Spartan HD GoCam (New Verizon 4G/LTE Blackout Infrared) Model#GC-Z4Gb - Bonus Package Bundled with UTowels® Edgeless Microfiber Towels

In early December 2016, I bought the “GC-VCTb” trail cam and the solar battery pack.First trail cam experience for me. I'm writing this as a diary for reference and a product review. Four stars because it's “out-of-the-box” ugly.Shipped separately, each package arrived promptly in good condition. The camera had a printed owners manual that was in English, readable and covered lots of ground. Several reviewers suggested calling Verison first to add the “device” to my account and activate the necessary cell service which the camera uses to transmit pictures.New to trail cams, I actually began reading the manual. No quick set up guide however. The Verison set up went easily so I expected a “git-r-done” experience. Camera is good quality. Might even be critter proof. Tolerated several single digit temps overnight well. Seems water tight. Good fit and finish.It's been 6 days now and here are the other hoops that have to be cleared. The memory card and mobile app are awkward.The players:Spartan CameraGoWirelessHCO Outdoor ProductsMobile AppVerisonNone are especially aware of the others. You have to dig through, pull out the details, piece together a secquence of steps and assemble it all to make it work. One won't mention the others. They have a vague business relationship however.Back to Verison because there is a phone number associated with the trail cam and the VZ guy typically “forgets” to give it to you. This phone number shows up on your billing. The “deal” that makes sense is the $5 per month using your current data plan. “GoWireless” calls this their “Prime” service. And GoWireless must be the vehicle by which the camera's pictures arrive in your inbox. The manual insists on this but there is no box, blank or way to be user filled in to accomplish it. VZ didn't mention it.The camera must be registered at Spartan; a new account set up complete with user name and password. Time(hours > day) must be allowed for all the internet ants to hold hands and like each other. The camera is now showing Verison signal bars. Must install the SD memory card now otherwise the whole process will not work.Has to be an “SD” card(postage stamp size). A MicroSD card(as in cell phones) in an adapter, will NOT work, these tiny cards just fall out, claimed the angry female at Spartan Support. I've never seen that before. My new PNY 32gb SD card purchased for the cam was balking. Camera would not write pics to it. The Spartan web site recognized the card, showed it's status. Showed on the computer okay. Not the cam.Support then informed me that “Sandisk” and ”PNY” SD cards were problems. So I bought an older, 16gb Sony which is working fine. The PNY refused to format in the camera but was okay in Windows 10, read and writeable. The Spartan tech recommends 16gb or below in spite of their own promotional materials.Mobile app access. Take notes.ID numbers roll around like 3 Card Monte, so keep paper and pen handy.You have a customer/account ID number. Mine is five digits. Rarely used.A mobile account ID number is automatically generated by Spartan.Just below this is a blank called: “Admin ID number”. It's blank and you MUST fill it with something. To the right is a “Guest Access” blank; you don't have to fill this one in but do it anyway. Identified differently, you'll need these later setting up the mobile app.Once the memory card is installed and camera rebooted, in Settings hit “Menu” key and go through the various setup tabs & drop-downs. Spartan wants you to format the SD card in the camera. This is fairly straight forward, I accepted most of the default settings. Try “Diagnostics” do the testing proceedures. Should result in “successful” if all the ants are holding hands. I'm still experimenting with some of the settings.Look for the “Spartan Mobile” app in the android Play Store. Has an orange “Go” icon.You'll begin to see the “GoWireless” flag waving here.Install and set it up as usual. To verify your credentials with this app, the “ID number” is the mobile app ID supplied earlier by Spartan and “access code” is the Admin Number or word you had to write in earlier. The “Guest Access” entry is somewhat interchangeable here. The app will instantly ping the camera and go Jabberwalky if everything is not peachy. A wretched memory card relationship will halt the app.The mobile app hasn't work for me. Rediculous to set up. Constantly crashes. Looking in all the wrong places, it says it can't find my picture files. Everything is on the camera SD card in plain sight. Worthless app. Pictures arrive quickly via email and show on the Spartan web site.The camera should now work sending pictures to your email addrs. Spartan will verify your email addr. If the sent pics are garbage, it's the memory card they say. Be sure and format the card from the setup section in the camera. Do not rely on a DOS format. Probably Android but it's hard telling what OS Spartan uses.Now, once all of these ants are holding hands, the camera works nicely. The Spartan web site is loaded with options, warnings and check boxes. Somehow during all of this, the ants changed the name of my camera to the camera model number.The camera can be followed and managed easily from the Spartan site. At 3mega pix, the *.jpg picture size is about 48kb. Pics are zoomable about 3x. Very reasonable. The pictures arrive quickly on my Galaxy S-7 via email.Verison was helpful, Spartan not so much. If you ask the right questions and use their jargon, you might get the right answer. Communicate with Spartan support over email. Their phone system crashes. Push back if the Tech suggests reinstalling everything. Will they keep you from falling overboard? Offer suggestions, explain pit falls, helpful hints....Nope. You need a fair amount of experience, knowledge and time to get through this.Another room full of engineers who flunked English. A “Quick Set up Guide” would be wonderful. Leave the spreadsheet full of options and blather in the manual for later when you're familiar with its operation and the camera is up and working. Then if you have specific questions or problems, read in.I'm hoping to have it settled in by January 2017.

UPDATE: 9/16/18 -- Owned the camera for about 10 days now.-------------------------------------My first message to support:-------------------------------------"The unit no longer boots up.Loaded up with new AA batteries and set the selector to 'setup'. Nothing happens.I've spent a small fortune on this camera. I have a 6v external battery on the way, I purchased a metal case and security cable. Paid the VZ "setup" fee and monthly charge.This camera could be such a great piece of gear, but it's clearly V1.0 in many ways. I work in the software industry, I get it.Please send me a new, working unit.Feel free to call me this week."--------------------------------------------Their response--------------------------------------------The camera is the newest Verizon model if the camera does not power on try reloading its firmwareFollow the instructions on this video, or the manual instructions below.The file for the firmware upgrade is attached to this email,Manually Update* Make sure your camera is not on low battery.* Make sure to start with an empty SD card or clean off your photos first.1. With an SD card in the camera, switch to Setup.2. Format the SD Card: Press the Menu button. Under System menu, Select Format, press OK. Choose Yes.........i'll save Amazon readers the rest of the instructions......--------------------------------My response--------------------------------Are you some kind of special or something? Reading not your specialty? THE CAMERA DOES NOT START UP."1. With an SD card in the camera, switch to Setup.2. Format the SD Card: Press the Menu button. Under System menu, Select Format, press OK. Choose Yes."Those instructions are about as useful as a color wheel to the blind.Returning via Amazon. Thanks for confirming your dedication to customer support._______________________________________________________________________________________________It's such an amazing idea, but poorly executed. The camera software or back-end systems are incredibly unstable. Getting a picture delivered to my account has been the exception. You have to request hi-res images or video to be downloaded and that can take hours or days. The camera has full signal from Verizon. I want to be excited about this camera, but I feel cheated. Why to expensive to have this many issues.On top of the cost of the camera, you have to pay Verizon a fee, and if you want real functionality, you will also have to pay a monthly fee to GoWireless (the website you managed your camera from).I'll happily update my review when they get their systems working.My suggestion is to read their forum. Filled with unhappy customers. The ratings thus far must be employees or friends.

Very easy to setup. Watch the YouTube videos. Does exactly what it should. Sends pics to the cloud and I can view them and download them from anywhere. I have mine on a 6 volt solar battery taking a pic every minute and 5 seconds of video. This setup is excellent. It sends me a notification on my phone when a new pic is taken. If I want the video, I click a button and request it to be uploaded. Takes a few minutes. Cost per month is $5 to Verizon and $3ish to Spartan for the use of the ap and the ability to completely control every setting on the camera from my phone. If I want to change it to 10 second video every 2 minutes, I just log into the ap and update the config. The camera sends you a status report every morning showing battery strength and how much storage is available. If the card is full, you can format it or just check the box that indicates you want the camera to write over existing pics.

The camera functions as advertised and would give it 5*, however, Spartans customer service is horrible. Can’t get them on the phone and then they take 1-2 days to get back to you. I chose the 250mb data plan and renewed after 10 days only providing 1/4 of the advertised pictures on the correct settings per their guide. I’ve been billed three times in the first month. They refuse to refund my money. Buyer Beware