fake? or not a fake that is the question

[jokiin]

but the route it shows is not only about 170 miles out its also offshore :lol: Anyway to solve this ????

that's a software issue

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi sheepytoo,

Try some of the software players on the main GS1000 page or in the GS8000 page.

 

[vta1985]

. So I see that there are several in the $40 and $100 range, which means that this model has been compromised with mjpeg and blue menu versions unfortunately.

if you see any featured cam selling for $40 I can tell you without looking it's not an Ambarella A2 solution, you couldn't build it for the price let alone sell it and make any profit

you'll see plenty of each model variant available from different sellers and what's inside varies greatly, I'll use the GS1000 cams as an example as it's something I'm very familiar with, in the same looking model there is USD $70 difference in cost (factory cost) between the best possible solution available and the cheapest, outward appearance you couldn't tell which is which, the same scenario applies to just about every model type in the market

Now that I found this site I can tell, as the rest of us here can, that a $40 camera is not going to be be the authentic model. These Chinese sellers are profiting on the ignorance of buyers unfortunately. And looking on ebay, the majority of these cameras are being falsely advertised.

 

[jokiin]

Now that I found this site I can tell, as the rest of us here can, that a $40 camera is not going to be be the authentic model. These Chinese sellers are profiting on the ignorance of buyers unfortunately. And looking on ebay, the majority of these cameras are being falsely advertised.

yes, buyers also have some unreasonable expectations at times and should consider partly to blame, as they say, if something seems too good to be true......

 

[sheepytoo]

Now that I found this site I can tell, as the rest of us here can, that a $40 camera is not going to be be the authentic model. These Chinese sellers are profiting on the ignorance of buyers unfortunately. And looking on ebay, the majority of these cameras are being falsely advertised.

yes, buyers also have some unreasonable expectations at times and should consider partly to blame, as they say, if something seems too good to be true......

i'm not sure about things being too good to be true or partly blaming the buyer, after a little reading, and looking around i chose the gs5000 , a quick look on uk Ebay they ranged from £40 to £69. I bought one in the upper end of that price range. and i have a fake, but how could i know what was being sent to me, i did what i could with what little i knew, the advert had movie clips showing in the GPS software with file names of AMBA0002.MOV so it must have an Ambarella Chip in right????? that's great just what i was looking for yes?? .... well!! not really as it turns out i have a lower quality product that only locks on GPS when it feels like it and even if it does lock on all the software i can find ( have tried six different ones ) all put me driving in the north sea, one track had me doing nearly 3000kph, not bad for an old renault . I'm not sure what more i could have done to ensure i got the correct "REAL" GS5000 as you have no way of knowing what you are going to be sent, and its now in the chinese new year and i'm getting no response to e-mails , so really i'm stuck with what i have .......BUGGER

 

[sheepytoo]

http://gb.dinodirect.com/red-gs5000-car ... source=sem

would this be the right one to buy ??

 

[jokiin]

Now that I found this site I can tell, as the rest of us here can, that a $40 camera is not going to be be the authentic model. These Chinese sellers are profiting on the ignorance of buyers unfortunately. And looking on ebay, the majority of these cameras are being falsely advertised.

yes, buyers also have some unreasonable expectations at times and should consider partly to blame, as they say, if something seems too good to be true......

i'm not sure about things being too good to be true or partly blaming the buyer, after a little reading, and looking around i chose the gs5000 , a quick look on uk Ebay they ranged from £40 to £69. I bought one in the upper end of that price range. and i have a fake, but how could i know what was being sent to me, i did what i could with what little i knew, the advert had movie clips showing in the GPS software with file names of AMBA0002.MOV so it must have an Ambarella Chip in right????? that's great just what i was looking for yes?? .... well!! not really as it turns out i have a lower quality product that only locks on GPS when it feels like it and even if it does lock on all the software i can find ( have tried six different ones ) all put me driving in the north sea, one track had me doing nearly 3000kph, not bad for an old renault . I'm not sure what more i could have done to ensure i got the correct "REAL" GS5000 as you have no way of knowing what you are going to be sent, and its now in the chinese new year and i'm getting no response to e-mails , so really i'm stuck with what i have .......BUGGER

sorry, I should better explain what I meant by buyers being partly to blame, I'll use the GS1000 as an example but the same applies to your model, there's a USD $70 'factory cost' (note, I said factory cost, not wholesale cost) difference between the lowest cost version and the highest cost version of this 'same looking' product, any buyer that gets one for $40 delivered and is under the impression that they are buying the same product has an unreasonable expectation

in your case you suffered at the hands of a bad seller, some know what they're doing, some don't, even the eBay feedback mechanism is not so helpful in this case as reviews left by others don't necessarily mean the product is good, that depends on the buyers expectations and level of familiarity with the product, even if previous buyers leave glowing reviews it doesn't help as the quality and components can change from order to order with these sellers, I would say the great majority of people selling cams on eBay do not know what they are selling and have no greater knowledge of the product outside of what is printed on the box (very often doesn't match) or what's in the user manual (also most often doesn't match)

I think a great number of these cameras are selling online but for a consumer this is not an easy product to purchase

 

[jokiin]

http://gb.dinodirect.com/red-gs5000-car-dvr-1080p-140-degree-ambarella-car-black-box-1080p-g-sensor-1-5-inch-screen-ir-night-vision.html?vn=RGlub2RpcmVjdEZ1Y2s&AFFID=33&source=sem

would this be the right one to buy ??

in all honesty I couldn't tell you, this is a lower cost unit but what's inside is anyone's guess, a lot of what set's different cams apart is hardware related, but equally important is software, most cams you'll see like this use very generic firmware that is supplied by the chipset vendor, there are over 300 factories in Shenzhen currently doing these cameras, the majority of which are fighting for business by trying to get the cost down to get the business, you don't need much imagination to work out how they do that

 

[sheepytoo]

http://gb.dinodirect.com/red-gs5000-car-dvr-1080p-140-degree-ambarella-car-black-box-1080p-g-sensor-1-5-inch-screen-ir-night-vision.html?vn=RGlub2RpcmVjdEZ1Y2s&AFFID=33&source=sem

would this be the right one to buy ??

in all honesty I couldn't tell you, this is a lower cost unit but what's inside is anyone's guess, a lot of what set's different cams apart is hardware related, but equally important is software, most cams you'll see like this use very generic firmware that is supplied by the chipset vendor, there are over 300 factories in Shenzhen currently doing these cameras, the majority of which are fighting for business by trying to get the cost down to get the business, you don't need much imagination to work out how they do that

Indeed, i see your point, but as a long distance buyer who has no way of knowing production costs, i have therefore no real idea of what is or isn't too cheap!. add that to seller ambiguity ( not to say outright deceit ) in description and packaging you have a pool so muddy only someone who knows the product very well will come away without getting his fingers burnt.
i now have a returns nightmare where i could run out of time for an E bay dispute claim back which could end with me having no dvr and no refund ...... oh happy days

 

[jokiin]

Indeed, i see your point, but as a long distance buyer who has no way of knowing production costs, i have therefore no real idea of what is or isn't too cheap!. add that to seller ambiguity ( not to say outright deceit ) in description and packaging you have a pool so muddy only someone who knows the product very well will come away without getting his fingers burnt.
i now have a returns nightmare where i could run out of time for an E bay dispute claim back which could end with me having no dvr and no refund ...... oh happy days

I understand your frustration, based on costs I'd expect a higher spec unit to sell for around $120 to $130 on eBay, if it's less than that there has to be a compromise, how much of a compromise is not a known quantity unfortunately, just paying more doesn't assure you that you're getting the right product as some sellers will just put a higher price to accommodate people that think paying more means a better product, at least there's some recourse through eBay, in your case if you purchased based on a certain specification and you got something else you have a valid reason for a not as described claim, how much you lose in postage and time spent though to make it worth the trouble though is questionable, your negative experience doesn't even help future buyers if you just put up with it

resell and cut your losses maybe, use as a rear cam or in a second vehicle or whatever

are there any online sellers based in your country at all?

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi sheepytoo,

I understand your frustration. That is the reason I created this website.

Unfortunately I have yet to see a good quality GS5000 camera. Most, but not all, are based on the Ambarella A2 processor and often are what I call "blue menu GS1000's" that are plagued with GPS issues and sometimes blurry picture quality. That is the main reason I don't recommend that camera while the more expensive "orange menu" models have better components and performance. Look at the main GS1000 page and purchase based on firmware version and from a reputable dealer if you like this style of camera.

 

[sheepytoo]

i think using it as a rear camera will ultimately be the only option, i even asked the dealer if he would consider a partial refund to cover the lack of GPS , but he would not go for that and i really would like to get a good one for the front of my car
but its so difficult to make the right choice, there doesn't seem to be any local suppliers dealing with this sort of thing so i'm back to taking pot luck
we shall see what transpires

 

[sheepytoo]

UPDATE
I have taken it apart to see what it actually is and I'm interested in what the forum members think
And after putting everything works so much better , even the tracking software is on target.
When the GS5000 is plugged into the computer is the computer supposed recognize the device or just the sd-card ?
Photo's to follow

 

[jokiin]

When the GS5000 is plugged into the computer is the computer supposed recognize the device or just the sd-card ?
Photo's to follow

depends how the manufacturer has configured it, either or

 

[sheepytoo]

when i plug mine into my computer, the screen lights up and it says on it "connect to computer" as if that's an instruction.
but it then opens the sd-card in my explorer

 

[jokiin]

when i plug mine into my computer, the screen lights up and it says on it "connect to computer" as if that's an instruction.
but it then opens the sd-card in my explorer

there's a couple of options they can have there (MSC, Charge, Open, Webcam) but many set them to default to view the card and may or may not offer any of the other options available

 

[sheepytoo]

the following video is from my "fake" gs5000

my GS000

let me know what you think of the quality

and the following photo's are the internals

[Broken External Image]:http://www.flickr.com/photos/93148125@N07/8468327985/in/photostream

[Broken External Image]:http://www.flickr.com/photos/93148125@N07/8469433314/in/photostream

[Broken External Image]:http://www.flickr.com/photos/93148125@N07/8468328925/in/photostream

[Broken External Image]:http://www.flickr.com/photos/93148125@N07/8468325715/in/photostream

hope i've done this right

 

[Sabe]

Images don't show right.
Video is below what GS1000 could be, but it's not very bad, i have seen worse.

 

[jokiin]

the following video is from my "fake" gs5000

my GS000

let me know what you think of the quality

and the following photo's are the internals



hope i've done this right

something went wrong there but here's the links again (good pics by the way)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93148125@N07/8468327985

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93148125@N07/8469433314

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93148125@N07/8468328925

http://www.flickr.com/photos/93148125@N07/8468325715

the video it's hard to tell as YouTube messes with the results, the bleak whether probably doesn't help either, putting a copy of the actual file for download somewhere would be better for comparison purposes

 

[sheepytoo]

initially i had thought i was a total fake and was surprised to see the ambarella a2 chip, can anyone tell how this compares internally to an original GS5000