Al Drake said:
My main concern is will all the cameras that look exactly alike and cost a fraction of the 207. Can they be all the same device just boxed differently?
I have a fake DVR-027 (different unit than the DVR-207 I recorded with above). I guarantee if it's less than 40 bucks it's a fake. Here are the differences on my fake unit compared to my DVR-207 (which I understand is supposed to be identical to the DVR-027 but with better firmware). This unit appears to be one of the most popular cameras to counterfeit. Best way to avoid a fake is to use a trusted seller such as estore009.
-The firmware is totally different, and the quality is not HD at all.
-The firmware has an audio record only function (for voice notes I guess), which the legitimate unit does not.
-It has a 1280x720 mode but it is interpolated and actually looks worse than recording in native resolution 640x480. (here is 640x480 video from fake camera while my friend was driving my car in a "Snow storm":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-lOJIy_vUQ)
-The timestamp is different. I actually like it better as it does not completely block off a portion of the video.
-The charger on my fake unit is mini-USB unlike the DVR-207 which is a round dc connector. Not sure if the DVR-027 uses the same charger but I think it does use the round dc connector.
-The fake has a very similar white round "QC Pass" type sticker on it as my DVR-207.
-The inside looks nothing like the inside of the DVR-207. It doesn't appear to have a Zoran chip.
-The screen is smaller,off center, and lower quality. While the screen is maybe 3mm in from the left side, it is almost 8mm in from the right side.
-The FOV is less (maybe 90 degrees or so).
-The box it came in is very similar to the DVR-207, you'd be hard pressed to notice which is the legitimate box.
-The mount the fake camera came with is 100% identical to the mount the legitimate camera came with.
-The fake unit did not have gaps between the files like the DVR-027 (DVR-207 has no gap issues)
-The record LED on the fake unit was red, on the legitimate unit it is blue.
Edit: Removed what I said about the infrared lights not working, they do work.