useless as an accident dashcam ( only 30 seconds protected on button push )

D

dundeelad

New Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2019
Messages
3
Reaction score
1
Location
dundee
Country
United Kingdom
So tomorrow i'm heading back to my local halfords store to return this 522GW .

The absolutely useless "30 seconds protected" has meant I may as well have had no dash cam installed for the accident i was involved in ( was tboned on a roundabout ).

After the impacted, i looked around for any other dangers, then drove to the side of the road on the nearest exit so I could assess the situation & damage, this may have taken 10 or 20 seconds...
As soon as i parked, i hit the protect button.
What was saved, was a totally useless video, the "protected" video starts, of me being stopped on a roundabout, swearing a little.. then driving to where I had parked. A video lasting exactly 30 seconds, with no useful content.
The 522GW Nextbase camera chose only to save a 30 second clip ( not the 3mins i had set in the settings ).
I am absulutly livid and just had to make an account here at dashcamtalk.com just to post my absolute dismay at nextbase, how they could get wrong such a basic function of a dash cam... utterly unbelievable.

While the lady who TBoned my admitted fault and I got the details from a car behind me witnessing the entire thing, the dash cam that I paid a reasonable £140 for did not play a part.


I've read other threads on this form and the internet, Nextbase needs to get their act together and push out a firmware update!

Simply put, if the protect key/button is pushed, mark the current video file as protected,
IF the current video file is less than 60 seconds? Save the previous one also.
FFS.
This is how my old dash cam worked, it would save the current file, no matter what and if the file was short ? It would protect the previous one also.

Nextbase, I'm returning your POS dashcam and I will be choosing another brand,

I truley hope any other 522GW owners read this and fully understand, if your involved in an incident, dont bother hitting the protect button, just unplug the dash cam, keep it in your glove box till you have a chance to download the videos.


- Seriously unhappy ( yet lucky in this incident ) custom -

DundeeLad
 
The usage of a small buffer are still pretty normal, so you have to be quick on the event button, and you got to have a reasonable large memory card so if what you need are not in the event file it will still be in the regular recorded files.
So for cameras like that the event files are mostly a marker for whens something happened.

As you say operating with entire file segment are better, though that of course impact harder on the memory space set aside for event recordings,,,,,, so you still need a substantial sized memory card, i would personally not go under 64GB for each camera in a system, and better yet larger than that.
 
microSD in use was a NextBase High Endurance 64GB. As fitted on the day.

It seems 64GB is useful for around 2 hours of footage, Gee thanks for that 30 seconds NextBase 522GW. really unhelpful.

Again, Fireware update is required to make the 522GW a usable dashcam.

RE: "though that of course impact harder on the memory space set aside for event recordings "
200MB or 300MB odd per "protected" video (2 or 3 mins worth ) , out of 64GB is nothing. when it means you can show your footage should their be an investigation by insurance adjusters.
Vs having nothing at all.
 
I don't know how long other brands' protected files are - but perhaps you could have checked before buying the cam?

I have the 612GW and t states in the manual on Page 7 how long the files are.

Easy after the event, but I knew on my 612GW how long they were.

I also have the 522GW, and it says on Page 11 how long the files are recorded for. I knew this too.

Having said that, my Viofo dashcams do not state any times at all for this recording event - so at least the 522GW has an advantage over the Viofo...

I assume however, that the files before the protected one were saved anyway? At least you will have them on your card somewhere.


Glad you're not hurt though.

Welcome to the forums.
 
Paul Iddon said:
I assume however, that the files before the protected one were saved anyway? At least you will have them on your card somewhere.
Click to expand...

That's what I thought, that the recordings up to the event would still be on his memory card.
And if dundeelad has kept driving, and written over them, then I can't see it as the fault of Nextbase.
Merely of not copying or downloading them in a timely fashion to his phone/pc, etc.
 
The ideal fix for this 'problem' is to carry a spare SD and if you are involved in an accident, immediately remove the SD with the 'evidence' on it and insert the spare.
I think that dundeelad will find that most cameras work as he has implied.
If you want video 'evidence' then for goodness sake preserve it. Don't trust to chance that it won't be overwritten. But as already said, provided that it's a sensibly sized SD and had not too much recording since, the stuff is probably still on it anyway.
Sounds a bit like someone who has lost a load of stuff due to a HDD crash because they haven't taken all the advice about making data backups.
 
dundeelad said:
So tomorrow i'm heading back to my local halfords store to return this 522GW .

The absolutely useless "30 seconds protected" has meant I may as well have had no dash cam installed for the accident i was involved in ( was tboned on a roundabout ).

After the impacted, i looked around for any other dangers, then drove to the side of the road on the nearest exit so I could assess the situation & damage, this may have taken 10 or 20 seconds...
As soon as i parked, i hit the protect button.
What was saved, was a totally useless video, the "protected" video starts, of me being stopped on a roundabout, swearing a little.. then driving to where I had parked. A video lasting exactly 30 seconds, with no useful content.
The 522GW Nextbase camera chose only to save a 30 second clip ( not the 3mins i had set in the settings ).
I am absulutly livid and just had to make an account here at dashcamtalk.com just to post my absolute dismay at nextbase, how they could get wrong such a basic function of a dash cam... utterly unbelievable.

While the lady who TBoned my admitted fault and I got the details from a car behind me witnessing the entire thing, the dash cam that I paid a reasonable £140 for did not play a part.


I've read other threads on this form and the internet, Nextbase needs to get their act together and push out a firmware update!

Simply put, if the protect key/button is pushed, mark the current video file as protected,
IF the current video file is less than 60 seconds? Save the previous one also.
FFS.
This is how my old dash cam worked, it would save the current file, no matter what and if the file was short ? It would protect the previous one also.

Nextbase, I'm returning your POS dashcam and I will be choosing another brand,

I truley hope any other 522GW owners read this and fully understand, if your involved in an incident, dont bother hitting the protect button, just unplug the dash cam, keep it in your glove box till you have a chance to download the videos.


- Seriously unhappy ( yet lucky in this incident ) custom -

DundeeLad
Click to expand...
Hi DundeeLad,

Welcome to DashCamTalk, I'm very sorry to hear that you only signed up for this particular post, DashCamTalk a brilliant space to source and share information and I hope that you'll continue to use it to educate yourself about Dash Cam functionalities.

Firstly, you changed your chosen recorded clip length to 3 minutes, however that would not change the protected Clip length.
Our Protected Clip Length (30 seconds) is non-adjustable. Once a user presses the Protect button, 10 seconds of footage prior to manual triggering has to be buffered in RAM. It is not possible for us to configure more than 10 seconds prior to manual triggering. The camera then stores the following 20 seconds of footage (sufficient quantity of time to neatly capture the incident and outcome) together building a 30 second clip.

You stated above that you had a 64GB SD card. I will happily provide you with a manual for the 522GW which shows the above information, as well as methods save the footage you require after an incident, which I will describe for you here;

1) The first of course is to protect the file using the File Protect button as you did. This will record the timings I have stated above.
2) You can also manually protect files using the Dash Cam itself, which will prevent the files from being deleted. You could have manually selected as many files as you chose prior to the event to be Protected, ensuring that they would not be over-written.
3) If you were not driving far, you could have driven home and then accessed all the files via a PC. If you hadn't driven for a number of hours, the likelihood of them being overwritten on a 64GB card is very slim.
4) You could have downloaded 'MyNextbase Connect', the mobile phone app. You could then have viewed the incident footage on your phone, and saved the footage directly to your phone. You could even have shared them with the police and your insurer directly from there.
5) If you were not in a safe place to operate a Dash Cam or use a mobile Device, we would recommend to drive to the nearest off road parking spot and then initiate any of the 4 above points.

The other forum users above have also provided some interesting and correct solutions.

Finally, in regards to Firmware Updates for the Dash Cams, obviously we're going to recommend updating to the latest firmware. We are constantly reviewing and improving our Dash Cam firmware, so to provide the user with the best experience we release Firmware updates for the Dash Cams. This is completely normal for any intelligent electronic device.

I'm sorry that you were not fully aware of the Dash Cam's functionality prior to use but I am pleased that you were unharmed in the incident.

Regards,
Millie- Nextbase
 
Found this thread after a Google search when I realised that this fairly expensive dashcam was missing large parts of everything I tried to save.

Even the cheapest, nastiest ebay/Tesco petrol station dashcams write protect the file before or after the current one when the protect button is pressed.

The Nextbase 112 in my girlfriend's car does this. Quote from the manual for the 112:

"9. Protect File Press whilst recording to protect the current file in event of an emergency situation.
Note: - When the 'Protect' function is activated within the first third of a recording, the previous recording will also be protected.
When the 'Protect' function is activated within the final third of a recording, the next recording (if recording continues) will also be protected "

So why does a newer, more expensive camera behave worse than the older, cheaper model?

Has this been fixed in the firmware updates? If not, when is it going to be fixed?

10 seconds before and 20 seconds after an event is NOT sufficient.

From the Metropolitan Police website, as an example:

"Do you have footage (eg CCTV or Dashcam) or photos of the incident taking place? Footage must cover two minutes before and two minutes after the event. "

Please let me know when this update will be available, because otherwise I will be forced to return this to Halfords as unsuitable for purpose under the Consumer Rights Act.

Thanks.
 
Interesting 1st post Yeti - just come and join the forum and rip into a company.. :unsure:

One thing I would mention from what you have typed is "Do you have footage (eg CCTV or Dashcam) or photos of the incident taking place? Footage must cover two minutes before and two minutes after the event. "

The police do not dictate to makers of dashcam how they are meant to work. There is no legal requirement for the dashcam to do what the police ask for timewise. However, what they do ask for will be on subsequent or prior files saved to the dashcam under it's normal operation, which you would in the course of events, remove from the card. You can also manually protect as many files as you see fit using the options in the camera, therefore creating 2 minutes+ of protected files.

The 10 seconds before and 20 seconds after an event may well be in a protected file 30 seconds long, and the other 90 seconds will be saved in the folder where all "travel" files are saved. You just need to gather them all together if you want to give the police 2 minutes.

Some cameras will save longer files, some will save 30 seconds just the same. And no company will change it because you want them to do. They may do it if they deem it necessary.
 
Yeah even if you have a camera that save like the whole 3 minute file, and maybe the one before it or after it too, and you still want more footage, well the rest of it ( providing you have not driven for a long time after that ) will be in among the regular footage.
And it should be easy to find by looking at the file names ( time/date )
So providing you had a event, BOOM ! and then stopped but dident turn off your car, well then your car could sit there for a long time recording the aftermath.
And i would recommend you do that if possible, cuz you might well get more interesting stuff, like the other part lying his pants on fire, just be careful if you have a really small memory card ( which no one should have )

Same go if your camera only deal in events seconds long, the rest of the footage will just be in among the regular footage, so you should easy be able to compile 5 minutes before + the event itself + 5 minutes after the event.
But no camera will serve that on a silver platter for you.
 
Exactly what has puzzled me for ages.

The normal saved footage should be sufficient for the majority. Trying to save/protect a particular clip seems to cause more problems than it solves. As mentioned, run a decent size card and job done.

Similar with motion blur number plates. In the event of a collision you have plenty of time to grab a plate. Run with mic on and if possible shout the reg into it, etc.
 
I think the best solution is to have an extra card in the car. That way both ensures that you have your crash video which will not be over-written as well as another card on hand should the card in the cam fail while driving. I prefer using large enough cards so that I've got the whole day's driving recorded; then I don't need to specifically 'save' any files and I will still have everything. If there's something I want to keep I pull the card and download it when I get home. This has the added advantage of my cards lasting longer, as they will only last for a certain number of write cycles regardless ;)

There are still many cams which only save the current file when you hit the button, so if a new file was just begun you may have little or nothing of what led up to the event you want to save :oops: This cam functions as being better, though I'd prefer having 20 seconds before and 10 seconds after instead since what led up to the event can be critical, and by 10 seconds afterward it's almost always well over and done with. Still OK by me.

Phil
 
SawMaster said:
I prefer using large enough cards so that I've got the whole day's driving recorded; then I don't need to specifically 'save' any files and I will still have everything. If there's something I want to keep I pull the card and download it when I get home. This has the added advantage of my cards lasting longer, as they will only last for a certain number of write cycles regardless
Click to expand...
That's why I opt for the largest capacity cards the camera will support - no worries about a specific file being overwritten and card longevity. 512GB will give me ~39 hours of full HD front and rear on a 2 channel system. (y)
 
Taking the card out of tyhe cam after an event also has the advantage that the event will be one of the most recent 'clips' and you won't have to go wading through a load of 'clips' looking for it.
 
Yeti said:
Found this thread after a Google search when I realised that this fairly expensive dashcam was missing large parts of everything I tried to save.

Even the cheapest, nastiest ebay/Tesco petrol station dashcams write protect the file before or after the current one when the protect button is pressed.

The Nextbase 112 in my girlfriend's car does this. Quote from the manual for the 112:

"9. Protect File Press whilst recording to protect the current file in event of an emergency situation.
Note: - When the 'Protect' function is activated within the first third of a recording, the previous recording will also be protected.
When the 'Protect' function is activated within the final third of a recording, the next recording (if recording continues) will also be protected "

So why does a newer, more expensive camera behave worse than the older, cheaper model?

Has this been fixed in the firmware updates? If not, when is it going to be fixed?

10 seconds before and 20 seconds after an event is NOT sufficient.

From the Metropolitan Police website, as an example:

"Do you have footage (eg CCTV or Dashcam) or photos of the incident taking place? Footage must cover two minutes before and two minutes after the event. "

Please let me know when this update will be available, because otherwise I will be forced to return this to Halfords as unsuitable for purpose under the Consumer Rights Act.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Hi Yeti,

Thanks for your post.

We are not currently developing any change to the Protected File length. Instead, as written by many of the other seasoned members above, using a larger capacity memory card would recorded significantly more footage before the previous footage was overwritten.

You could also use the MyNextbase Connect app on your mobile to download the incident footage directly onto your phone, which would be your first saving to an external source.

We'd also recommend then using a different SD card for the remainder of your journey, and downloading the footage directly to your computer at the first chance possible. This will prevent any footage from being overwritten or lost. You will also be able to select however long prior and post event worth of footage to also save.

I hope this has helped.

Regards,
Millie- Nextbase
 
Hi Yeti,

I hope that you don't mind me jumping in as well. I haven't used Nextbase, but I have used RoadHawk and Viofo dashcams. One of the best ways of ensuring that your dashcam works to the optimum is to concentrate on the micro SD card:

  1. Use good quality trusted brands of micro SD cards, ask here for recommendations for your dashcam.
  2. Use largish micro SD cards 64 GB or 128 GB.
  3. Regularly check your footage to ensure that your dashcam and micro SD card are working correctly.
  4. Keep a spare micro SD card or two so that you can swap to ensure that you keep the footage.
  5. Back up all the footage that you want to keep as soon as you can.
  6. Fully format your micro SD card regularly to ensure that it has no errors.

In addition, I don't use the event button, I try to swap the micro SD card before it gets overwritten and have all of the footage before and after the incident.

Use something like Dashcam Viewer to look through all of your footage as it gives a GPS track of your route as well.

Regards,
 
Exactly : my old ( 2017?) NExtbase dashcam would write protect the current file and IF that file was less than 30 seconds in length it would protect the file before it :

These new editions have lost the old functions that made them useful.


to all the idiots talking about what kinda SD card to buy or what you should be doing :
This 30 second record/protect is a new "feature" it wasn't like this a few models ago.

This is a new "Feature" brought in recently and i have absolutely no idea what that software dev was smoking when they rolled this out.

The 522GW is literately useless as a dashcam, along with any other similar models that have this "new feature".



Simply put, just protect the dam file your recording when i hit the button, dont try to cut and splice files into a neat little 10 second + 20 second clip...

Have a think about it , just for a second, what would be more useful ? a 3min clip the user has to scrub through to get some really important footage off ? Or a 30 second clip that shows nothing at all.
I ask you , post some more about the SD cards and how my 64GB ( 2.5 hours recording [roughly]) has any relevance to this topic...

The NextBase protect function as of recent models, is broken, please release a firmware update to remove your "new feature" and bring back the original save method.
 
dundeelad said:
The NextBase protect function as of recent models, is broken, please release a firmware update to remove your "new feature" and bring back the original save method.
Click to expand...

Never gonna happen. They'll not do that, and you know it, I know it, and everyone knows it.

If you don't like the dashcam, get rid. Get a different brand (check their protect function first, or you'll end up reposting in a different part of the forum saying the same thing).

Helps nobody venting your spleen here.
 
Last edited:
Couldn't find a mention of it in their official advertising page, and couldn't get the user-manual to download so perhaps they have a legitimate beef- HOWEVER it's always up to the buyer to make sure they're getting what they want before they purchase it. You cannot expect everything or anything to be unchanged from a previous model; you must always check into that ahead of time. Which you didn't do or you'd have known this cam now functioned differently than before.

Several folks have tried to help you find a solution and a workable one is on hand so just go with that. Nobody is happy with everything about their dashcam- the perfect cam will never be built- so do like the rest of us and be happy that there is a way to get what you want from it somehow wherever that solution comes from.

Tired of trying to help those who just want to rant- unfollowing this thread now.
Phil
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
R Unit completely useless 15 seconds after switching it on, how many faults can one item have at once 522GW 28
S Sometimes Not Recording on Startup - Nextbase Support Useless 522GW 15
Similar threads
Unit completely useless 15 seconds after switching it on, how many faults can one item have at once
Sometimes Not Recording on Startup - Nextbase Support Useless
Back
Top