My eBay G1W

[johnd393]

I bought 2 cameras from eBay seller mayunstore. They came in the same orange box some others have received. The camera was dead until the battery was charged a little. I plugged it in to a laptop to charge. It came on with it's brains scrambled. Pressing the reset button cured it. Eventually I figured out that if it's plugged into a PC it wants me to choose for it to be either a mass storage device or a PC camera. It has a HDMI port. I don't have a cable. When inserting a 32g sd card I found out it's possible to miss the card receiver and drop the card inside the case. It took a while to shake it back out.
It makes AVI files, The file properties from my laptop fire viewer gives this information AVI, 1920x1080, JPEG, 30 frames Per second.
I plugged into the USB port of my 70" smart TV and the TV can view the files ok. I wasn't able to pop the case open to see what's inside.
My purpose for the camera it to keep me from holding my regular Canon camera and taking video while driving on a scenic road. I've done that and I shouldn't. That camera makes 720p video. I'm dissapointed if this is not the authentic G1W discussed here, but I only paid $20.51 each and they seem to work. The 2nd camera is still in the box.
I also bought a couple HDMI 4 to 1 switch boxes from the same seller.

 

[jokiin]

it's the cheaper knockoff version, that's all you've paid for though at that price so I guess it's a bit hard to complain about not getting something that you haven't paid for in the first place

 

[DT MI]

As @jokiin said, they are the 'knockoff' versions.

this information AVI <-- Clue number 1
I only paid $20.51 each <-- Clue number 2

But if they work that's a good thing.

 

[johnd393]

I think the AVI files may be larger than MOV files. With the cam set to 720p and an empty 32g card it shows 3 hours 20 minutes of space.
I see some on eBay for even less if I wanna order from Hong Kong

The 2nd camera has a bit of a problem with viewing the display. It darkens when looking straight at it. The camera has to be tilted back to look right. It may not affect the files when displayed on something else. It might help to mount it as high as possible on the windshield

 

[goofball]

It's probably a generalplus 720p chipset. If you look the file properties in windows, it might tell you who the chipset vendor is.
MJPG isn't as efficient as h.264 so the file sizes will be bigger and most likely, not the same in quality.

 

[CheckYourLights]

I bought 2 cameras from eBay seller mayunstore.

Did you happen to post on SlickDeals?

 

[johnd393]

Seller does not seem to have more at the price I paid.
At some point I'll pop one of these open to see what's inside.

 

[blackpanther]

Seller does not seem to have more at the price I paid.
At some point I'll pop one of these open to see what's inside.

I'll bet it's probably the same thing inside my "not even close to a G1WC" from my thread; that is, a blue PCB with the markings "GS2000_V1.0" and "2015.05.08".

Same eBay seller, so we both got burned, just with different promises lol. Orange box as well.

 

[johnd393]

Popped it open and yes it's identical to yours pictured. I took the screws out to see what chip was on the other side of the board.
14D
MP49B37.00
1551
I don't really feel burned by the seller for the price I paid.

 

[blackpanther]

Popped it open and yes it's identical to yours pictured. I took the screws out to see what chip was on the other side of the board.
14D
MP49B37.00
1551
I don't really feel burned by the seller for the price I paid.

If a product is explicitly described in a very specific way, and you get something different, yeah...ripped off.
It may only be a small amount of money, but it is no less a ripoff.

It would be nice if these imposter cams were at least somewhat usable. I find that not to be the case. The video quality is brutal. A shame really.

 

[johnd393]

Having not seen the video from an authentic G1W, I think the video looks pretty good.
I may have to pick up a real G1W, but it would sure be a pain to pay more than twice as much and get another fake.

 

[DT MI]

...
I may have to pick up a real G1W, but it would sure be a pain to pay more than twice as much and get another fake.

Buy from SpyTec and it won't be a fake, plus it's a local (US) seller, plus you get it a lot faster, plus you get support.

 

[johnd393]

We did did a trip to WA & OR and recorded several SD cards worth of video. I've not looked at the files yet.
As a cheap person I've not been too active in my pursuit of a authentic G1W.
I've just scored a Blackview DM8000, G1W, used but in the original box, from a eBay seller for $18.05 shipped. It arrived with a 32g card in it.
The files are mov format.
I'm not sure real vs fake is the correct way to describe these cameras. I see it as different versions. The "Fake" ones do function.
Anyway I see some differences. I've not sat down with both cameras to compare and document the exact differences, so this is from memory. The menu choices are a little different and some buttons do different things. On the new camera the arrows control zoom. With my old cams, the up arrow turns the microphone on and off.
My "fake" cams have LDW. This new one does not have it.
This Blackview cam has a firmware date of 2014.0108

 

[DashcamDPR]

I don't really feel burned by the seller for the price I paid.

There are many of these dashcams for sale on ebay and thankfully a lot of the sellers do actually state whether their cams record in AVI format, which is at least a little comfort in knowing you're getting what you're paying for

I bought two G1Ws from a private seller selling "old stock from his dads shop", turned out one was fake and one was real, I was extremely lucky in that they only cost me £11 ($15 maybe??) each, so I sold on the "fake" one (with an honest advert and video footage sample) for more than I paid for both together.. The real one I kept hold of was a G1W-c, which less than a month later I bricked beyond repair so it's a good thing it effectively cost me nothing

 

[DashcamDPR]

Blackview DM8000, G1W, used but in the original box, from a eBay seller for $18.05 shipped. It arrived with a 32g card in it.
The files are mov format.

"Fake" is just the common term for cheap clones really, modelled on "genuine quality" items

"Blackview" though.... it's a clever way of catching out unsuspecting people thinking they might be getting the quality of "blackvue", but if it's performing well and recording MOV it's probably decent enough!!

 

[SawMaster]

G1W uses the Novatek NT96650 processor with a Aptina AR0330 CMOS and records in 1080P as MOV files. The $21 "G1W" I got from Gearbest over a year ago was advertised as recording in .MOV but it turned out to be .AVI and had a GeneralPlus processor. It does have the AR0330 CMOS It's vids pulsate and I'd say that at best it's worth half of what I paid for it Better than no cam at all but just barely. I keep it around as a spare only because it still works.

The G1W-HC was a pretty good $35 'fake' but it's out of production now If you really want a G1W-type cam today, I'd suggest a G1W-C or a G1W-H from a reputable seller as a safer bet in getting a decent cam. The odds of getting a real G1W with good build quality are quite slim these days, and there are a whole lot of much better cams on the market now for not a whole lot more money. Other than the G1W-S (which isn't really a G1W) I've bought my last one of these. I've moved on to better cams

Phil

 

[johnd393]

With my fake cams, with the cam on, a quick press of the power button turns the LED illumination on. A longer press powers the cam off. The Blackview power button is just power.

With the new Blackview connected to the computer, the Drive properties name line shows: NOVATEKN vt-DSC

 

[johnd393]

This Blackview DM8000 has been behaving a little squirrely when turned on or off. I don't remember exactly cus it's been just sitting here for months. I figured the battery was weak. I had picked up a couple clearanced Radio Shack 230-0173 camera batteries for almost nothing. They didn't fit any of my cameras. They are 670mah. I was able to strip the coverings off the battery, solder the wires on and make it just fit in the dashcam. It's a tight fit and must be positioned just right.
When I stripped the battery down, there are metal connecting strips spot welded to the battery. They must be trimmed down to prevent shorting out. These metal strips will accept solder. The case of the battery will not.
Soldering on a lithium battery is probably not a good idea, so do this at your own risk.
Dash cam seems to work properly now.