Creative warns against fake Vibra 128 cards

Creative has warned its distributors, dealers and buyers
against the fake Vibra 128 sound cards, which have already reached Bangalore,
Mumbai and New Delhi, apart from all the other major cities of the country. All
its three distributors--Compuage Infocom Ltd, Cyberstar Infocom Ltd and Tech
Pacific (India) Ltd--are on their heels to spread the awareness about the false
happening.

Though the technical differences in the original and fake are
many, for a layman, to spot the physical ones is not that easy. But then, an
extra care with two eyes can surely help from landing in a 'zero hope zone' for
improvement of damages to your PCs. To mark the differences in the looks and
working, look out for these when you make your deal with the seller.

On the outer verge (of the fake cards that is), the Printed
Circuit Board of the counterfeit card has a sound chip marked with the text that
reads ES1373. Also, though not on all, on few of them some Chinese text is
scribbled at back as well. There is again a clear mention of 'Made in China'
label (when original is assembled in Singapore). Another clear indication is
that of a vast price difference, that of Rs 300, i.e. the fake ones are priced
at Rs 900, whereas original Creative Vibra 128 cards are available at nothing
less than Rs 1,200.

Technically speaking, the fake cards are not compatible with
original Creative drivers and also do not comply with the worldwide electronics
standards, which again may cause an irreparable damage to the computer systems.
They also have no buy-back warranty and after sales service. This further
disclaims all responsibilities of the manufacturing company from any kind of
loss or damage.

Talking of quality, these fake cards do not offer the same
quality as of the original in terms of the performance. The drivers of originals
are also not compatible with the fake ones, (so in case you plan to get the
drivers from the website, watch it if the sound card is still not working). The
packaging of the false ones is that in the OEMs do up, ie, it is a bulk packing
of 20 pieces each and does not come in the individual packing as that of
original. The finishing differences can also be noticed easily, which give the
product all together a very cheap look. One very prominent difference is that
all the basic electronic standards are written on the original sound chip,
whereas these are very conveniently missing on the fake chip.

The principal company has done its bit by spreading the word
around, through either mails or mailers. A comprehensive text describing the
intricate details and with links at the photograph of the fake cards are
provided with the mails.

As stated Sandeep Ramani, Regional Manager (North), Cyberstar,
"The buyers are still buying these fake cards because they cannot make out
the difference between the two and this has primarily worked as adding the fuel
to the fire and they have spread so widely. But with the timely action of the
parent company, we are now trying to educate them. Here we have a comprehensive
mailing system in place working and have about 5,000 odd e-mail ids. We have
mailed everybody with a request to forward it and like you came to us, others
have also given us a positive response."

On inquiring about why is the principal company still not
able to trace the culprits, Ramani blamed it on the channel which is taking them
long to come here. "Creative would surely take the appropriate measures to
catch the culprits. But the delay in the process is all because they are based
in Singapore and they have to approach through the proper channel and following
the protocol. And till then we are aggressive to spread the word around and take
care that it is spread as soon as possible."