Just a few notes about the V2000GS that might help others:
I bought my V2000GS from here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-GPS-Car-DVR ... 0776239822
Delivery to Sweden took 11 days.
About the infamous battery "problem"
The battery is there only so the unit can save the last clip on power loss (after a crash or when you leave the car).
I have seen a few reports stating the battery was "dead on delivery" and similar.
Either way, maybe I was just lucky, or people don't realize they have to charge the battery before first use. I don't know.
Anyways, the battery in my unit worked fine after charging for an hour (just plug it in to any 12V supply, e.g. the car and select "Charge" in the startup display).
The manual
The included "manual" was just a leaflet, and incorrectly covered the V1000GS, not the V2000GS. But this was no problem since the menu in the device is pretty straight forward.
The included Windows software (HDPlayer) did not work at first: "Play movie file failed!"
There were no CD included, so at first I was worried that the software was missing.
It turns out that the first time you insert the memory card, the device creates a folder named "HDPlayer" containing the HDPlayer.exe and a few dll:s.
However, on my Win7 x64 the player started fine, but could not play the videos. The error message was "Play movie file failed!".
After installing two codec packs from here the player works just fine.
I installed both the "mega" pack (x86) and the x64 pack, leaving all options at their defaults during installation (except for the Yahoo malware that I unchecked...).
The special/strange USB cable
The unit included a USB cable that has a small non-USB connector on one end, and a standard USB-connector plus two RCA (?) connectors for analog video and audio on the other end.
When using the special USB-cable between the unit and my PC, and after setting the unit in "MSC-mode", the two drives pops up showing the memory card and internal memory content.
The MSC selection is available in the display a few seconds after each power-up, before the recording automatically starts. Just press the "Ok" button directly after power-up to enable the communication with the PC.
The unit seems to be powered just fine by the USB-cable, so no need for a 12V power adapter when running it connected to the computer.
The mini-hdmi connector.
I have not tried this, and do not know why I would want to use this.
Maybe if I get a second V2000GS in the back of the car I could have a monitor showing whats behind the car when reversing or something.
The mount
The mount actually has a ball joint, so it is very easy to point the camera where you want. However, the joint is fixed-friction, so we will see how long the friction lasts.
The mount is attached to the windscreen with a sticker, so no suction mount. One advantage might be that the mount is smaller compared to the suction mounts.
The camera is easy to slide into and out of the mount. To release the camera from the mount a button has to be pressed, making it unlikely the device detach itself on some bumpy road.
Overall, I think the mount seems sturdy and pretty slim, and enabling easy movement of the camera makes it all-in-all pretty good.
The memory card
The unit has a small built in memory, about 12MB, that for some reason shows up as a separate drive when connected to a PC. I don't know what the use of this drive is for.
The micro-SD memory card (not included, I'm using a 32GB class 10 card) is mounted as usual, but you need to have long nails or something edgy to push in the card to reach the "click" when removing and installing.
I think it is easier to just bring the whole camera instead of trying to pop out the memory card.
The memory card is shown as a second drive in the PC when connected in MSC-mode.
Here is an example of the content of the memory card after that a few clips have been recorded:
Note that the two codec packages in the folder HDPlayer above was added by me to have the codecs available if the HDPlayer problem described above would occur again.
I downloaded these codec packs from here.
The two files sized at about 900 MB in the DCIM\100MEDIA folder above are clips containing 15 minutes each of 1080p 30fps video.
So I guess that a 32GB memory card would be able to hold about 8 hours of clips in total.
I have set the clip size, or "Recycle record" as it is called in the menu, to 15 minutes.
The firmware version in my unit is "V1.20 T24-MFH".
TL;DR: I'm pretty happy with this unit, so far.
I bought my V2000GS from here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-GPS-Car-DVR ... 0776239822
Delivery to Sweden took 11 days.
About the infamous battery "problem"
The battery is there only so the unit can save the last clip on power loss (after a crash or when you leave the car).
I have seen a few reports stating the battery was "dead on delivery" and similar.
Either way, maybe I was just lucky, or people don't realize they have to charge the battery before first use. I don't know.
Anyways, the battery in my unit worked fine after charging for an hour (just plug it in to any 12V supply, e.g. the car and select "Charge" in the startup display).
The manual
The included "manual" was just a leaflet, and incorrectly covered the V1000GS, not the V2000GS. But this was no problem since the menu in the device is pretty straight forward.
The included Windows software (HDPlayer) did not work at first: "Play movie file failed!"
There were no CD included, so at first I was worried that the software was missing.
It turns out that the first time you insert the memory card, the device creates a folder named "HDPlayer" containing the HDPlayer.exe and a few dll:s.
However, on my Win7 x64 the player started fine, but could not play the videos. The error message was "Play movie file failed!".
After installing two codec packs from here the player works just fine.
I installed both the "mega" pack (x86) and the x64 pack, leaving all options at their defaults during installation (except for the Yahoo malware that I unchecked...).
The special/strange USB cable
The unit included a USB cable that has a small non-USB connector on one end, and a standard USB-connector plus two RCA (?) connectors for analog video and audio on the other end.
When using the special USB-cable between the unit and my PC, and after setting the unit in "MSC-mode", the two drives pops up showing the memory card and internal memory content.
The MSC selection is available in the display a few seconds after each power-up, before the recording automatically starts. Just press the "Ok" button directly after power-up to enable the communication with the PC.
The unit seems to be powered just fine by the USB-cable, so no need for a 12V power adapter when running it connected to the computer.
The mini-hdmi connector.
I have not tried this, and do not know why I would want to use this.
Maybe if I get a second V2000GS in the back of the car I could have a monitor showing whats behind the car when reversing or something.
The mount
The mount actually has a ball joint, so it is very easy to point the camera where you want. However, the joint is fixed-friction, so we will see how long the friction lasts.
The mount is attached to the windscreen with a sticker, so no suction mount. One advantage might be that the mount is smaller compared to the suction mounts.
The camera is easy to slide into and out of the mount. To release the camera from the mount a button has to be pressed, making it unlikely the device detach itself on some bumpy road.
Overall, I think the mount seems sturdy and pretty slim, and enabling easy movement of the camera makes it all-in-all pretty good.
The memory card
The unit has a small built in memory, about 12MB, that for some reason shows up as a separate drive when connected to a PC. I don't know what the use of this drive is for.
The micro-SD memory card (not included, I'm using a 32GB class 10 card) is mounted as usual, but you need to have long nails or something edgy to push in the card to reach the "click" when removing and installing.
I think it is easier to just bring the whole camera instead of trying to pop out the memory card.
The memory card is shown as a second drive in the PC when connected in MSC-mode.
Here is an example of the content of the memory card after that a few clips have been recorded:
Code:
Directory of F:\
2013-03-22 15:59 <DIR> DCIM
2013-03-22 16:33 <DIR> HDPlayer
2013-03-22 15:59 <DIR> MISC
2013-03-22 16:33 128 setup.cfg
Directory of F:\DCIM
2013-03-22 15:59 <DIR> 100MEDIA
2013-03-22 15:59 <DIR> INFO
Directory of F:\DCIM\100MEDIA
2013-03-22 16:14 914 362 451 FILE0001.MOV
2013-03-22 16:29 914 253 838 FILE0002.MOV
2013-03-22 16:32 193 332 853 FILE0003.MOV
2013-03-22 16:33 7 441 398 FILE0004.MOV
Directory of F:\DCIM\INFO
2013-03-22 16:14 160 235 FILE0001.dat
2013-03-22 16:29 159 575 FILE0002.dat
2013-03-22 16:32 33 268 FILE0003.dat
2013-03-22 16:33 1 279 FILE0004.dat
Directory of F:\MISC
(empty)
Directory of F:\HDPlayer
2013-03-22 16:33 413 696 HDPlayer.exe
2013-03-22 16:39 23 407 137 K-Lite_Codec_Pack_980_Mega.exe
2013-03-22 16:39 13 535 305 K-Lite_Codec_Pack_980_x64.exe
2013-03-22 16:33 1 047 552 mfc71u.dll
2013-03-22 16:33 499 712 msvcp71.dll
2013-03-22 16:33 348 160 msvcr71.dllI downloaded these codec packs from here.
The two files sized at about 900 MB in the DCIM\100MEDIA folder above are clips containing 15 minutes each of 1080p 30fps video.
So I guess that a 32GB memory card would be able to hold about 8 hours of clips in total.
I have set the clip size, or "Recycle record" as it is called in the menu, to 15 minutes.
The firmware version in my unit is "V1.20 T24-MFH".
TL;DR: I'm pretty happy with this unit, so far.
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