I just wanted to thank woot! for the recent Surprise Christmas Big ol' Celebration I received!!

Thanks woot! staff for the recognition! More importantly thanks to all of you who also continue to share their knowledge and opinions on products featured here and on other forums. I hope everyone continues to share their knowledge as much as possible, it makes the world and internet a better place!

Wootalyzer's Pricing Post! - The price of today's woot item is saved here for future reference
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Swann FreeStyle 1080p Action Cam
$119.99 + $5 Standard OR $11 One-Day OR $8 Two-Day Shipping
Condition: New

*DISCLAIMER* Wootalyzer! is in no way affiliated with Woot!, and this post may not always be here!

$5 less than last woot off!

Its been featured several times before in non woot off's as well. It was $139 in this previous woot.

This woot! community product thread has the most posts, I think it was the first time it was offered.

For the price, you can't beat it.

In case anyone is wondering:

Actual product page

(the manual is there, as well)

Does anyone know the size of the CMOS sensor (not the resolution)? That'd be my only real question about it.

I bought one a while back from Woot.

It works well. The lens is very wide angle, so anything more than 25 feet or so from you is going to be a tiny speck in the final video - we tried video'ing waterskiing from 75' - you could tell that there was probably a skier back there, but that was about it.

The only major disappointment is that the LCD doesn't fit on the camera when it's in the waterproof case - you have to take the LCD off. If they had made the plastic case 0.5" deeper so the LCD fit inside, they would have had a winner.

If you can live with this, I certainly recommend this camera.

theguruguys wrote:I just wanted to thank woot! for the recent Surprise Christmas Big ol' Celebration I received!!

Thanks woot! staff for the recognition! More importantly thanks to all of you who also continue to share their knowledge and opinions on products featured here and on other forums. I hope everyone continues to share their knowledge as much as possible, it makes the world and internet a better place!

Sorry, life's gotten worse, no sleep, still feel bad for my screwup on this product last November. I'm going to be real brief:

woot field test:


My main reason to post was to congratulate TheGuruGuys tonight. Merry Christmas everyone and keep up the good work, TT.

whatsamattaU wrote:Sorry, life's gotten worse, no sleep, still feel bad for my screwup on this product last November.

The only way to learn is to make mistakes. I've been corrected by woot! community members time and time again. I've had posts moderated and deleted! Nobody is perfect and as long as you humbly accept the correction and learn from it then let it go and move on. I can guarantee that others also learned from our mistakes as they likely thought the same or had the same misinformation, they just didn't post it.

mcw wrote:In case anyone is wondering:

Actual product page

(the manual is there, as well)

Does anyone know the size of the CMOS sensor (not the resolution)? That'd be my only real question about it.

Found this :

Sensor Type: CMOS 2592 x 1944

http://thingist.com/t/item/26664/

see a video with the Swann FreeStyle compared to the GoPro Hero and GoPro Hero2 over more or less the same course http://www.outdoorsmagic.com/gear-blog/gopro-hero2-v-swann-freeestyle---video/9603.html . Use 3 windows and starting each of the 3 sections at the same time shows the differences clearly. Swann isn't the best but none of those match the price! btw - FOR USE IN THE WATER, ADD A FLOATING CAMERA STRAP!

I finally ordered one of these, I almost pulled the trigger on previous woot's but at this price, even with TAX (TAXSUCKS coupon HELPS) I think its a deal. Late Christmas present for myself!

Amazon comments add up to being positive about the camera;s +pictures and accessories (except that you lose view screen with water resistant cover). V. wide angle, but many negative remarks (even among the positives) about 1) -sound and 2)-service, which are described as noisy and silent - respectively. Price here is terrific. So I got one.

theguruguys wrote:I finally ordered one of these, I almost pulled the trigger on previous woot's but at this price, even with TAX (TAXSUCKS coupon HELPS) I think its a deal. Late Christmas present for myself!

Bargain compared to the alternative. I bought one on the last go 'round. Modified the water proof case to accept video out put. The price of the replacement case (thought I might want to use it underwater) is almost as much as buying this woot offering. Buy two, if you want to mod the water proof case. Serious.

I already have a go pro hero2 but I think I am going to pick this up so I can see how epic I look while recording myself doing epic things. In addition, if I were to buy all of the accessories that are included with this for my gopro it would cost hundreds of extra dollars. The LCD and WiFi extras will be great!

Can any one who owns one tell me if they have been able to use the 64gb microSD cards with these?

Bought one in a previous Woot. Video is great, audio so-so as indicated in other reviews. Still excellent for the price, especially with the screen and remote.

The second half of this video, the in-car footage, is the Swann.
https://vimeo.com/50040763

michaelvella wrote:Found this :

Sensor Type: CMOS 2592 x 1944

http://thingist.com/t/item/26664/

Resolution is available - but, not the actual size of the CMOS sensor.

"Gadget Guy" review can be found here,
http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/product/swann-freestyle-hd/

Another from "BikeRadar.com" that was origionaly published in, "What Mountain Bike" magazine.
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/accessories/gadgets/helmet-cams/product/review-swann-freestyle-1080p-hd-camera-12-46282

The Manual
http://www.swann.com/webfiles/download/1635freestyle_hd_sports_v1.0.pdf

Swann SWVID-SPORTL Freestyle 1080p HD Waterproof Wearable Sports Video Camera - Price Comparisons

Woot Today = $119.99 + $5 Shippping
Today's Woot price is $40.50 Under next lowest deal found

Amazon = $160 + $5.49 Shipping
http://www.amazon.com/Swann-Freestyle-Waterproof-Sports-Camera/dp/B005EROCLC/ref=?ie=UTF8&m=A39883M1435A4Y

ebay = $139.00 + Ships Free
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Swann-SWVID-SPORTL-Freestyle-1080p-HD-Waterproof-Wearable-Sports-Video-Camera-/121042024870?_trksid=p3284.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BUA%252BP%252BFICS%252BUFI%252BIIUM%26otn%3D3%26pmod%3D360491991301%26ps%3D54

Adorama = $198.99 + Ships Free
http://www.adorama.com/SWNVIDSPORTL.html

**NOTE:
Dealers and prices above found using a random Google search. Your own random search may find differing and/or lower prices.

theguruguys wrote:I just wanted to thank woot! for the recent Surprise Christmas Big ol' Celebration I received!!

Thanks woot! staff for the recognition! More importantly thanks to all of you who also continue to share their knowledge and opinions on products featured here and on other forums. I hope everyone continues to share their knowledge as much as possible, it makes the world and internet a better place!

WOW that is a pretty good Bag"O"Crap if I do say so myself. Congratulations and have a great Christmas.

Just an FYI, the battery has changed for these (at least the last sale here). I got one from Amazon and it doesn't fit. Called Swann to get part number and this release is so new that the secondary sellers don't have proper bateries yet. Only Swann has them and they couldn't give me a part number. Asked me to send email photos of each with receipt and they will send me one free.

mcw wrote:In case anyone is wondering:

Actual product page

(the manual is there, as well)

Does anyone know the size of the CMOS sensor (not the resolution)? That'd be my only real question about it.

don't know about the CMOS but i saw this in the manual---

WARNING: since the tape provides a strong adhesive, expect that it cannot be removed. Attempts to remove it will very likely damage the mount and the surfaces to which it was attached.

Hmmmm---

Has anyone worked out a way to head strap mount this? Possibly with the Go Hero strap? Thanks.

Bought one a while back and have been very happy with it. Still shots looked decent and video was crisp and clear above and below water. In the case it's pretty rugged. Mine got used like a pool toy - thrown into the water, between kids then out onto the concrete side without any scratches or wear.

Cons: Like others, I would have liked the case to be able to handle the LCD. The camera was left filming for long time at one point and we didn't notice till much later that the memory card was full and we'd missed a bunch of pictures.

ThunderThighs wrote:The manual and specs say a max of 32GB.

Indeed. I was not basing my purchase off of such (and have indeed purchased one). I was just curious if anyone had tried one out, that's all.

In example, my Samsung Galaxy SII is spec'd to support a maximum of 32GB microSDHC cards, however my 64GB microSDXC cards function perfectly.

This might be a stupid question, but does anybody know if this has live video out? I want to transmit the video signal from an rc plane to a pair of video goggles on the ground... would the HDMI or A/V jack supply a live video out?

h2oman21 wrote:This might be a stupid question, but does anybody know if this has live video out? I want to transmit the video signal from an rc plane to a pair of video goggles on the ground... would the HDMI or A/V jack supply a live video out?

Read The Fine Manual (linked above): p. 27 says "A flexible feature of the HD Sports is the ability to view a live feed of what the HD Sports camera is seeing by attaching the LCD screen or connecting the camera to an external TV or monitor. "

So it looks like the answer is yes, the camera will put out live video, from both the AV and HDMI jacks according to p. 27.

Do NOT buy this camera! I bought the camera for its great value compared to a GoPro, only to be extremely disappointed. I mounted this camera to my snowboarding helmet according to the provided instructions. It fell off less than halfway down my first run, and I hadn't even fallen! Of course someone picked it up before I could find it, so there's $120 down the drain. I called swann to see about a replacement and they told me that since the adhesive was made by 3M they wouldn't do anything about it. When I asked to speak to a supervisor, the guy took my info and nobody ever called. Terrible customer service! It doesn't matter what the picture quality looks like if the camera won't even stay on your helmet! Save your money!

I got one of these for a bit more a few weeks ago. It's 90% as good as a gopro for 50% of the cost. It's not perfect, but for what I paid, I have no complaints.

Be aware that the field of view is quite a bit wider at 720p than at 1080. If there's too much "fisheye" effect for you, then switch up to the 1080 recording mode. If you need the wider FoV, then switch down to 720.

bruceman009 wrote:WARNING: since the tape provides a strong adhesive, expect that it cannot be removed. Attempts to remove it will very likely damage the mount and the surfaces to which it was attached.

I have a flat one on a curved surface of my scooter so it's only making about 33% contact and in the last couple months of use hasn't even budged...

I got one of these back in October. I have to buy a adapter as the one that came with it was not an American plug.

byrondavis wrote:Do NOT buy this camera! I bought the camera for its great value compared to a GoPro, only to be extremely disappointed. I mounted this camera to my snowboarding helmet according to the provided instructions. It fell off less than halfway down my first run, and I hadn't even fallen! Of course someone picked it up before I could find it, so there's $120 down the drain. I called swann to see about a replacement and they told me that since the adhesive was made by 3M they wouldn't do anything about it. When I asked to speak to a supervisor, the guy took my info and nobody ever called. Terrible customer service! It doesn't matter what the picture quality looks like if the camera won't even stay on your helmet! Save your money!

You have to let the sticky sit for 24 hours, buddy.

Let me just say that I love this camera. It comes with TONS of extras that ends up costing loads of cash for the GoPro. And, honestly, if the adhesive does somehow manage to come off, the Freestyle comes with 2 extras.

This is absolutely worth the price.

flopejoe wrote:Has anyone worked out a way to head strap mount this? Possibly with the Go Hero strap? Thanks.

If you have a GoPro already with the mounts, you should be able to use this with any of the GoPro mounts. There is a 15 dollar helmet strap (only for helmets with vents) and a 15 dollar head strap for this that you can find on the Swann website or on Amazaon. There'a a GoPro helmet strap for 8 bucks on Amazon I believe and a GoPro headstrap for 15.

Thanks for shipping this so fast with 1 day shipping woot! UPS notified me that it will arrive tomorrow in time for Christmas despite the 'not in time for Christmas' tag the item had!

shmoo916 wrote:You have to let the sticky sit for 24 hours, buddy.

I've had some experience with this 3M adhesive, and it also really needs to be applied at 60 degrees or warmer. If you tried to put it on with snow on the ground, I wouldn't be surprised if it fell off. I usually hit it with a hair dryer on low for a few seconds before applying it just to warm it up. Keep pressure on it and wait 24 hours, it will likely never come off.