have trouble picking up satellite signal, so go outdoor into open space and try again. Mine also comes with firmware 20130903, it does not contain GPS menu.
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Thanks, efoo ... I see a TINY yellow icon on the left edge about mid-position. Looks like a " #A " to my eyes but if that's it, then we're good.

Might be good for the factory to update the manual to reflect the new menu options so folks aren't confused!

Chris
 
jokiin said:
Menu option to turn it on and off was pointless anyway

Also the base does need to be powered for GPS to work, if running from batteries it won't be active
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Bingo, jokiin. Moved the power to the GPS module instead of the cam ... See yellow GPS icon in upper right now.

Thanks all for the assist.

Chris
 
Lunar said:
I agree mine cost more that most class 10 cards, .. lot of variables involved with these cards I think.
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current we test with class 10 cards only. seems no problem but you guys can test longer term.
by the way, the writing speed of class 4 is 4Mb/s to 8Mb/s, that is little lower than 1080P video requirement, there maybe problem for video stream cache. class 10 is 10Mb/s to 20Mb/s which is perfect for HD video. (most nandflash chip suppliers gave up class 6 manufacturing so it is hard to purchase class 6 cards in future.0
 
Lunar said:
but it's not a problem now I understand how to avoid it, and AIS it always comes back to life anyway with a long reset.
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we ever found Mini 0801 can not turn on recording automatic when plug to some car charger, then we test other camera models that happens also. we suppose that is because that devices are loaded to "computer connect" mode with that car charger so it can not record video.
it is better to use the original car charger attached which have better quality.
 
jokiin said:
Menu option to turn it on and off was pointless anyway
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It was so pointless it re-appeared in 20130913 f/w ;-)

I actually find it useful, as I have two GPS cams, one's in the rear of the car, so no point having both collecting gps data so I have the rear gps turned off.
 
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