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xenigo · 03-28-2013, 10:43 PM

Oh yes, I have a lot of experience with the GoPro 3 Black:

I received mine around Jan 10th. I have the 64gb Sandisk Ultra MicroXDHC card, with the suction cup windshield mount and "the frame" accessory to give me access to external power with the 12 volt car adapter. The camera was tested on 1080 / 60, and 2.7k / 30 in loop mode for use as a dash camera. Figured this would basically be the best solution currently on the market... Theoretically it should have been.

So let's get into why I had to return it:

I took a drive from Oakland to Walnut Creek on a relatively cold night, 40 degrees outside, at around 2:00am. The drive takes maybe a half hour with no traffic. About 3/4 of the way there, the camera beeped 3 times. The flashing red record light stopped flashing. It stopped recording. I didn't know what had happened, so I hit the record button again. This time it went for about 10 minutes, and then stopped recording. Repeated at 5 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, and then it just wouldn't turn on again.

Mind you, it's plugged in. There shouldn't be any power issues.

I tried it again without the external power. Same results. With both external power, and battery power, the camera became EXTREMELY hot to the touch. So hot you wouldn't want to hold it.

I was running the newest firmware... the firmware GoPro SWORE up and down would fix the exact problem I was describing. It did not, and everyone complaining of this problem confirmed the firmware update did not solve the issue.

So after about a week of fucking around with it, I realized that if I didn't get this sent back to the store I bought it from... I would be permanently stuck with a product that should never have been put on the market. After researching GoPro's policy regarding returns and exchanges, it appeared they were being quite difficult with people who had not done the return through their retailer. Some people had gone through 3 or 4 exchanges before they got a camera that actually worked.

Anyway... I'll try them again in a year and hope they've got their problems sorted out.

03-28-2013, 10:43 PM
xenigo Confirmed User Industry Role: Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Oakland, CA Posts: 8,067	Oh yes, I have a lot of experience with the GoPro 3 Black: I received mine around Jan 10th. I have the 64gb Sandisk Ultra MicroXDHC card, with the suction cup windshield mount and "the frame" accessory to give me access to external power with the 12 volt car adapter. The camera was tested on 1080 / 60, and 2.7k / 30 in loop mode for use as a dash camera. Figured this would basically be the best solution currently on the market... Theoretically it should have been. So let's get into why I had to return it: I took a drive from Oakland to Walnut Creek on a relatively cold night, 40 degrees outside, at around 2:00am. The drive takes maybe a half hour with no traffic. About 3/4 of the way there, the camera beeped 3 times. The flashing red record light stopped flashing. It stopped recording. I didn't know what had happened, so I hit the record button again. This time it went for about 10 minutes, and then stopped recording. Repeated at 5 minutes, 2 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds, and then it just wouldn't turn on again. Mind you, it's plugged in. There shouldn't be any power issues. I tried it again without the external power. Same results. With both external power, and battery power, the camera became EXTREMELY hot to the touch. So hot you wouldn't want to hold it. I was running the newest firmware... the firmware GoPro SWORE up and down would fix the exact problem I was describing. It did not, and everyone complaining of this problem confirmed the firmware update did not solve the issue. So after about a week of fucking around with it, I realized that if I didn't get this sent back to the store I bought it from... I would be permanently stuck with a product that should never have been put on the market. After researching GoPro's policy regarding returns and exchanges, it appeared they were being quite difficult with people who had not done the return through their retailer. Some people had gone through 3 or 4 exchanges before they got a camera that actually worked. Anyway... I'll try them again in a year and hope they've got their problems sorted out. Last edited by xenigo; 03-28-2013 at 10:44 PM..