Z-Edge s3 dual getting a refund, advise new camera?

[froggy47]

Hi,

This company has good tech support, they even sent a second camera when mine was frozen beyond help (of their tech). Hardware seemed quite good, but the controls and software was just rubbish. Especially I always had a hard time getting into menu. Very little in the instructions matched how the camera actually worked. Sigh. Eventually after dozens of tech supports they are refunding me full.

Looking for 100-200 range dual. Just want it to record, very good quality, sound, some kind of parking mode, dead reliable and NOT FUSSY to set up. Small form factor is a plus. Don't need a big Hollywood film camera on my windshield (will be windshield mount - not falling off would be nice) The S3 did all this just had bad software. Appreciate any help.

Oh I also had one that Costco sold, forget the name, it was junk.

Thanks.

 

[SawMaster]

You might find the Mini 0906 and the A129 good choices. If you can afford better, then Street Guardian would be my choice.

Phil

 

[froggy47]

Thanks, I was surprised to read that some cameras make it hard to xfer files to desktop for viewing. The Z-Edge was easy. Just plug in supplied usb cord & copy/paste.

Is that something I need to be looking for on my next camera? Sometimes I record an autox race & would like to xfer to desktop.

 

[SawMaster]

The fastest and most certain way to transfer files is to pop the cam card into your PC and copy it- no need to take the whole cam in, just the card. With some cams, plugging a USB data cable in affects the operation but the card alone always works. Just have to careful it doesn't go flying into an inaccessible spot in the car as you remove it. If you're on a Windows 8 or 10 PC, you might get better viewing results with VLC player freeware. Media Player seems to dislike certain cams for no apparent reason. I don't know if USB cable transfer works with either of the cams I mentioned, but a question in their respective forums will get you that answer.

Phil

 

[kamkar]

I have never heard that, in general just put the memory card in a card reader.
Never use the camera itself for transfer as they are lousy in mass storage mode, most will give you 10 - 20 MB/s transfer speeds, where most memory cards support 80 / 90 MB/s speeds.
The same are the case with the wifi cameras, god awful transfer speeds.

 

[froggy47]

The fastest and most certain way to transfer files is to pop the cam card into your PC and copy it- no need to take the whole cam in, just the card. With some cams, plugging a USB data cable in affects the operation but the card alone always works. Just have to careful it doesn't go flying into an inaccessible spot in the car as you remove it. If you're on a Windows 8 or 10 PC, you might get better viewing results with VLC player freeware. Media Player seems to dislike certain cams for no apparent reason. I don't know if USB cable transfer works with either of the cams I mentioned, but a question in their respective forums will get you that answer.

Phil

Thanks, I try to leave the itty bitty card alone as much as I can, hope they don't ever make it any smaller, will need tweezers.

 

[SawMaster]

Twice I've chased down flying cards, but it's still the best way to get the vids off of the cam. I often pop the cam from the mount to get the card out to mitigate the problem. In some cases that may not be easy to do and a cable DL to a laptop or phone works better but it's still slower.

With the size of some cams, it would not matter if a full-sized card were used but some cams are too small for that. Until SSD's become a viable option it seems we're stuck with the MicroSD.

Phil

 

[WeedeaterDM]

Thanks, I try to leave the itty bitty card alone as much as I can, hope they don't ever make it any smaller, will need tweezers.

kamkar1 and Sawmaster are right, you are better off taking the card out to transfer files. Besides, you can swap in another card while you take that one in the house to get your files and it's a good time to do maintenance on the card if needed. I prefer to use the computer to format my cards. If I format it in my Thinkware, my phone won't recognize it. Like Sawmaster, I have had to hunt down a flying card. With over two years of doing this at least twice a week, it's only happened one time to me.

I wonder what's for breakfast, later

 

[froggy47]

Thanks, the other thing I liked about z-edge was an onboard (native) format could be done from the menu. Too bad the thing was just so damn fussy to get INTO menu.