BlackVue DR400G-HD Car Black Box/Car DVR Recorder GPS 16GB +Worldwide Express

• tra High Definition Video Quality, Natural Reproduction of Videos
• Audio Recording/Various Recording Modes/Event Recording with the G-sensor
• Parking Mode Recording with Motion Detection/Turn on/off Auto Parking Mode
• LED Indication/Video Playback Using Multiple External Devices /Smart Phone Dedicated Viewer, BlackVue App.
• Specialized BlackVue S/W /Real-time Video Monitoring

I have three cameras purchased directly from Korea before Amazon offered the product. The 16GB card at the higest definition is good for abot 4.5 hours of continuous video. I am using 32GB Class 10 cards because they last longer before automatically wrapping storage. Software is provided and has many features although anything that plays MP4 files can be used provided the camera is used in the upright mount. An inverted mount requires the BlackVue software to correctly orient the image. I am using the three cameras in four land vehicles and several aircraft. I purchased several additional mounts to easily switch between vehicles. Almost all vehicles are hard wired with additional power wires purchased from www.digikey.com The additionl mounts are pricey; about $20 each plus some shipping. Only disadvanage I see is that there is a boot time of about 30 seconds before recording and GPS lock. I do not use the parking mode. Much documentation is in Korean but an English language manual in pdf form can be downladed.

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So far, I've been very pleased with this purchase, with ONE caveat (see bottom of review). Before this purchase, I had an Itronics ITB-70G Car Black Box Dash Camera, purchased in March. It functioned perfectly until dying in July. There was no warranty that I could find and the Korean company seems to have disappeared, so end of story.

I was reluctant to purchase a new one, considering the short life span of the Itronics, but really like the features on the BlackVue and hadn't read anything bad when I pulled the trigger.

Pros:

--The camera is small and unobtrusive. I've mounted mine just below the headliner and hard-wired it with cable that runs up the A pillar.

--HD looks very crisp. License plates are usually readable.

--Can handle up to 32GB micro SD card to maximize amount of footage (10 hours of full HD, 36+ hours on lowest resolution).

--Records in 1-minute segments that are categorized as 1) normal driving; 2) parking mode (when movement sensed); and 3) an incident happened strong enough to trigger the G sensor. When it goes into parking mode, the camera is still on but it doesn't transfer the images onto the card, thus saving SD card space (a great feature). Since it records in a loop and erases footage when there is too much data on the card, you can tell it to save the incident data/parking movement footage.

--Software program is great. Uses Google maps to track the location and has a myriad of settings, including different G sensor setting for the parking mode and driving mode (so every pothole doesn't trigger the sensor).

Cons:

--Gets REALLY hot. Almost too hard to touch camera after shutting down. Can't imagine what this does to SD card, which must sizzle inside this camera.

--Uses micro SD cards (Itronics ITB-70G used normal sized one).

--Recommends reformatting the SD card weekly.

--Lots of lights on camera. Big LED on end, blinking record button, GPS light. The default setting also includes an audible voice telling you when the unit is turning on, turning off parking mode, formatting the disk, etc. Luckily, most of these can be turned off with the software.

--Camera is a little difficult to release from base in car.

The caveat (for me anyway): I don't feel comfortable leaving this unit on in my parked car on really hot days (which is 3-4 months of the year here). I've read --after I bought this camera -that the performance of these BlackVue cameras will suffer under extreme heat and maybe even fail. On the few days I've left this camera on in the hot sun I haven't had a problem, but I don't feel like risking it. And, in truth, this camera is rated to 140 degrees Fahrenheit which a car parked in direct sun might exceed. I wanted a plug-in-and-forget-it unit, but instead I will only use the BlackVue certain times of the year and long trips.

UPDATE: October 10, 2012--I am pretty sure the BlackVue, which I had running night and day, killed my 3-year-old car battery. Even though I had it running through a device to kill power when the battery got low, my car, on two occasions, would not start in the morning. Took the battery to Sears and they said it was toast. My guess is that the constant draining (from the BlackVue) and recharging of the car battery eventually took its toll. I have rewired the unit to only operate when the ignition is on and have had no problems. And at least I can pretty much "leave it and forget it" now since the heat is no longer an issue. But beware of leaving this camera on when the ignition is off.

Only other issue: Had the camera freeze up on me once, but I chalk that one up to not having reformatted the SD card. Otherwise it has worked flawlessly. Still merits 4 starts in my book.

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I purchased this camera when I went on a trip to korea. The camera works flawless and image quality is great. However after 6 months of use, the image became very foggy and blurry. The issue was that the camera builds up a lot of dust inside where the image sensor and lens meet.

Fix:

Remove the 4 rubber plugs on the back, then remove 4 screws. Pry open the case carefully. You will see the black lens tube attach to the board. There are 2 screws behind the board that holds the lens. remove screws and the lens will fall off... From here, get some alcohol and clean the lens and also the image sensor... IT WILL WORK LIKE NEW AFTER>...

I would give it full 5 stars if it was sealed for dust and moist, however I guess that sealing it will make it heat up more thus damaging internal chips. I don't mind opening it up and cleaning it though.. It basically took me 15 minutes.

Cheers!

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I received the BlackVue on the expected date and it works well. I have never owned a dash camera before but this one is the most recommended by people. I records in high quality along with audio. It also has GPS that stamps the MPH and also the date and time. Using the software that you download from BlackVue site you can clearly view the recordings. The Google map feature is also amazing. My only complaint is that ii does not come with a suction cup holder.

The week after I bought the camera I got into a accident with another individual. The other guy rear ended me and took off. I followed him and finally he stopped and got out of his vehicle. He gave me the wrong insurance information and took off again. This time I did not follow him as I got his vehicle plate and his face on my BlackVue. I also got his passengers faces on my cam when the got out. I am glad I got this product ! Now I have the evidence I need and I have filed a report with the police.

I brought DR400G-HD first edition on 07/29/12 and DR400G-HD II on 08/04/12 from south korea on ebay for around 200 each. Since I parked my car on Chicago street, first edition was installed on car's back window and second edition on front window(Because supposedly new version better with heat issue). I had the parking mode turned on on both camera and I also installed Magic Power Pro so that it wont run down my car's battery.

From the last recording I see the first edition DR400G-HD short circuited on September 6, 2012 in the middle of recording. I couldn't start my car second day because my car's battery was died and I had to call a friend helped me jump start the car. My car's battery is only 2 months old from Walmart. I took it back to Walmart have it tested and car mechanic found battery good as new. Then I checked the camera and realize there is no response from the rear camera. So I concluded the first edition camera must short circuited my car's battery somehow at night time.

I checked the front camera which is DR400G-HD II and it still works but the video quality actually gone bad, the video's color looks all washed out, like there is weird 60's style color filter in front of the camera lens. I made a youtube video here(watch?v=LKRPp-bW3OY)

The warranty for both cameras is one year. So I went to PittaSoft's web site and found they really dont have department that handle warranty. There are only 2 emails: sales@pittasoft.com and product@pittasoft.com. I emailed them 3 days ago but haven't got any response so far. They are in South Korea so I can wait few more days. So if they ever respond I'll update here.

My conclusion is that the heat issue still big big problems for these cameras. The video quality is great while they lasted. Day time recording is clear as u can see. Night time recording is not too bad and it gets better when u near a light source. And the parking mode can record everything(biker, people walk by, kids playing, car parking). But the heat issue with the camera eventually killed one camera and damaged the lens on second edition camera. If u want longer use, u better turn parking mode off or park it somewhere cooler. Don't waste your money on these like I did. Not sure when they will ever respond to my warranty questions.

Update:(I can't believe they don't honer warranty of their own product, what kind of company is this?)

This is Kate Lee, a staff of sales & marketing department at Pittasoft.

We checked your serial number.

We are sorry to inform that your unit is produced as Korean version for domestic market.

If you purchased it from unofficial routes or domestic market, the unit is not possible to receive customer service.

Please contact the shop where you purchased the product.

Best regards,

Kate Lee