I've been reading a lot of messages recently where people are confused. about these boxes and if they have been cloned. One member is doing his utmost to post in any thread he can that this box has not been cloned. I can't say for definite either way but what I can do is post this thread and tell you about the two boxes I have in front of me and allow you to make your own minds up. I have a graduate degree from Salford University in TV and Audio electronic servicing. Ok. I have 2 boxes here, one bought from an ebay supplier and is clearly an original product from Euromax and another which was bought from a Manchester Trade fair and I will not call this box a clone however it is clearly different and made with inferior products. I shall refer to this box as 'inferior' When referencing photograph notes I will use the term (Y1) for yellow note 1 on the original and (R1) for red note 1 on the inferior. First to the outer boxes. Both these units came in similar boxes however there are differences. serial number on the original box is well printed in a small font on a label. Crisp and precise printing (Y1) wheras the printing on the inferior box is larger and less crisp and appears to be rubbing off (R1) Print quality of the left box is much higher, there is a greater tonal range and better contrast ratio on (Y2) than there appears to be on (R2) The picture of the unit is the same as the unit in the box on (Y3) but the unit that came in the right box differed in appearance from the picture (R3) The left box, the original is actually not quite as good quality card as the inferior box and is matte finished (Y4). The 'inferior' box, whilst of poor print quality was actually a bit more robust and finished in gloss. (R4) On to the Units themselves. facia decals (Y1) are in white, clearly visible and as shown on the outer packaging whereas facia decals on (R1) are printed in a less clearly visible grey colour and differ in appearance from the picture on the box. The outer casing of the box (Y2) is black whereas the casing of the inferior box (R2) is grey. On the rear of the unit there are differences. A small difference but the screws holding the rear components to the chassis are zinc plated on the original (Y1) and chrome plated on the inferior (R1) The original box has a label stuck to the casing and the chassis stating that if the seal is damaged or broken then the warranty is void (Y2) the inferior box does not have this (R2) (yes, I voided my warranty to bring you this information ) The inferior box states country of manufacture (R3) whereas the original does not. Note: This does not mean that the inferior box was ever in or near Korea. It just states so as fact. Inside the boxes. There are a vast amount of differences inside the box and too many to list here so I'll point out the clearly obvious and let you have the pictures for reference. The main difference based upon my experience in electronics ( 25 years ) is that the 'inferior' box is exactly that, poorer component and build quality all around although it is intriguing to note that the central processor and tuning unit ( Samsung ) are identical. This is probably important for firmware upgrades. The ribbon cables (Y1) in the original are from machine manufacture on a large scale. The ones in the picture (R1 ) are most likely made by hand on a smaller production scale. The screw heads on the original (Y2) are all clean. In the other box (R2) they appear to have been coated in an insulating varnish ( for no reason I can see ) The board identification number ( and all around printing ) on the original (Y3) is of better quality and the interesting thing to note is that the printing on the other box (R3) is identical on what it says. To the naked eye the boards are clearly different from each other and have a different component layout. If these boards came from the same manufacturer they would at least boast a different revision number as one would be later than the other. Having the same numbers on different boards makes no sense unless it is meant to deceive. Here are the two side by side for your comparison. In conclusion I won't say for definite that the 'inferior' box is a clone but I will say it is less well manufactured from the box that I know to be an original and if I had the chance to check out the box before I bought I would not buy one that appeared to be the inferior one. Now for the interesting bit. Both boxes came with Kuro 2 Oct 2007 FW. The original box was updated some time ago with Kuro 3 10/4/08 and is functioning fine. Code update is a little slow ( can take 20 seconds ) when rolling but it's just rolled as I typed this and has again worked fine. Ok, the other box. Well considering it was not working since the rollovers and I can't keep telling the owner new codes every time they roll I decided to update the firmware. Noticing that the processor and tuner are identical I updated the FW with Kuro 3 18/4/08 and after a factory reset and rescan the box is working fine and auto updating just as the original. So the point if you are still reading is that the box with the red notes is likely a clone but it has been updated with official firmware and works fine. No brick. I accept no responsibility for damage to your hardware if you choose to udate with firmware that is not suitable for your box. I am merely pointing out my experience to you I apologise for the length of the post but I have not seen this information elsewhere in the forum and as there has been a lot of confusion I thought it was important to bring you the thread. If it has been posted before then I apologise for the error and ask that the mods remove the post if they feel it is a duplicate. Regards Pasanonic. ( please ask permission before duplicating this thread or the contents elsewhere )
yeah its a definite clone mate and you bcan put a lot of software or firmware on clone boxes but if its not right it can brick them not straight away but in its own time be it a week or a month they just die so be carefull cos i dont think there is safe firmware for the 2008 clones
Ok, I've read what you have said. I'm quite clear in my own mind what the box is. It is the first one that has come through my door so I thought I'd make this information available to others. I do not want to bandy the word 'clone' about when I have no definitive proof of who manufactures the boxes. There is not even s definitive manufacturer or patent for the 'original' eurovox boxes. Now as for the firmware. Can you pleas elaborate on what you mean? Firmware is just an instruction set that is held in ROM ( PROM, EPROM ) and will either work if the instructions are correct and recognised, or not work, if the instructions are incorrect and not recognised. Also with most eproms even the wrong instruction set will only cause failure whilst the instruction set is loaded and merely replacing that with a working version will bring the box back online. As for dying in a week or a month? Can you tell me exactly how this is achieved? Are you saying that the firmware is able to cause a box to fail at a future point? I've no evidence of that when I examine the INTPR R files I have here. I'm not saying you are incorrect, I'd just like you to tell me how this is fact as merely saying something does not make it true. Anyway, as I said, the pictures and info are here for members to view so that they can identify if they have an original box because people going around stating that the 2008 box has not been cloned was not helpful.
@ panasonic .. im not saying anything is fact what ive said but ive been on this site for a while and ive read stories of peoples boxes dying two weeks after they put the wrong sortware on them and ive been assured this by experienced members of this site .. and i was also told nearly every box eventually gets cloned so always double check cos the screws inside are usually painted with what looks like red varnish there are loads bof ways to tell but you njust have to checkhard
also any one have problems with telling whether clones or not have a look here http://www.irelandeurovox.com/eurovoxclones.htm
It was precisely because that link is old and only covers the 2006/7 boxes that I have posted the above information. That page does not help people who have recently bought a box that is a 2008 clone currently being produced in Guandong, China and being sold wholesale by a UK distributor who I will not name.
yeah true it is old sure i done two blue boxes that had most clone parts but it had the board on the right with the 5 little green round pieces so its getting confusing but ill look at your pictures aswell from now on .. cheers good man
The strange thing with my box is, the front of my box is the exact same as the inferior model you refer to in your pics, but the back is the same as the original going on your pics. Guess I'll have to open it up tommoz to check for sure will get back to you for some advise Brill post btw been looking for something like this all day
@ panasonic .... ive also noticed this difference with the blue clones and the genuine ones ... where you put the power lead in where the three pins are sticking out on the originals there is somne writing inbetween the three bars sticking out of the little black plastic box but there is nothing on the clones it would be just some sort of information what power its running on is it the same with the two boxes that you have and what about the standby light is one brighter than the other ... thanks for the info its a good post cos people will be putting wrong software on wrong boxes ive done it myself last week before reallisig
Yeah this is why I'm trying to be careful and not shout 'clone' at everything because I'd hate to steer someone wrong when I've only seen the one box that may be a clone. By all means take pictures and post them. I'll give my best educated opinion on the box for you.
I had some enquiries about Max V clone boxes and I thought I'd bump this to help. And with that I bid you goodbye. I'm not prepared to take time from my day to help strangers when it seems I'm expected to accept insults and criticism like it was welcome candy. I'm 43 years old. I spent the years beyond university in the royal Artillery and don't take kindly to being spoken down to. I can assure any moderator here that if I deem it neccessary to call a person an idiot then there is a high probability that the person is an idiot. I'll pray for Nagra 3 so all this shit can stop and people can start paying the same bills I do. Bye.
