Warning! Fake BDR-S07XLB's on ebay

[Stereodude]

So I stupidly bought a BDR-S07XLB on ebay from a seller in HK thinking I was going to get a nice Made in Japan drive. In retrospect I should have known better. Anyhow, I got the drive today and it has a label on it that says it’s a BDR-S07XLB. So I plug it in my PC where it’s promptly recognized as a BDR-207M. At this point I’m a little skeptical since it showed up as a BDR-207M, but I knew I needed to check the Kernel to be sure.

So I point DVRFlash at the drive and see this:

Drive Information:
   Description : PIONEER BD-RW   BDR-207M
  Firmware Rev : 1.30
 Firmware Date : 12/09/05
  Manufacturer : PIONEER
Drive is in normal mode.

Additional Drive Information:
 Serial Number : LCDL022196WL
Interface type : SAT
DVR generation : 8000
   Kernel type : GENERAL
   Normal type : GENERAL
Kernel version : 0000

        Status : RPC-2 (region locked)
        Region : none
       Changes : 5 region changes remaining
                 4 vendor resets remaining
                 state is 'Region not set'

General kernel, not ID 43 like a BDR-S07XLB would have. Further, the SN reported by DVRFlash doesn’t match the SN printed on the drive’s label.

It’s at this point I realize that my drive has the exact same label with the exact same serial number as several BDR-S07XLB ebay sellers’ auction pictures.

janubkg5463:

lets-win168:

24-hour-open:

What a coincidence. They all took pictures of my exact drive for their auctions.

I sent janubkg5463 a note pointing out that they are misrepresenting the drive as a made in Japan BDR-S07XLB when it’s clearly a made in China BDR-207M with a fake label. I’m curious to see how they respond. I must admit the prospect of having to ship this back to China at my expense doesn’t really excite me.

[katraine]

Oh shite , at least you got a drive.

[blackened2687]

The drive’s housing… This nasty smile! It looks exactly like DVR-118/218 housing, but 118/218 isn/t even Pioneer drive, it made by Quanta Storage! Whaaaaaat the f…

Shouldn’t true BDR-S08XLB look like this?

[blackened2687]

Dude, could you disassemble the drive and make some photos of board and other drive parts?

[Stereodude]

[QUOTE=blackened2687;2699946]The drive’s housing… This nasty smile! It looks exactly like DVR-118/218 housing, but 118/218 isn/t even Pioneer drive, it made by Quanta Storage! Whaaaaaat the f…

Shouldn’t true BDR-S08XLB look like this?

[/QUOTE]I found this Gallery of the BDR-S07XLB. That matches that picture and doesn’t look like the drive I got. Further, it seems a real S07XLB isn’t even made in Japan (at least per these pictures)

[QUOTE=blackened2687;2699947]Dude, could you disassemble the drive and make some photos of board and other drive parts?[/QUOTE]
Maybe… In case I decide to or have to send it back, I don’t want to break the warranty seal that’s on the drive just yet.

[Stereodude]

It’s possible that the drive is a real BDR-207M with an odd front bezel / metal housing. The green indicator LED is very dim when illuminated. I’m not sure if the bezel doesn’t line up with the LED, or if something is wrong with the LED or the circuitry driving it. The drive reads CDs, DVDs, and BDs fine with the expected performance. Based on my limited testing CD, DVD, and BD burning seem okay. However, it’s not a BDR-S07XLB, and I don’t have a warm and fuzzy feeling about whatever it is… :a

I will post some scans later.

[cvs]

[QUOTE=Stereodude;2699934]So I stupidly bought a BDR-S07XLB on ebay from a seller in HK thinking I was going to get a nice Made in Japan drive. In retrospect I should have known better. Anyhow, I got the drive today and it has a label on it that says it’s a BDR-S07XLB. So I plug it in my PC where it’s promptly recognized as a BDR-207M. At this point I’m a little skeptical since it showed up as a BDR-207M…[/QUOTE]

That is perfectly normal. BDR-S07J/XLB drives identify as BDR-207M. As you say, its the kernel which tells what it is, and your kernel indicates a generic BDR-207M drive. That means the drive lacks the firmware features ID43 drives have.

My biggest concern is with the drive’s housing and the fact that serial numbers don’t match. As its been pointed out already, a BDR-S07XLB should not look like that. The more interesting thing is that an ordinary BDR-207M drive should not look like that either!

There is definitely something dodgy with these drives … perhaps they have rehoused them in these cases with fake labels to pass them on and sell them as more expensive MiJ drives, instead of ordinary BDR-207M drives…

If it is only that and what’s inside the case is indeed proper and new BDR-207M hardware, then it might be worth keeping it if you’re happy to live with a generic BDR-207M drive (with likely no warranty cover from Pioneer themselves since serials/models don’t match and the drive’s housing looks dodgy). The big question though, is if one can trust this is really the case? These could well have second hand/refurbished/repaired/rehoused hardware inside… one can never know how far the faking goes …

Maybe drop an email to Pioneer, link the photos and eBay listings and ask if these are legitimate drives? If we’re right and these are dodgy, they might well want to know about it and do something about it if its a case of counterfeiting…

[KTL]

As far as I know, the S06XLB was the last MIJ model that was sold outside of Japan, since I have one. The S05 was still all MIJ, but S06 started with MIC, and AFAIK, all of the S07 and S08 sold outside of Japan has been MIC. The housing on the unit you have is indicative of the Pioneer/QSI DVD-based drive, so it appears to be slapped together from spare parts. I’ve only seen the S07XLT in person, but since it didn’t differ too much from my S06XLB, I didn’t get it, and it was MIC as well.

Here are some pictures of what the S07XLB should look like.

[Stereodude]

Pioneer “BDR-S07XLB” 1.30
MID: INFOMER40 (000)
Melody 4x BD-R (Printable)
ODC Test Disc at 4x
OPC: ?

[Stereodude]

Pioneer “BDR-S07XLB” 1.30
JVC / TY DVD+R 8x Silver Lacquer (MiJ)
MID: YUDEN000 T02
8x ODC test disc

[Stereodude]

Pioneer “BDR-S07XLB” 1.30
JVC / TY 52x silver lacquer 700MB CD-R (MiJ)
MID: 97m24s01f
24x CD Speed test disc
Purchased 08/2013

[Stereodude]

Pioneer “BDR-S07XLB” 1.30
MID: VERBATIMe
Verbatim 6x BD-R branded (HTL)
ODC Test Disc at 6x
OPC: ?

[Stereodude]

Pioneer “BDR-S07XLB” 1.30
Verbatim DVD+R AZO 16x branded
MID: MCC 004
8x ODC test disc

[Stereodude]

Pioneer “BDR-S07XLB” 1.30
FalconMedia Pro 52x 700MB blank shiny CD-R (Made in UAE)
MID: 97m15s05f
24x burn

[Wischmop]

Can this drive scan or refuse it?

[Stereodude]

[QUOTE=Wischmop;2700237]Can this drive scan or refuse it?[/QUOTE]It can scan DVD’s at 16x. No jitter. The results aren’t consistent with other scanners though.

It won’t scan BD-R.

[Wischmop]

I think that´s normal for Pioneer-drives, so the FW or chipset don´t have much difference to the original labeled drives

[Stereodude]

So the seller offered me a partial refund of $30. I complained in my original e-mail that I could have bought a BDR-207M locally for ~$30 less, so I guess that’s where he got that number from. He’s reports selling some of these drives (I guess that’s more than a few) and says he hasn’t gotten any reports of poor quality. He says his supplier gets the drives from Pioneer’s OEM supplier… For whatever that’s worth.

Should I take the partial refund, take one for the team, open up the drive to see what’s in it? Ask for a larger partial refund and do the above? Demand to return the drive for a full refund and eat the return shipping? ???

[Wischmop]

It´s your money, so you have to decide

[cvs]

[QUOTE=Stereodude;2700357]So the seller offered me a partial refund of $30. I complained in my original e-mail that I could have bought a BDR-207M locally for ~$30 less, so I guess that’s where he got that number from. He’s reports selling some of these drives (I guess that’s more than a few) and says he hasn’t gotten any reports of poor quality. He says his supplier gets the drives from Pioneer’s OEM supplier… For whatever that’s worth.

Should I take the partial refund, take one for the team, open up the drive to see what’s in it? Ask for a larger partial refund and do the above? Demand to return the drive for a full refund and eat the return shipping? ???[/QUOTE]

The results you’re getting are very good and don’t give any reason for concern (i.e. nothing to suggest dodgy hardware), and with a $30 refund it won’t be a bad deal I suppose. You will not have any manufacturer warranty I would guess, but hopefully you won’t need it anyway and all in all you won’t be out of pocket due to return costs to HK …

If you’re happy with a standard 207M rather than a fancy ID43 model, then keeping it is an option in my view…