Dash cam question

[The-Acre]

I put my SD card into my laptop to find it empty, the dash cam says I need to format the card, is this normal?  I've never done it before and I've had one in my other car for three years without having to do it. Nextbase say it should be done every three weeks.

[Shelside]

3 hours ago, The-Acre said:

I put my SD card into my laptop to find it empty, the dash cam says I need to format the card, is this normal?  I've never done it before and I've had one in my other car for three years without having to do it. Nextbase say it should be done every three weeks.

I have an old Chinese 0801 mini cam that I bought about 8 years ago that is still working fine. When I first got it I had to format the sd card in the actual dashcam. It would only accept a class 10 card and I found that a 5 min loop was the most stable overwrite option. 

IF I want to browse the footage I just take the card out and plug it into the TV or my android via USB and card reader/adaptor. 

I would imagine things have moved on a bit since I first got mine, but, if it ain't broke and all that. 

Does your Nextbase allow you to format the card in the cam or on your laptop? 

[Herbie]

5 hours ago, The-Acre said:

Nextbase say it should be done every three weeks.

I don't know why that would be. I had a Nextbase 402G for about 3 years and never formatted the card, and my current Viofo A119S has been in there well over a year and never formatted.

Given that the camera overwrites the data, starting with the earliest files first, I really cannot see any reason to manually format at all.

[The-Acre]

11 hours ago, Shelside said:

I have an old Chinese 0801 mini cam that I bought about 8 years ago that is still working fine. When I first got it I had to format the sd card in the actual dashcam. It would only accept a class 10 card and I found that a 5 min loop was the most stable overwrite option. 

IF I want to browse the footage I just take the card out and plug it into the TV or my android via USB and card reader/adaptor. 

I would imagine things have moved on a bit since I first got mine, but, if it ain't broke and all that. 

Does your Nextbase allow you to format the card in the cam or on your laptop? 

It seems to give both options.  I've formatted the card in my laptop but back in the camera it says format SD card.  I'm guessing to the card has maybe become corrupted in some way so maybe I'll try a new one.

[steve2006]

I have had to reformat my SD card around 3 times in a year in my Nextbase but it has always worked by doing it in the camera, the amount of “clips” you save/ protect will reduce the amount of memory available for overwriting.

What size memory are you using?

[The-Acre]

9 hours ago, steve2006 said:

I have had to reformat my SD card around 3 times in a year in my Nextbase but it has always worked by doing it in the camera, the amount of “clips” you save/ protect will reduce the amount of memory available for overwriting.

What size memory are you using?

I've got a 32gb card.  I'll try formatting it in the camera to see if that makes a difference.  It's annoying as I witnessed some really aggressive and dangerous driving which I would have sent to the police but sadly nothing was recorded!