Zalman copycat from China

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Zalman copycat from China

Post by MikeC » Wed Jul 28, 2004 6:48 am

It's a blatant copy of the Zalman 7000 series HS by a Chinese company called PCCooler, and they base their entire product line on this. Not only is the HS design copied, they've got a voltage controller that looks like a Zalman fanmate1, and even their website is obviously modelled on Zalman's.
http://www.pccooler.cn/product/images/e ... glish.html

Image
Nope, NOT a Zalman, but a copycat.

Pricing is low enough that they have managed to find distributors and resellers in Europe and the US. eBuyer in the UK sells a copper variant for £7.63 inc VAT, and SVC in the US are selling at least 2 modles, the copper one at $25 and the alcu at $20. (Zalman's Z7000cu is priced by SVC at $39.)

While imitation is the highest form of flattery, it can sometimes be theft. This is not just imitation. I have learned that Zalman have sued for patent infringements in the EU and may take action in the US as well. Having been the subject of plagarism by unscrupulous sites in the past, I urge SPCR members and readers NOT to support PCCooler: Don't buy these products. A boycott of companies that sell these products (along with emails explaining why) may also be appropriate.

Zalman has been a pioneer and major proponent of quiet computing for years. They deserve our support.

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Post by acaurora » Wed Jul 28, 2004 9:34 am

and to make matters worse:

http://www.pccooler.cn/product/images/e ... _42cu.html


They were too lazy to figure out how to make it bigger (i.e., the 7700), and just decided "oh well, let's just slap on a huge fan on top of the thing".

Stupid. Not to be racist (I am Chinese, mind you), but I am disappointed.

EDIT: Even the DIAGRAMS, backplates, nipples, and other parts are nearly IDENTICAL / copied based upon Zalman's design. Ugh. I mean, I HAVE seen 7000 impersonations, but to make exact or near-exact imitations right down to nearly every aspect of Zalman... ugh... :evil:

EDIT #2: We are also not the first to notice this. There is a news link with ZALMAN on it on the website, which seems to lead to another site containing review/news of some sort, and from translating via BabelFish:
[ The IT168 evaluation ] the ultra frequency three (PCCooler) this sign relatively general consumers said that, without doubt is the very strange name, how well-known product and also is belongs to in the domestic not. But regarding the friend which makes the news media said that, this sign already was in domestic already has appeared, moreover in some very famous international IT website. Although present very many friends said this section product is the domestically produced goods, but this section product is in every sense of the term Chinese Taiwan product. But why do they on let the general consumers in the short time know? Actually the answer is in "the right infringement" in the question dispute, because ultra frequency three have two section main forces products and the international famous radiator brand ZALMAN two section main forces product, 7000ALCU and the 7000CU two section products are extremely similar, because of in a sense, this section product perhaps really is infringes upon the right the product. But certainly in not be technical and competition right infringement, but is in the contour and the appendix conflict.

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Post by POLIST8 » Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:35 am

OMFG.

That's hilarious.

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Re: Zalman copycat from China

Post by Ralf Hutter » Wed Jul 28, 2004 11:43 am

MikeC wrote:and SVC in the US are selling at least 2 modles, the copper one at $25 and the alcu at $20. (Zalman's Z7000cu is priced by SVC at $39.)
That's a pisser to me. I'm going to drop SVC a line and let them know what I think about it. I suggest other SPCR readers do the same. Vote with your wallets guys.

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Post by zed939 » Wed Jul 28, 2004 12:13 pm

There was a thread about this on HardOCP like 3 months ago, it turns out the whole site was actually a scam and that Zalman was going to take legal action against them I think.

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Post by MikeC » Wed Jul 28, 2004 12:25 pm

If SVC and other web retailers have them listed with prices, inventory info, shipping costs etc, it's no scam.

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Post by mpteach » Wed Jul 28, 2004 1:04 pm

The fan looks different? are the copycats louder than the Zalmans? :wink:

Im really suprised that something like this could happen. In the US, litigation would have shut down a company like this before it produced a single HS. Guess things are different in China. Who wants to invest or trade with a country with crime or corruption. Practices like this cant be good for an economy.

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Post by luminous » Wed Jul 28, 2004 1:12 pm

I agree with all of the above points, and will therefore definately not be buying their product.

It would, however, be highly ironic if the copycat cooler actually turned out to be quieter. Something tells me that it is unlikely, but you never know :D

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Post by mpteach » Wed Jul 28, 2004 1:25 pm

It would be ironic, someone should get a sample and test it, for free of course, no-one should pay for a sample cause that would be supporting pccooler.

I wonder if its even close to as good as a zalman.

EDIT

read the "about us" section, it is funny

http://www.pccooler.cn/product/images/e ... /about.htm

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Post by Rusty075 » Wed Jul 28, 2004 1:36 pm

Even if it was as good as a Zalman, and even if I had a sample which proved it (I don't, don't get excited :wink: ) I wouldn't publish a report saying so, and I wouldn't pay for one, at any price. The only way to discourage such action is through your wallet.

Of course copycats are cheaper, they didn't have to pay for any of the R&D....

The loose Chinese copyright laws, combined with even looser enforcement has made left China literally full of these sorts of businesses, in nearly every industry. From electronics to pots-and-pans to CD's and DVD's, there is someone exporting a knockoff.

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Post by CharlieChan » Wed Jul 28, 2004 1:53 pm

Hmmm.....

I seem to record not too long ago Thermalright was going to sue Themaltake because the Silent Booster looks similar to the SLK series. I also record most people here disagree with Thermalright so why all this fuss? A good cooler is derive from a combination of factors - looking similar is not necessary one of them. I think the best way to support Zalman is to review the copycat cooler and hopefully demonstrate that copying does not pay dividend.

Zalman should look at pccoolers design for mounting the copycat cooler to socket 462 - looks simple and effective. Two can play at the same game :twisted:

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Post by acaurora » Wed Jul 28, 2004 4:41 pm

Hmm... the Silent Boost is REAL old (Trust me, I had it when the Athlon 1900+ was "super fast", i.e., top of the line). In any event, ThermalTake is a bad choice for anything except for loud (visually and acoustically) parts in my book.

*holds a spiked, rusty, and forked stake* "Who has the torches and lighter fluid? I feel like a good 'burnin BONFIRE" :twisted:

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Post by MikeC » Wed Jul 28, 2004 4:55 pm

I seem to record not too long ago Thermalright was going to sue Themaltake because the Silent Booster looks similar to the SLK series. I also record most people here disagree with Thermalright so why all this fuss?
It's a matter of degrees, isn't it? If you examined the SilentBoost vs the SLKs, there were similarities but you really could not call them identical. And both brands already had strong identities quite independent of the other.

Here's it's almost a case of identity theft. Not quite because they did not take the name or logo, but they really did take just about everything else, and the design is so close to the 7000 that it could be mistaken for a 7000. Also, the copycat in this case has no identity or presence in the marketplace at all. The copy allows them to be associated in people's minds with Zalman and they therefor get the benefit of Zalman's goodwill.

I think there's a real big difference between this case and the one you cite.
Last edited by MikeC on Wed Jul 28, 2004 6:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by CharlieChan » Wed Jul 28, 2004 5:47 pm

MikeC wrote: Here's it's almost a case of identity theft. Not quite because they did not take the name or logo, but they really did take just about everything else, and the design is so close to the 7000 that it could be mistaken for a 7000. Also, the copycat in this case has no identity or presence in the marketplace at all. The copy allows them to be associated in people's minds with Zalman and they therefor get the benefit of Zalman's goodwill.
I think it is fair to say in the computing industry everyone like to copy everyone, at least on the surface. What matters in the end is how the product performs and in this case another site has already reviewed the cooler (sorry, can't find it). I remembered it was no where near as good as the Zalman.

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Post by mpteach » Wed Jul 28, 2004 8:24 pm

We have a recomended list, guess were going to have to add a blacklist too ;)

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Post by intx » Wed Jul 28, 2004 8:39 pm

personally I think it looks different enough from the zalman that I can tell the difference. Regarding the copyright, I'm not making a comment.

Anyway, this isn't the first clone. Don't you guys remember the cyclone? Did they legally buy the rights? Or maybe the difference is SVC isn't selling it.
Image
http://www.xpcgear.com/cyclone478.html

http://www.mge-usa.com/home/detail.asp? ... &iType=807 (MGE Cyclone, ALCU look-alike)

Image
Zalman CNPS7000A-Alcu

Image
The image MikeC posted at the top

It looks different. The Zalman looks more professional. I wonder which performs better though.

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Post by Interitus » Wed Jul 28, 2004 9:11 pm

Says PC Cooler's fan is 35 dBA...

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Post by lenny » Thu Jul 29, 2004 1:09 am

For those of you against the Zalman ripoff, what are your opinions on the Hard Drive Silencer by Sunbeam and NoVibes III?

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Post by MikeC » Thu Jul 29, 2004 1:28 am

lenny,

If you check the discussion thread about the Sunbeam HDS here -- http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=14615 -- you'll see that the device is marketed under at least one other name as well ('HDD Vibe-fixer from Sharkoon").

NoVibesIII has always expensive in US/Canada. It's a German brand. My guess is that they had an exclusive contract with a Far East manufacturer, and now that contract has expired, so it's being bought, branded and resold by lots of others.

Same thing happened with Antec's SX800/1000 series cases a few years back, Antec didn't make it themselves; they had an exclusive arrangement with an OEM case maker. Not a great agreement, it turns out, because it was not honored for long and the market was quickly flooded with virtually identical cases under all kinds of brands.

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Post by lenny » Thu Jul 29, 2004 1:43 am

Mike,

I did see it but my sleep deprived brain didn't register what it meant. I think I understand now - the German company didn't make it, another OEM did, and now the OEM are selling it to Sunbeam and others to rebrand.

What tickled my interest was the timing of the two posts.

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Post by Dos_Junkie » Thu Jul 29, 2004 2:57 am

that spinoff is crazy! I mean, who would take an exact copy of a well-known company's product and market it as your own? Not only would people hate you, but you'd be nuts to even go up against a well-known company sporting the exact same products!

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Post by luminous » Thu Jul 29, 2004 3:16 am

It will likely sell well in the far east as only the price counts. Those markets are used to having loads of copy/fake goods.

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Post by DavidSteiner » Thu Jul 29, 2004 8:16 am

ha! IMO the surface area of the fake is like half of the original... those fins are massive

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Post by ceraf » Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:46 pm

FLUENCE electronics was found in November, 2003 in Shenzhen. And its main product is CPU cooler & accessories.
In the past two decades, we hardly found any changes in this field, either the appearance or performance.
That's not the trend of cause, and there must be a breakthrough.
Here we are---the patent product PA8C & PA9C Sevies CPU cooler with a bandnew desig a and performance!
All the CPU cooler we made are bearing the same feratures:
a. High effecience for heatsinking;
b. Stable and quiet in performane;
c. Widely compatible.
With a super valued price, we think you'll be with as very soon.
man, is PCcooler's company profile funny. So many spelling and grammar problems. Being chinese and used to horrible chinese-influenced english, I can almost hear someone trying to say it lol...I think I'll definately be with as very soon. :P

Well, I'm not surprised that there would be a heatsink design copy scandal. Besides, China is quite known for copied and renamed products.

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Post by josephclemente » Tue Aug 10, 2004 9:31 pm

I think these are the same ones I've seen at Fry's Electronics. They are very cheap looking in comparison to the real thing.

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Post by VERiON » Thu Aug 12, 2004 12:00 am

anyone interested in zalman and copycat temp. comparsion?

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Post by intx » Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:55 am

VERiON wrote:anyone interested in zalman and copycat temp. comparsion?
if you have one, sure why not? i'm curious how it compares.

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Post by VERiON » Thu Aug 12, 2004 9:22 am

i don't have one, but i've spoted such a comparsion in my native language and if you are interested i can make short translation (only essentials) for you.

You can find full article !!!IN POLISH!!! here:
http://www.tweak.pl/artykul/coolery_04_2
be prepared - no BABELFISH or GOOGLE translation for that language :)

...and head-to-head comparsion photos here:

http://www.tweak.pl/ilustracje/coolery_04/PICT0596.JPG
http://www.tweak.pl/ilustracje/coolery_04/PICT0597.JPG

mobo: ABIT NF7-SL v2.0 (NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400)
cpu: AMD Athlon XP 2800+ @ 2.39 GHz / 1.9V
heatsinks: "copycat ALCu" and "Zalman CNPS7000A-ALCu"


weight:
=====
copycat = 437g
zalman = 445

number of fins:
==========
copycat = 84
zalman = 130

high fan speed temp.(idle,load):
=====================
copycat = 50.5*C, 60.0*C, < 2800 rpm < 27 dbA**
zalman = 52.0*C, 60.0*C, < 2600 rpm < 25 dbA**

low fan speed temp.(idle,load):
====================
copycat = 61.0*C, 75.0*C, < 1700 rpm < 20 dbA**
zalman = 61.0*C, 74.0*C, < 1500 rpm < 20 dbA**


**i believe noise level comes from the product tech. spec.

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Post by Stephen7372 » Wed Sep 22, 2004 9:53 am

very cheap at www.ebuyer.com :?

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Post by rbsteffes » Wed Sep 22, 2004 9:57 am

very cheap at www.ebuyer.com Confused
Well, you know what they say, "With a super valued price, we think you'll be with as very soon."

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