Beware of Fake Memory Cards!

[slaam]

http://www.overclockers.com.au/wiki/Fake_Memory_Cards
excellent article i found by digg

 

[Macky]

I'm surprised that the fake cards actually work! (According to the link) I thought they were just pieces of plastic!!

 

[sumball]

See the Chinese people selling this when I was at Beijing sometimes back.

They imitations look pretty real but I don't dare to try as the deal is too good to be real.

Anyway, if you pay peanuts, you wont get anything better than monkeys.

 

[nottipiglet]

Thanks. That's really good to know. Those fake cards sure look real! I would have been fooled.

 

[snowspeeder]

Sometimes even the authorized dealers cannot tell the diff between the real and fake. Only way is to run thru the serial numbers Some fake cards can work just as well as the original ones.

 

[solarii]

FYI there are fake memory cards, fake batteries, fake chargers, fake HD drives, fake CD/DVD drives, fake MP3 players (iPod, Creative), fake PCs (IBM, Compaq etc) and even fake notebook PCs (Lenovo etc.). Mostly from China.

So if they can make fake Lenovo notebooks, and even imitation iPods, what's so hard about making a fake memory card? Just print the Sandisk/Lexar logo and stick it on... print a serial no. at the side of the card. Afterall, all memory cards of the same type have the same form factor.

And the fakes I'm talking about are not cheap imitations. They're well made and almost impossible to tell apart - only the service techs could do so and only by checking the serials.

 

[yaoxing]

FYI there are fake memory cards, fake batteries, fake chargers, fake HD drives, fake CD/DVD drives, fake MP3 players (iPod, Creative), fake PCs (IBM, Compaq etc) and even fake notebook PCs (Lenovo etc.). Mostly from China.

Fake sports cars even..... :sweat:

 

[jasonct]

my friend bought a 4G kingston CF for S$40 .. when i format, it turns out to be only 61MB!!

 

[Artosoft]

So, it is better to bring your camera and try the card on the shop (if you encounter suspicious shop).

Regards,
Arto.

 

[match80]

For kingston memory cards, the design looks exactly the same. Just that the original card when change colour when u view it at different angles. Most shops in SL gt poster on the difference between the cards.

 

[beachbum]

recently my friend bought some thumbdrive from CHina... sony brand. 2Gig. We formatted it, it was 2 gig of space - good! But when we tried the transfer rate, it was atrocious! like USB1.1 speed (took a few mins to transfer a 100MB file!) even though it is claimed as USB2.0!

so test the transfer rate too when u buy!

 

[cubit]

But when we tried the transfer rate, it was atrocious! like USB1.1 speed (took a few mins to transfer a 100MB file!) even though it is claimed as USB2.0!

so test the transfer rate too when u buy!

Was the product advertised as USB 2.0 Hi Speed? USB 2.0 is specified to operate at different speeds. So if a product is advertised as USB 2.0, but does not have Hi Speed, then it will be at the same speed as USB 1.1.

There are many products marketed as USB2.0 without the Hi Speed label. Be careful of those.

 

[Deadpoet]

FYI there are fake memory cards, fake batteries, fake chargers, fake HD drives, fake CD/DVD drives, fake MP3 players (iPod, Creative), fake PCs (IBM, Compaq etc) and even fake notebook PCs (Lenovo etc.). Mostly from China.

So if they can make fake Lenovo notebooks, and even imitation iPods, what's so hard about making a fake memory card? Just print the Sandisk/Lexar logo and stick it on... print a serial no. at the side of the card. Afterall, all memory cards of the same type have the same form factor.

And the fakes I'm talking about are not cheap imitations. They're well made and almost impossible to tell apart - only the service techs could do so and only by checking the serials.

If they are that well made, they cannot afford to sell them to you at the low low prices. Typically, fake cards works but storage size and transfer rate is only a percent of what the card should have.

When it's too good to be true, it is usually too good to be true.