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If the power is turned off, whatever file is being written is corrupt. I installed a GPS-overlay box between my forward-facing camera (mounted on my rear-view mirror) and the DVR. They loop-record anytime the car is in motion. For now, my max SD size is 4GB (non-SDHC). They can be spliced back together, but there is about a 2-4 frame loss at each seam. I have an email into svat to see if there is a work-around.
All co-workers have these installed after seeing how it reveals how 'unimpeachable, trustworthy, and honest' police officer testimony is anything but.I don't go looking for trouble. The insurance this provides against he-said she-said accidents, inaccurate laser guns (check out my youtube video), or rogue police who say one thing on the side of the road, and another in court - is priceless. It finds me. When it does, it's great to have an unbiased witness ready to come to my defense.Note: If your state is a two-party consent state, you'll need to warn anyone within audio recording distance that they're being recorded. I've owned two of these for 3 years - one in each car. In humid environments the internal contacts become 'dirty' causing flicker in the video if the cables are bumped. 2) The video is actually split into multiple 1 - 1.5MB asf files.
It's barely noticeable, but it is an annoyance. I imagine this has to be the case as the files must be completed and saved before power loss. I solved this problem by applying small (3" x 1") red warning labels in the corner of all roll-down windows. This imprints my speed on the video. Each segment is about 4-6 seconds long.
Otherwise, at best it's inadmissible, or at worst, you could be charged with felony wire-tap offenses. They look like alarm stickers, but state "Notice: Any conversations inside and within 6' of this vehicle may be recorded".I would have given it 5 stars, but I have two annoyances:1) The A/V in/out jacks are nothing more than a 4-contact 3.5mm stereo jack. So you lose the last few seconds of record when you turn off the car.Because of the age of mine, I do not have a firmware update option under the SD section of the menu. If you want to see videos of how this works in a car, look up my username on utube.
I purchased this unit from Amazon for 149.99and simply cannot take the risk of a charge that is from 30% or more of what I originally paid.To have such a warranty with so unfavorable terms to the consumer is not, in my opinion, a valid warranty.These details were never disclosed at the original purchase nor in the User's Guide warranty page. SVAT has severalplaces where they remind you that if you miss anything or thepackage is not in conformance, they will holdyour unit until you pay at least $50 plus return shipping.
The biggest which (related)is a nearly unusable owner's manual and the requirement to hook up the unit to a televisionin order to access the menu. The menus are not intuitive - and confirmations are not obvious.There are some sub-menus that "seem" to lead to a function, but there is no function.I could never get the motion detector to work correctly even after emails and phone calls toSVAT.
Like other reviewers, this seems to be a unique product due to its small size.However, that is not enough to make up for its shortcomings. Then I read the details provide in the RMA instructions.
Dan P eventually told me he did not have an answer to the problem of why the motion detectwould continuously record even though it was in a "manual" and "motion detect" mode at 50% sensitivity.His idea was to use a different camera (which I did with the same results). However, both camerasare made with high end Sony chipsets and lenses.Well, I asked for and got an RMA.
They also write that if in their sole discretionthey determine it is not a product defect, the $50/hour charge applies. Buyer beware.
The only con I noticed is it dont accept SDHC cads. But if you manage to buy some 4G or 8G non sdhc cards it works. The porblem is those are very difficult to find (and more expensive and non trustable cards). As I did notice it seems to be an 2006 model, but lacks nothing it promises, with lots of options, including a grid were you can select wich areas of the screen trigers the recording.But the best are the loop dvr sistem, were it rewrite the card as it got full, and this is a very difficult to find option among all those tiny recorders all arroundVery nice, and came with all cables
This is a good mini video recorder.Good for hidden video or car video applications.Would not recommend for long term recording as it wont replace a standard DVR in search and function options. Good Value/Quality for the money.
Superb, inexpensive and flexible recorder for a single camera. Selected SD Card and update system. That cured the problem. Would not boot up or work in any way. This gives an essentially perpetual recording capability. Went to [.].and downloaded the June 2009 firmware file. Worked out of the box using the included 1GB SD card but would not operate at all using the 16GB SDHC card I bought at the same time. Took 2 seconds.
Extracted from zip and transferred to the 1GB card. Placed the card into the CPC800 and went into menu. Now can record for dozens of hours and can loop back around once the 16GB is full without intervention. Great little unit with many features, including variable resolution and recording quality.
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