GoPro HERO3: Silver Edition

• Professional 1080p 30 fps, 960p 48 fps, and 720p 60 fps and WVGA 240 fps video capture
• 11MP photo capture with 10 frames per second burst
• Wi-Fi built-in, and compatible with Wi-Fi remote (sold separatly) and GoPro App (free)
• 197-Feet / 60m Waterproof Housing
• Basic mounts and hardware included for attaching to helmets, gear, and more

Beware that the GoPro Hero 3 is either not production ready or their Quality Department has dropped the ball. I am currently on my first replacement unit and will have to either return this or obtain another replacement, the issues are the following:

First Unit Issues (Latest Firmware Update)

Unit kept freezing

After a day, unit stopped detecting SD card.

Performed all trouble shooting (i.e. hard restart, reformatting of SD card, pulling out battery, updated to latest firmware), but the unit was just bad.

The unit had to be replaced.

Second Unit Issues (Latest Firmware Update)

The replacement unit did not suffer the same issues as the first unit.

But contained the battery drain issue when the unit is fully off (WiFi turned off as well).

No matter how many times I recharged the battery, the battery would be dead by the next day even with the GoPro off. Please note that this is not normal for this unit and my prior unit did not suffer this issue.

At the end of the day, it seems that the issues that I have been experiencing above align with numerous complaints on the Gopro forums and the internet. In addition, the GoPro customer service line has been backed up so bad it is either a 45 minute wait or they can't take your call at all.

I do believe this product is the best camera on the market, IF YOU CAN GET ONE THAT WORKS PROPERLY. I am a supplier manager/buyer at a Fortune 500 Company within the tech industry and I can tell you that either this product is not production ready with the amount of issues, or the GoPro Quality Department has really dropped the ball.

So if you end up purchasing this unit, I highly advise testing the unit prior to going out for the first time and see if you have a working unit or not. If you don't get a good unit, be ready to deal with a lot of replacement units until you obtain a properly working unit.

My last piece of advice is defer from buying accessories until you know you have a properly working unit. I ended up purchasing $150 worth of batteries, mounts, and cases in which I cannot return if I do choose to fully return the unit for my money back.

I feel that this is 5 star product, but it only receives a 1 star rating because of the poor performance of their quality control. This type of experience is one that I wish I could email the CEO of the company and make him aware of what a lot of people are experiencing and prevent units from leaving their facility like this. With the multiple complaints online and numerous people calling the customer service help line, it seems that their is not a cause and corrective action for these issues within their company. My original unit was prior to the Amazon Christmas sell out. My current replacement unit came after the restock,having to return this one as well, it is obvious there is still issues with their Quality Department catching these units prior heading out the door.

Again this the best product out there if you can manage to get a unit that works properly. Hope this helps.

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We bought two Hero3 black edition cameras, used them this weekend with great video quality but terrible battery life and if you plan to use the wifi feature you will need to buy extra batteries or the battery back pack(I assume that is why they make it). We used the wifi iPhone app on one of the hero3 cameras and the battery was drained to almost empty in 30mins and the other hero3 camera we didn't use the wifi feature and it lasted longer but not as long as expected(comparing to our other herohd and hero2).

The GoPro App has its own set of bugs but it works great for previewing a shot before you are set to record. The 4 or 7 second lag in the video previewing is alittle annoying but you get use to it.

Now here is the biggest problem and why GoPro as a business has bad business practices.

We tried to post this same review (but 3 stars and minus the go-pro being a bad company part) but they have refused to post it! We did not violate any of the rules they have when posting a review on their website. The review was rejected because of the simple fact that it was a 3 star review of their product...

I will now be looking towards other Motorsports cameras because of their lack of customer support and shady business practices!

Pros:

* Much better video quality then previous GoPro Hero's

* Built in WiFi

* Comes with remote

* GoPro App

Cons:

* GoPro refused to let me post this review on their website!

* Terrible customer service!

* No Battery life!

* Preview lag and Bugs in GoPro App

* No Suction Cup when you spend $400.00 :-(

* No wall charger when you spend $400.00

I will continue to post this review on as many review websites as possible because of the way GoPro has handled this matter!

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I got my GP Black Edition in yesterday and, unfortunately, it will be going right back. On paper this thing is awesome The app for my iPhone also functions quite well. It's nice to have all of the camera's features and options in an easy to use interface as opposed to navigating through the camera's menus with two buttons. I had two original GoPro HD's and they were both bullet proof. One fell off the tip of a water ski crossing the wake and it sank. The other one suffered from scuba diving with a leaky housing. This Black Edition should be renamed the GoPro Hero POS Edition. I've had it for one day and have updated the firmware. It consistently freezes up and becomes unresponsive. I remove the battery, plug in the USB, blah blah blah. It's a complete POS. I charged it all night and took it snowmobiling today and got ten minutes out of the battery and then it died. The two shots I got looked fine but WTF, GoPro? The original Hero was so simple and worked so flawlessly. This thing is a piece of crap. I'm certain that these guys will get this thing ironed out but what a sheister maneuver to release such a dud just in time for XMas. Oh but it shoots 2k and 4k plus this Pro Stream nonsense? The other options that the manual doesn't mention are Lock Up Mode, Inferno Battery Draining Heat Mode and total Brick POS Mode. It also comes with the GoPro Professional Always on 1/4 Full Battery Pack POS Brown Edition Battery But it shoots 240 fps you say? Did I mention that it also has Two Video Clip Shooting Feature followed by Full Item GoPro LOCKUP Brown Edition Mode? What a piece of crap and so disappointing for GoPro.

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This camera is great! Pics, video, and sound are all top notch! However, many people are reporting their Hero 3 cameras freezing up after a few mins of use. Unfortunately, I've got one of the bad batch.

This camera is essentially a paperweight until GoPro releases a patch or update to the firmware of this camera. Until they do, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this product.

1) Can't turn GP3B on without removing and re-installing battery each time you want to take pictures or videos.

2) Can't turn it off after you do the above.

3) Even without using the camera, a fully charged battery will completely discharge in less than a couple of hours.

4) Battery sometimes gets too hot to touch! So when doing the above it needs to sit and cool for quite a while before it can be handled

5) GoPro does not respond to support queries

5) Study all the complaints on the web and you'll discover many buyers are having similar issues.