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Today at Atelier Kaz - Private NSX Enthusiast, ex-Honda R&D engineer with F1, Indy/CART background

New Gadget – Dash cam HP f520g

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For quite a while now, have been thinking of getting the dash cam and searched several reviews in UK, US and Japan.
Looked at so many models but for my usage, I don’t need wifi capability but would like to have GPS.

Transcend DrivePro 200 (DP200) received very good review in UK but there was fairly serious issue (won’t power up) reported under cold winter condition in Japan and normal to good review in US.
I thought about getting the latest model DrivePro 220 (DP220) but while searching, I found out that there is similar model but without the wifi from HP called f520g so decided to give it a go.

It looks fairly similar to DP220 and majority of the features are the same between the DP220 and f520g.
In fact, I think f520g is designed by Taiwanese company Onpro Electronics under the license from HP and being Transcend the same Taiwanese based company, both models could have some relationship.

The f520g doesn’t come with memory card so you need to get something before you can start recording.
The f520g spec states that the max memory card size is 32GB but using the FAT32 format with 32KB cluster size, you can use 64GB micro SDXC (exFAT is the standard above 32GB but there are software that can format it in FAT32) card as well.
If the firmware is updated in the future, it may no longer work but for now, I can use 64GB without any issues.

Although I bought the 64GB card through amazon, I know there are lots of fake cards on the market so tested the memory card for the speed and capacity. Looked to be genuine so started test recording of my garden to see how hot the f520g gets and also any loss/lack of files after more than 5Hrs.

Obviously, despite the official spec of 32GB max memory size, managed to successfully exceed that using 64GB memory card and while the unit got fairly warm, it was nothing like too hot to touch so happy with the test.
There was no lack of files throughout the testing.
Between each files, as far as I can tell, there was no loss of image (file gap) so smooth play back.

I’m going to install this using the permanent 5V supply converted from the ACC line on two cars so waiting for the delivery. In the meantime, I will just use the power adaptor included in the package for the test driving session.

Hope I can use this for the Silverstone Classic event.


Kaz


Comments

  1. solidol's Avatar
    Hi Kaz, I bought this (http://amzn.com/B00MC2TEEM) for my brother and we test fitted it in NSX. I liked how stealth looking whole install is.
  2. Kaz-kzukNA1's Avatar
    Hi, solidol. Thank you for sharing the info.

    I think the dash cam/drive recorder devices are still in the stage of development as there are lots of room for the improvements.
    Heat from the direct sunlight will have big effect on the internal battery/capacitor as well as on the memory card so it will be interesting how long these devices can survive.

    For this price, if it can survive for 2 years, I’m happy with it and feel like it served its duty.
    Will see how it goes.

    Kaz