Anybody buy from Hong Kong (HK) eBAYer?
 

It seems like the newest ChiPODs are coming from Hong Kong. Also cheapest even with the shipping cost factored in...

Has anybody from North America bought from eBAY and the seller was located in Hong Kong?

What was your experience, how did it arrive and was there any additional costs after the selling transaction ie. duties, custom fees etc.?

I bought a nano clone from ebay member mp3_exp, who is located in Hong Kong.

The player and it's accessories came individually wrapped in plastic, everything was new and clean. And it all came together in an envelope, which wasn't taped, just the string on the flap was wrapped the closure, so securing the packaging could have been better. It all arrived okay though.

The shipping was free, no vat, and all I paid for was the item cost, which came out to be about $68 USD for a black "4gb" mp4 player (I haven't checked to see if it's hacked yet).

The seller said it would take about 5-12 days to arrive and it came on the 12 day of being shipping, about 14 days from the day I bought it.

I'm generally very happy with my purchase but I haven't left feedback yet as soon as I check everything out and confirm that it's hacked, I'll leave feedback or ask for a refund and see how honest this seller is.

Re: Anybody buy from Hong Kong (HK) eBAYer?
 

Got one of these 2 months ago...from this seller...all items shipped from Hong Kong...

http://cgi.ebay.ca/2GB-MP4-OLED-11-i...QQcmdZViewItem

Excellent player…use it daily...recent firmware...very good bright screen...plays video at 16 fps using AMV convert 4.00...very good sound quality...good FM reception...onboard speakers work well (may need to up volume during video file conversion)...menus work nicely...remembers stop point in videos and music...very, very satisfied...an excellent balance of size and features...1.5" screen NOT a problem...several hours of battery life with speakers on and video playing...holds 2GBytes as claimed...

Subsequently ordered identical additional players from same vendor for self and for gifts...all new and work perfectly...all arrived safely via registered mail (tracking number emailed; good communication)...shipped promptly upon payment completion…boxed inside bubble envelope...flap securely taped shut...

No customs, duty or taxes...received in Canada...total cost including item, shipping and insurance CDN$60 to CDN$80 depending on the particular auction...check recent purchases using EBay advanced search completed listings only option for search terms " 93b5 " and " 93s5 "...price may be a bit higher now as fewer items up for auction therefore more competitive bidding...

Would expect a similar experience if bidding on one of vendors ChiPods …Good Luck !

Re: Anybody buy from Hong Kong (HK) eBAYer?
 

Bought on Sept 15/05 from mp3_exp but did not have a good experience.

mp3_ exp denied receiving my PayPal payment, yet shipped the player, then hit me with an unpaid strike. eBay/PayPal had to remove the strike as PapPay confirmed my full payment.

Then 4Gb player was hacked. In fact it had only a 2Gb Samsung K9WAG08U!A memory chip, so it worked OK until more than 2Gb of data was added. Then all the file became corrupted. Had reformat the chip to solve this nasty hack. See my post in "how to" addressing 4Gb memory headache for details.

When questioning mp3_exp about the fake 4Gb, they claimed in had 2 - 2Gb chips and perhaps one was bad. Opened the unit and found it had one , only 2Gb. Not nice.

Re: Anybody buy from Hong Kong (HK) eBAYer?
 

renniw, since he said that there "2 x 2GB" memory chips, and 1 was "bad", even more you can demand a partial refund through eBay & PayPal.
eBay keeps a record of all the messages sent via their system, and if they checked it, would be able to find the message that the seller sent you saying 1 of the chip was "bad".

Re: Anybody buy from Hong Kong (HK) eBAYer?
 

I have purchased one of these from mp3_exp recently.

Bit pissed off that it was advertised as 4Gb player and appears to be only 2GB player.

I don't know much about the innards of these things but presume that 2 x 2GB chip is exactly that. Inside mine is only one
Samsung 634
K9WAG08U1A chip.

When checking properties of the 'drive' it showing as 2GB full and 2GB empty after deleting all deletable files. Still stuck with the corrupted folders.
Tried formating player, no joy.

One other problem is that the LCD screen does not darken whilst playing!!

1. Have i any comeback on Ebay with the memory problem
2. Is there an easy way to sort the corrupt stuff
3. Any ideas about the LCD

Re: Anybody buy from Hong Kong (HK) eBAYer?
 

I got one of the 4Mb mp4 players from ebay ( a birmingham seller mcdirectdeals) I collected it cause I dont live far, it was ok for the first night, then the next day, the memory was corrupt (all file names unreadable) I could not delete the files, so I formatted using the util program supplied, it now only shows it 1Gb, I tried everything. its still only 1G
I sent mail to the supplier, I think I will send it back & ask for refund.

Re: Anybody buy from Hong Kong (HK) eBAYer?
 

snab , what program did you use to format the player? If you use the Disk Tools and got an error, setting the slider in the Partition & Encrypt tab to max (right) format it, then set it to min (left) and format it again.
Or else, right click on My Computer >> Manage >> Storage >> Disk Management. Then select the player's drive, right click and chose Format. You might want to select FAT file system to format it.
To darken the screen on your player, go to System >> LCD Set >> Darkle, there you can set in seconds, the amount of idle time before the screen darkens.

roycollingwood , seems to me you have a hacked player. Best way is to physically open the back casing and check for the memory chip's serial number against the manufacturer's website.

Re: Anybody buy from Hong Kong (HK) eBAYer?
 

Used the progam found here
Got as far as the partitioning bit and found that windows wouldn't do it (grr bloody windows) so used the mp3/4 player software to finsih partitioning and it completed OK.
The player is only a 2GB player advertised as 4GB.
I sent the following mail to the seller
and received the following reply
I have now filed a not as described action via paypal and am awaiting the outcome

mp3_exp said that it was a 2x2gb... and refunded me $15 USD, which is about the cost of the difference between a 2gb and a "4gb".

I'm satisfied with my purchase and refund but I wouldn't recommend him to anybody, though.