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

[Mtz]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

I hope you being in Shenzen to make the things moving faster and bring some new cameras to us with the new chipset and at least with the form factor we want. I hope in this time the chinese lens producers to produce better quality lens like the korean ones. I already wrote somewhere that many times I recognize a korean camera just waiting at the video, judging the image. I know you want to make good things and I hope to keep the balance price/quality good for you and buyers.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[jokiin]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

I hope to strike a balance that's workable each way, I'm in the factory tomorrow to discuss with our lead software engineer and tooling division to see what we can come up with, I've looked at a lot of other suppliers products recently and I think there's a lot that are missing the mark so some room for us to meet some market need, that's my feeling at least

 

[V8Rocks]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

It is sold out @ AliExpress ...

 

[Mtz]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

Here is another store but with a fantastic price for now.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[sudo]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

Back again with optional GPS link

... still no user feedback to be found.

 

[ciuvak]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

anyone bit the bullet yet? :?:

 

[ciuvak]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

Alright, bought one just now.
Read a bunch of reviews and feedback for the russian version (CX4) and it seems like a good starter camera. If the one I get is close to CX4 in execution, it will be a good purchase.
By the way, Procam has posted on a forum that an updated firmware should be available very soon.
I will post a review once I get it.

 

[sudo]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

Alright, bought one just now.
Read a bunch of reviews and feedback for the russian version (CX4) and it seems like a good starter camera. If the one I get is close to CX4 in execution, it will be a good purchase.
By the way, Procam has posted on a forum that an updated firmware should be available very soon.
I will post a review once I get it.

Congrats!
I see you are from Canada... Where did you buy it from?

 

[ciuvak]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

Congrats! I see you are from Canada... Where did you buy it from?

I meant I bought from your link on aliexpress. Thanks for the update
I got the version with GPS, it was $102. Didn't need their sd-cards, I've already got a few extra at home, plus these are cheaper and better here locally.
There is still a long way until I'll be able to share a review, at least 4-5 weeks?

 

[sudo]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

Yeah 5 weeks is a mighty long time... I hope you get a decent cam and share your review with us

 

[ciuvak]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

Yeah 5 weeks is a mighty long time... I hope you get a decent cam and share your review with us

Hopefully it will be a well made product. In Russia the price is almost double, ~$200. So I'm not sure if the Russians have higher margins, or the company on Aliexpress has extremely low margins and/or is using lower quality components. I guess I'll find out when it arrives.
The long time is OK, the cam wasn't an urgent issue for me. It's more of a curiosity than a necessity. That's why I did't want to spend more than $100 for a camera.

 

[vitali_vg]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

Double cost in Russia is caused by warranty and firmware - they replacing the existing firmware with their own. That's why a lot of people in Russia is buying from China and than uploading local firmware on the devices...

 

[ciuvak]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

Double cost in Russia is caused by warranty and firmware - they replacing the existing firmware with their own. That's why a lot of people in Russia is buying from China and than uploading local firmware on the devices...

so you think that the product specs and components would be same for the model from aliexpress?

 

[vitali_vg]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

so you think that the product specs and components would be same for the model from aliexpress?

You need to have them both in your hands and disassemble them to compare.
More, I have no idea how quality controls works... Maybe what didn't pass the control, instead of going to garbage go as "no-name" brand.
According to all characteristics posted on Procam Site (and in all Russian reviews) and on these Aliexpress pages - they are twins.

I cannot guarantee that ProCam CX4 firmware will be applicable for this DVR, but as an example the firmware from CarCam QL3 is working on Eeeyelog HDW001 (here is the crazy discussion and sample firmware)

 

[sudo]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

Double cost in Russia is caused by warranty and firmware - they replacing the existing firmware with their own. That's why a lot of people in Russia is buying from China and than uploading local firmware on the devices...

so you think that the product specs and components would be same for the model from aliexpress?

That would be nice if true. However if different chipset is used on the cheaper china models i don't think it could be done... but i should be testet by those who dare :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[ciuvak]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

so you think that the product specs and components would be same for the model from aliexpress?

You need to have them both in your hands and disassemble them to compare.
More, I have no idea how quality controls works... Maybe what didn't pass the control, instead of going to garbage go as "no-name" brand.
According to all characteristics posted on Procam Site (and in all Russian reviews) and on these Aliexpress pages - they are twins.
I cannot guarantee that ProCam CX4 firmware will be applicable for this DVR, but as an example the firmware from CarCam QL3 is working on Eeeyelog HDW001 (here is the crazy discussion and sample firmware)

Thanks for that forum link. I was surprised to find out that the Chinese have already tried to implement wifi in their models. But I see that the execution was bad (limited range, slow transfers).

 

[rcs914]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

It would be really nice to have this show up for the same price from an ebay seller. I am not sure that I want to deal with trying to order from Aliexpress.

 

[ciuvak]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

It would be really nice to have this show up for the same price from an ebay seller. I am not sure that I want to deal with trying to order from Aliexpress.

Yeah, it's a bit risky, but I can always dispute the charge with my credit card company. I've heard a lot of bad stories about Aliexpress, but so far I've ordered about a dozen different items, and never had any issues, aside from slow deliveries. I think the key is to keep the purchases under $100 and pick sellers with the most feedback. This camera is the most expensive item I've ever bought through their website, too bad it wasn't possible to choose a seller with more feedback.
Anyway, my order is still "Awaiting Shipment", but hopefully they will dispatch it soon. Sometimes it takes up to a week just for that.

 

[rcs914]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

I only have an American Express and a Discover - I would rather not use my Visa debit card to order with as it doesn't have the same protections. Wish they used Paypal.

 

[miji2]

Re: Smallest Ambarella Car DVR

So here's my quick review. This cam is both excellent and disappointing. I've been using my orange menu GS1000 for about a year now (very good dvr), as well as having hands-on experience on the GS2000 (fake orange menu - **** dvr, broke down), GS800 (OK dvr), and the GS5000 (Novatek - **** dvr), and here's my take on things.

First, the pros for this new dvr. It's good because it is small, solidly made, and really seems to be 1080p version (ie not up-scaled). It's fully featured (1080p, GPS, G-sensor). I like the external GPS attachment and the way the power feeds through it. Haven't yet tested internal memory or copying videos using it, but the idea is great.

Here's a comparison of resolutions to detect up-scaling (crops of video frame dumps from VLC, real size, no jpg compression).



My conclusions: highly likely not up-scaled. Excellent. And as well, don't use "1080p" option in the menu, the quality is crap. FullHD all the way.

But ... mine came with fw 20130110 and right off the bat it has issues with shutting down. The auto-shutdown option is simply not working. So the cam will ride the battery until discharged then finally shut down after an hour. Bahhh.
Other than that, the automatic exposure control seems to be finicky on the dark end. It has a sharp drop off when external light level falls below a certain point. The good news is that it still kicks up exposure when light levels are about that of car headlights. Anything much dimmer than that, and the exposure goes to zero (black screen). Like I said, this is not really an big issue since you'll likely be recording with your headlights on, just something strange I noticed. Probably a software bug.

So onto image quality analysis

Daytime picture quality compared to those of GS1000 (again, sample crops of video frame dumps from VLC, real size, no jpg compression).



Clearly this new dvr is not as sharp as GS1000, and that definitely shows at night. Disappointing. But hold on .. while the new dvr is more blurry at a distance, the phone dock looks sharp … but it’s blurry on the GS1000. FML. This damn cam is short-sighted. The lens is focused to about 1m. Things beyond that start to look blurry. Here’s a confirmation on indoor shots.



Any experience on how to fix this? Are there “glasses” or “contacts” I can use for this dvr? Or do we have to take it to surgery?