Dm800 what to buy an original or clone ?

[cauliflower69]

Right guys I'm gonna have to take the plunge and buy a 800 but what are your opinions on a clone or an original.

I'm thinking original as to future proof it i read somewhere that a bootloader 70 has already semi bricked some 800 clones.

Thanks

[alunfennell]

Hi M8,
That bootloader issue can be fixed this is what the error comes up as Bootloader 70 causes ERR01: NO CA FOUND error on the lcd and no boot. Simple fix is by using dreamup and flashing bootloader 69 to it. You have to use a serial cable as the dhcp flash won't work when you see the error. As bootloader 69 is only a 170k file it takes seconds to put right.

Regards:
Alun

[Curious123]

I am not sure what the pricing difference is for the two types of boxes as that would be a major factor for me when buying the dm800. The last time I checked the prices I think the difference was only about ?60 so I would have been inclined to buy an original so that I could return it to dream if I had even the slightest problem with the box. I am hoping that now the dm8000 has been released the clone makers will drop their prices even more to make it reasonable to buy a clone dm800.

[cauliflower69]

Well it seems the pricing is :-

?280 for a clone and ?399


Both excluding delivery. Ouch thats a big difference but with the sterling being low I think now is the best time to get one.

I really don't feel like forking out 300 euros only for it mess up then have little or no after sales support. Or is this the case with the UK resellers of chinese clones?

Thanks again

[Curious123]

I would go for the original as ?300 on clone is too much of a chance especially as the early dm800 have not been considered to be particularly stable.

[cauliflower69]

Yeah was thinking that myself is it still advisable to add extra cooling to the latest units. i.e. notebook cooler etc ?

[Curious123]

I was never sure if cooling was an actual problem or were a few people being a bit over cautious. If I was paying ?400 for the box I would have expected dream to have resloved the cooling problem or else its going right back to the shop, no way I am pratting about with a pc cooler on my brand new dm800.

[bunkerbojon]

Ive just purchased a DM800, what fan would you advise me to use??

[Curious123]

Ive just purchased a DM800, what fan would you advise me to use??

My advise would be to not purchase any fan and return it to dealer if have any problems with your dm800.

[cauliflower69]

I was never sure if cooling was an actual problem or were a few people being a bit over cautious. If I was paying ?400 for the box I would have expected dream to have resloved the cooling problem or else its going right back to the shop, no way I am pratting about with a pc cooler on my brand new dm800.

I would not be impressed if it was running hot after forking out that amount of cash

[Curious123]

I would not be impressed if it was running hot after forking out that amount of cash

I read on another forum that there were problems with cooling on some of the batches but dream dealers were very good and swapped out the faulty kit without any questions.

[smith]

My clone DM800 works great, no problem on HD channels and runs very cool, but then the clones are fitted with a heat sink on the processor. There are few bugs due to the crap software that affect all units, but that wil improve with time. I've 3 500s one orignal and two clones, the clones are better built. They come out of the same factory anyway! Let's think about it, Dream are not going to be making these in Germany, They'll all be made in the far east. My VW was made in Mexico, so much for paying a premium for German build quality!

[cauliflower69]

The only thing I'm thinking is are the clones going to be hit with a time bomb like the gemini team released ?

[smith]

Well they can't even get the software right for the original units so I don't think knocking out clones will be a priority. Besides which this is only a piece of hardware running software stored in a flash drive. You can always remove it again. These boxes are a walk in the park compared to the old days of reprogramming CAM slots, smartcards, pic processors etc.

[osborne82]

The only thing I'm thinking is are the clones going to be hit with a time bomb like the gemini team released ?

tis excatly whats happened m8 secondstage bootloader #70 has a clone detector in which stops it from booting (CA errors ) re-flashing #69 cures it for now though

cheers

osborne82