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I'm in Thailand now and I've seen a Galaxy Note device that seems to be a real Galaxy Note phone, but it has an extremely low cost (about 100 USD). I'd like to confirm that the phone is real, how do I prove it? I had the chance to play with the operating system and it is like my Galaxy S, but with a larger screen. I cannot "open" or connect to laptop, but I can play with it.

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2 Answers

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  1. Grab MAC address of Wi-Fi adapter of device. Go to Settings ~> Wireless and Network ~> Wi-Fi Settings and tap/press options key. Then, tap Advanced. Here, you can get MAC address. The method can vary based on firmware.

  2. Look up this MAC address at http://www.techzoom.net/tools/check-mac.en or http://www.coffer.com/mac_find/ . If device isn't legitimate, you can detect here.

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This isn't a fail-proof way. If they faked everything else what's the guarantee that they won't fake the MAC address? – Richard Borcsik Aug 13 '12 at 18:22
@Richard Getting MAC of unit from manufacturer's range isn't easy. So, they don't generally care. – Sachin Shekhar Aug 13 '12 at 20:19
But yes, its still not a super solid way... – Sachin Shekhar Aug 13 '12 at 20:24
Generally these knock-offs don't have unique MAC addresses. Remember they're already violating laws so getting certified isn't on their agenda. – Richard Borcsik Aug 13 '12 at 20:40
@Richard They can spoof only first six digits. After that, they'll fail. Most of lookup tools have access to manufacturer's database. Are you getting my point? – Sachin Shekhar Aug 13 '12 at 20:55
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Gadgets in Thailand are way cheaper than anywhere else but, there's a small heads-up - more than likely, it will have a CSC code for Thailand, Asia, so the updates on that would be somewhat, slower than the rest of the region zones.

Having said that, you can flash it with a different regional CSC code. So go for it, when the first Samsung Galaxy Tab 7" (P1010T with Wifi only) came out, it was on sale there in Thailand - a mate of mine was there, and got it for me - 200 euros - it was a steal, it would have been about 450euros to buy in the EU. And yes, it was genuine, the real thing! :)

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Cheap? Yeah, but this cheap? They're more than 7x the price in my country. Making the device costs more this price. If this was real I could make a fortune importing these :) – Richard Borcsik Aug 13 '12 at 18:25
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Funnily enough, my mate regrets it in not buying a few and make a few from selling it :) – t0mm13b Aug 13 '12 at 18:25

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