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Recently bought both the A229 (front & rear cam) and A119 mini for a family member per request and set it up for them. I have three of the A119 (regular, not mini) myself that I have used in 3 cars for years and they're great units. Helping the fam get these set up let me get hands on with these current models.
Size between the A229 and A119 mini should not be an overlooked detail. It may seem obvious because one is "mini" but it was a big difference. The 229 was a nice size - I never felt like it was too big or anything and I really liked it. When I went to install the 119 mini right after I actually had trouble with the set up and I struggled to read the screen. Yes, my aging eyes are a problem but I had no trouble with the 229 at all. I actually had to use my phone camera and enlarge the viewfinder to view the mini and navigate the menu. That being said, the mini is still solid and the smaller size may actually be exactly what people want.
Something else no one has endorsed yet is what you mentioned about buying a 2 channel unit (front and rear cam combined) vs buying 2 cameras. I am actually going with 2 cameras for my next set up. The two channel system has the benefit of a smaller camera in the rear (no screen), one memory card, joint video feed, and a single interface to set up options & date/time, etc.
But having two cameras is just an easier set up for me. Sure, I have to get an extra memory card and set the options up/make adjustments on a second screen but I set up the front unit very easily (tucked under the edge of the headliner, run along under the A-pillar cover and under the dash to the fuse box or the power port in the center console) and for the rear I kind of do the same and plug it into the power port in the back (SUV). I also feel a little better about having two recordings in the off chance one failed to capture. I was actually in an accident where I was T-boned and my car ended up it's side and I had this 2 camera set up already (put my older dash cam in the rear when I upgraded to a better one in the front). Both cams caught the accident, thankfully. Also, the guy who hit me claimed he had a green light but my recording (along with an eye witness) cleared that up. Get a dash cam, people.
So that's just my two cents. Currently driving a three row SUV and would absolutely opt for a two camera set up rather than trying to feed a cable attached to the front unit down the headliner and over 3 pillars to the back.
Had purchased one last week with that peomo code to get $25 off plus another 5% on the Amazon deals, but this is a better deal. For the 119 it was a 17.99 difference. I wish Amazon would just refund the difference on price drops vs making a purchase/return wasteful effort to recover our losses.
How are you all getting these installed? I'd love to have these but the installation just keeps me from buying these. They say easy install but it doesn't look like it's remotely easy. Appreciate any tips for making the install smoother.
What is your car make, model, and year? If you're interested I'll put together a guide for you just to help out.
Recently bought both the A229 (front & rear cam) and A119 mini for a family member per request and set it up for them. I have three of the A119 (regular, not mini) myself that I have used in 3 cars for years and they're great units. Helping the fam get these set up let me get hands on with these current models.
Size between the A229 and A119 mini should not be an overlooked detail. It may seem obvious because one is "mini" but it was a big difference. The 229 was a nice size - I never felt like it was too big or anything and I really liked it. When I went to install the 119 mini right after I actually had trouble with the set up and I struggled to read the screen. Yes, my aging eyes are a problem but I had no trouble with the 229 at all. I actually had to use my phone camera and enlarge the viewfinder to view the mini and navigate the menu. That being said, the mini is still solid and the smaller size may actually be exactly what people want.
Something else no one has endorsed yet is what you mentioned about buying a 2 channel unit (front and rear cam combined) vs buying 2 cameras. I am actually going with 2 cameras for my next set up. The two channel system has the benefit of a smaller camera in the rear (no screen), one memory card, joint video feed, and a single interface to set up options & date/time, etc.
But having two cameras is just an easier set up for me. Sure, I have to get an extra memory card and set the options up/make adjustments on a second screen but I set up the front unit very easily (tucked under the edge of the headliner, run along under the A-pillar cover and under the dash to the fuse box or the power port in the center console) and for the rear I kind of do the same and plug it into the power port in the back (SUV). I also feel a little better about having two recordings in the off chance one failed to capture. I was actually in an accident where I was T-boned and my car ended up it's side and I had this 2 camera set up already (put my older dash cam in the rear when I upgraded to a better one in the front). Both cams caught the accident, thankfully. Also, the guy who hit me claimed he had a green light but my recording (along with an eye witness) cleared that up. Get a dash cam, people.
So that's just my two cents. Currently driving a three row SUV and would absolutely opt for a two camera set up rather than trying to feed a cable attached to the front unit down the headliner and over 3 pillars to the back.
My third row will be my final one to equip. After reading your post, I like your idea regarding a second camera. I was actually just going to install the front of a two camera set and keep the rear for when I really feel adventurous. Plus, I was curious if the rear cable would be long enough to run in the beast! I'm not that concerned about parking mode, so an installed USB port in the back would work. Thanks for the info!
I think it highly depends on the agent you get. In the past based on my experience, if you're nice to the agent on the chat and ask if they can kindly refund the difference instead of you having to return and rebuy the item, it has worked in my favor. However, they are usually only able to refund a % and not a $ amount so it may not be the exact amount you're looking for.
Thanks. Yeah I'm always nice about these things because it's not THEIR fault this happened. Just got the wrong agent today. Not a huge deal since I have a couple of other items I'm shipping back anyway, so not an extra trip for me.
Thanks. Yeah I'm always nice about these things because it's not THEIR fault this happened. Just got the wrong agent today. Not a huge deal since I have a couple of other items I'm shipping back anyway, so not an extra trip for me.
Ah, that's a bummer. I'm glad you're still getting the cheaper price either way!
I've been researching dashcams for a while and Viofos were near the top of my list, but this particular video from a YouTuber I frequent scared me a little bit:
TLDR; His wife got in a nasty T-Bone accident, camera froze and didn't capture video, only audio. Follow up video is him trying to simulate an accident with a rubber mallet, same freezing issue; other brands were ok. Viofo A119 was ok also.
Viofo reached out to him but their response is iffy imo: ""We have taken this matter very seriously and conducted extensive testing with several units. And I'm pleased to report that we encountered no issues. Upon reviewing the shipping timeline, we discovered that your wife's A229 Pro was among the earliest produced. We implemented improvements last year that addressed the concerns you've raised, and we'll continue to do more violent tests to verify stability later."
So early batches could have this issue but no recalls issued? Not trying to poop on this deal or Viofo, very possible that this is all fixed and no longer a problem. But yeah kinda scary that in his case it didn't do the ONE JOB it has. I'm actually still considering Viofo funny enough, as the actual video quality is among the best out there according to many reviewers. Hopefully this was a one-off.
...Do you have any brands that you recommend? This is noted as one of the best brands across the interwebs (various review sites, r/dashcam recommendations, etc), so I feel like you don' tlike the performance of their oldest and lowest tier cam you are calling the brand trash.
I like Project Farm but felt his video left out a few brands I would have liked to see. This video also includes the Vantrue N4 Pro 3 and that's the one I'm currently thinking about getting (if it ever goes on sale). https://youtu.be/lzdxCOvPq5Q?si=BwhRTVxH6o_HU2m_
Tempted as this brand is always highly recommended but wary of buying any dashcam since summer where I live is often months of 110+ F days and I worry that the unit or memory card will get fried
Recently bought both the A229 (front & rear cam) and A119 mini for a family member per request and set it up for them. I have three of the A119 (regular, not mini) myself that I have used in 3 cars for years and they're great units. Helping the fam get these set up let me get hands on with these current models. Size between the A229 and A119 mini should not be an overlooked detail. It may seem obvious because one is "mini" but it was a big difference. The 229 was a nice size - I never felt like it was too big or anything and I really liked it. When I went to install the 119 mini right after I actually had trouble with the set up and I struggled to read the screen. Yes, my aging eyes are a problem but I had no trouble with the 229 at all. I actually had to use my phone camera and enlarge the viewfinder to view the mini and navigate the menu. That being said, the mini is still solid and the smaller size may actually be exactly what people want. Something else no one has endorsed yet is what you mentioned about buying a 2 channel unit (front and rear cam combined) vs buying 2 cameras. I am actually going with 2 cameras for my next set up. The two channel system has the benefit of a smaller camera in the rear (no screen), one memory card, joint video feed, and a single interface to set up options & date/time, etc. But having two cameras is just an easier set up for me. Sure, I have to get an extra memory card and set the options up/make adjustments on a second screen but I set up the front unit very easily (tucked under the edge of the headliner, run along under the A-pillar cover and under the dash to the fuse box or the power port in the center console) and for the rear I kind of do the same and plug it into the power port in the back (SUV). I also feel a little better about having two recordings in the off chance one failed to capture. I was actually in an accident where I was T-boned and my car ended up it's side and I had this 2 camera set up already (put my older dash cam in the rear when I upgraded to a better one in the front). Both cams caught the accident, thankfully. Also, the guy who hit me claimed he had a green light but my recording (along with an eye witness) cleared that up. Get a dash cam, people. So that's just my two cents. Currently driving a three row SUV and would absolutely opt for a two camera set up rather than trying to feed a cable attached to the front unit down the headliner and over 3 pillars to the back.
How is the video quality between the 229 and mini? I see the specs are same.
What about the features in the app? Both have same functionalities?
If 229 and mini have same video quality and functionality, I don't mind fork out $20 more for 2 mini.
Top Comments
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLjGazI
Size between the A229 and A119 mini should not be an overlooked detail. It may seem obvious because one is "mini" but it was a big difference. The 229 was a nice size - I never felt like it was too big or anything and I really liked it. When I went to install the 119 mini right after I actually had trouble with the set up and I struggled to read the screen. Yes, my aging eyes are a problem but I had no trouble with the 229 at all. I actually had to use my phone camera and enlarge the viewfinder to view the mini and navigate the menu. That being said, the mini is still solid and the smaller size may actually be exactly what people want.
Something else no one has endorsed yet is what you mentioned about buying a 2 channel unit (front and rear cam combined) vs buying 2 cameras. I am actually going with 2 cameras for my next set up. The two channel system has the benefit of a smaller camera in the rear (no screen), one memory card, joint video feed, and a single interface to set up options & date/time, etc.
But having two cameras is just an easier set up for me. Sure, I have to get an extra memory card and set the options up/make adjustments on a second screen but I set up the front unit very easily (tucked under the edge of the headliner, run along under the A-pillar cover and under the dash to the fuse box or the power port in the center console) and for the rear I kind of do the same and plug it into the power port in the back (SUV). I also feel a little better about having two recordings in the off chance one failed to capture. I was actually in an accident where I was T-boned and my car ended up it's side and I had this 2 camera set up already (put my older dash cam in the rear when I upgraded to a better one in the front). Both cams caught the accident, thankfully. Also, the guy who hit me claimed he had a green light but my recording (along with an eye witness) cleared that up. Get a dash cam, people.
So that's just my two cents. Currently driving a three row SUV and would absolutely opt for a two camera set up rather than trying to feed a cable attached to the front unit down the headliner and over 3 pillars to the back.
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Size between the A229 and A119 mini should not be an overlooked detail. It may seem obvious because one is "mini" but it was a big difference. The 229 was a nice size - I never felt like it was too big or anything and I really liked it. When I went to install the 119 mini right after I actually had trouble with the set up and I struggled to read the screen. Yes, my aging eyes are a problem but I had no trouble with the 229 at all. I actually had to use my phone camera and enlarge the viewfinder to view the mini and navigate the menu. That being said, the mini is still solid and the smaller size may actually be exactly what people want.
Something else no one has endorsed yet is what you mentioned about buying a 2 channel unit (front and rear cam combined) vs buying 2 cameras. I am actually going with 2 cameras for my next set up. The two channel system has the benefit of a smaller camera in the rear (no screen), one memory card, joint video feed, and a single interface to set up options & date/time, etc.
But having two cameras is just an easier set up for me. Sure, I have to get an extra memory card and set the options up/make adjustments on a second screen but I set up the front unit very easily (tucked under the edge of the headliner, run along under the A-pillar cover and under the dash to the fuse box or the power port in the center console) and for the rear I kind of do the same and plug it into the power port in the back (SUV). I also feel a little better about having two recordings in the off chance one failed to capture. I was actually in an accident where I was T-boned and my car ended up it's side and I had this 2 camera set up already (put my older dash cam in the rear when I upgraded to a better one in the front). Both cams caught the accident, thankfully. Also, the guy who hit me claimed he had a green light but my recording (along with an eye witness) cleared that up. Get a dash cam, people.
So that's just my two cents. Currently driving a three row SUV and would absolutely opt for a two camera set up rather than trying to feed a cable attached to the front unit down the headliner and over 3 pillars to the back.
"Our Dash Cam FAILED US. Viofo A229 Pro" https://youtu.be/W9XBB40Ufn8?si=
"Dash Cam Update VIOFO A229 Pro" https://youtu.be/ovIbvUHhJf8?si=
TLDR; His wife got in a nasty T-Bone accident, camera froze and didn't capture video, only audio. Follow up video is him trying to simulate an accident with a rubber mallet, same freezing issue; other brands were ok. Viofo A119 was ok also.
Viofo reached out to him but their response is iffy imo: ""We have taken this matter very seriously and conducted extensive testing with several units. And I'm pleased to report that we encountered no issues. Upon reviewing the shipping timeline, we discovered that your wife's A229 Pro was among the earliest produced. We implemented improvements last year that addressed the concerns you've raised, and we'll continue to do more violent tests to verify stability later."
So early batches could have this issue but no recalls issued? Not trying to poop on this deal or Viofo, very possible that this is all fixed and no longer a problem. But yeah kinda scary that in his case it didn't do the ONE JOB it has. I'm actually still considering Viofo funny enough, as the actual video quality is among the best out there according to many reviewers. Hopefully this was a one-off.
Business Name: Shenzhen Viofo Technology Co., Ltd
518109
CN
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What about the features in the app? Both have same functionalities?
If 229 and mini have same video quality and functionality, I don't mind fork out $20 more for 2 mini.
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