Why do all dashcams suck?

LeJerk

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I've used a few, and all were junk in some way. Is there a company that has nice hardware, and software that isn't always in beta?

I have a VIOFO A129 PRO Duo installed, and it's really unreliable.
 
Well as a tester having worked with a few brands, by far Street Guardian cameras have been giving me the least problems / work, for the most i have just to receive it install it, and then once in a while,,,,, okay often. update the firmware.
Not that most cameras have not had any issues, but for the most they are so minor i have not been the first one to see them, some i first learn off when i see the release notes of a new firmware.
BUT ! their new DR model do have a few little issues too, though it is build on "old" well known hardware, but those are already identified and all hands are on deck to fix them.
And it is not like it is huge problems, there is a time/date bug that pop up now and then, that are messing up the file naming system a little, but the recordings are there alright, but due to that issue just not where you expect the file to be.
And of course like all SG cameras, and this being a new one tweaking of the image quality have not really happened yet, not that it is bad by any means, but SG actually tweak these things, where many just take what the SOC maker give them.
And like always if you have a problem with SG product, that is vary much also taken as a problem by SG retailers and the brand, and the boss too which is always on this site when he is not sleeping or otherwise engaged.
No other brand in here i think you have direct access to the boss.

PS. i am affiliated with SG in the sense they send me cameras to beat on, and have done so for years, but trust me if i had anything negative to say about them i would, but i cant really come up with anything worth mentioning, they try hard and really thats all i can ask of people i dont know better.

PPS: You will not find a 4K camera with the SG brand, at least not yet.
Hell parking guard they was one of the last brands to do, as their feeling was that the hardware at the time did not really allow for it to be done right.

4K are in the pipeline alright, and i assume we will see a 1440p system soon too.
But the Korean smarts with cloud this and cloud that ASO, well SG cant really be bothered with that, they will give you wifi in most models, and a fine APP to change settings and preview or DL footage to your phone.
They even throw in a player ( Dashcam viewer ) and a extended warranty if you bother to take the few seconds it take to register your product online.
 
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No dashcam is perfect. All of them have some kind of issue, which as often as not doesn't get fully resolved. It just goes with the game :rolleyes:

There are some good reliable cams being made and sold, but you usually won't find them running the latest hardware and sensors and resolutions. The ones with the fewest bugs and glitches come from the more developed and tested hardware, which makes achieving full reliability easier than trying to get that from a relatively new processor/sensor combo ;) Same as with everything else, the more 'features' you have the more problems that come with them, and with dashcams you usually find the worst issues not with the driving recording, but with the rest of what it does.

Right or wrong, dashcam buyers who choose the newest cams are essentially involuntary beta-testers, because almost no cams are adequately tested before they're marketed to the public :eek: It's always been like this with dashcams so it continues as enough people will buy them even with this happening. Especially with dashcams, doing your pre-purchase research is crucial to you ending up happy with your choice. That's where this website has it's best value, as here you can find what other owners of the cam are experiencing with it, which can help you make a good decision :cool: The A129 Pro Duo is relatively new, and still has some issues which have been well-covered here on DCT. Based on your usage and expectations it can be a good cam, or it can be disappointing. Hopefully it will have it's issues resolved soon but until that happens it's not a cam i would recommend for the masses, but only for certain specific uses and conditions. It does have potential to be a great cam, it's just not quite there yet.

Phil
 
involuntary beta-testers

They say the same about computer hardware, but i have never felt that though i have often build a computer with very new hardware, and subsequent pushed that hardware very hard ( overclocking )
The only problems i have ever had with computer hardware was one case of RAM incompatibility building a new PC for my friend, and then of course i have had some hardware die on me at some time, last time my SSD with the OS on died and before that i had 1 stick of RAM die on me.
But in general i retire hardware before it die on me, it is only in the last decade or so i have not upgraded all or most of my hardware at least every 2 years.
 
The A129 Pro Duo is relatively new, and still has some issues which have been well-covered here on DCT. Based on your usage and expectations it can be a good cam, or it can be disappointing. Hopefully it will have it's issues resolved soon but until that happens it's not a cam i would recommend for the masses, but only for certain specific uses and conditions. It does have potential to be a great cam, it's just not quite there yet.

Phil

Agreed, it just seems like they all have the same cheap software running them. When it's working, I like the camera quality.
 
Well..I purchased a Blackvue DR 650-1CH for $345.45 CAD (with free Power Magic Pro) mid June 2015. It has witnessed/recorded some 129741 KM with the original 32 GB SD card (I never have used parking mode). Works as good today as it ever did (knocking on wood). My only beef with it is that the GPS is intermittent and will only record the path/speed ~40% of the time.. and has been like that since day one.

So, In my case.. this one does not suck.
 
Well..I purchased a Blackvue DR 650-1CH... mid June 2015. It has witnessed/recorded some 129741 KM with the original 32 GB SD card
5 years is a long time to run a single microSD card in a dashcam. Do you check it regularly? Have you considered replacing it?
 
I've used a few, and all were junk in some way. Is there a company that has nice hardware, and software that isn't always in beta?

I have a VIOFO A129 PRO Duo installed, and it's really unreliable.

There's a saying, sometimes newest isn't the tried and truest. I have 2 x Viofo A129 Duos and both these cameras run in extremes. Never has either failed to capture an event or stopped recording. Both run Sandisk A2 Extreme sd cards without issue.

There have been several complaints regarding the PRO model. It's brand new and bugs are being worked out. Meaning, venturing into uncharted territory puts you into a predicament. You'd been better off sticking with the A129 Duo....Or I guess there's a Plus Duo that just came out. Too new to tell, but the sparse reviews seem absent the complaints of the Pro.

Or you could have checked out Street Guardian. I don't own one, never have, but the reviews tend to be very favorable.

Moral of the story, early adopters get to work out all the bugs. When it comes to a Dash Camera, if all you own is one, then settling for an unproven model isn't a wise decision. Stick with what's known to work.
 
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5 years is a long time to run a single microSD card in a dashcam. Do you check it regularly? Have you considered replacing it?
Yes I check it periodically, today in fact before I posted my comment. I use the internal format system on the SD every couple of months. I have the event volume just loud enough to hear so when I stop hearing it.. time to investigate.

I keep half hoping it would die so I could justify getting something new.. but there are no bells and whistles yet that would justify replacing this.. And I love the form factor.. which clearly limits my choices.
 
I agree, most dash cams suck or will fail. I've had 3 fail out of the box. Currently my blackvue 2 channel cam has been great, but the PMP is utter garbage. It's really amazing how cheap all these products are, they are so unreliable and cheaply made. They are however not cheap to buy. Im going to bypass the pmp with a manual toggle switch and return my 5th pmp to date...frustrating to say the least, so many days wasted...
 
I often feel like I'm "beta testing" cams sellers have sent me - that are ALREADY being sold on Amazon! This is even with some established brands. and I know for fact friends/family who will never update the firmware on their dashcam because they just expect it to work. So lots of people are stuck with older buggier firmware that can give problems. I think this is just the way with this kind of product: some brands need the latest and greatest (look at the 4K and triple channel hype train) so they push out cameras as fast as they can be manufactured and to stay competitive it is required to have a camera on the market. Otherwise other brands will get their customers! So maybe long term testing (1y+) is lacking. This is speculation mind you, some brands definitely do longer term testing.

I think a lot of the generic dashcams are made by the same manufacturers; or at their very core, suppliers of components and firmware, where the seller is can choose to add extra functionality. I'm not in the manufacturing side of things so I cannot say for certain but particularly common among action cams is for Amazon sellers to rebrand generics with their own logo and not really touch the actual functionality of the camera. This is for sure why a number of cameras have poor performance. Some sellers will maybe only touch one sample before having the camera branded and sent to Amazon for sale. And who knows if the seller cares beyond "this will sell and earn me profit". The long term test for reliability just isn't there until the camera has been on the market for 1 - 2 years.

At their core, for basic features, turn on, record, turn off, almost every dashcam I have tested has fulfilled this purpose. But then there becomes issues like:
  • The camera not receiving enough power. This can be the included cable being not up to snuff, the included power adapter failing, the mount failing (a119)... That sort of thing is shockingly common and usually an easy fix. If you know about dashcams...
  • Memory card issues are the most common though. Almost every time I'm having issues with the basic functions of a dashcam it is because of memory card failure or some weird brand incompatibility
  • The other commons issue I see are with Li-Ion cameras. In fact the two cameras that have failed on me both have been because of a Li-Ion battery failure. Old school G1W and a Vantrue camera.
The budget cameras, which is mostly what I'm testing, are made to fit a low price and quality control is not as high. But for the most part I've found if I'm going to have any issues it shows up in the first 30 days. Viofo A119 was the exception because it didn't start messing up due to the mount until 6 months in.

And then firmware issues that's another whole can of worms.
 
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