64Gb Memory sticks on ebay

[klr10]

Seen them go for less than twenty quid...

I was about to buy one until I read about a scam that they can be 'software adjusted' to look like 64Gb when they may be much smaller.... be warned!

 

[klr10]

Sorry probably need to elaborate. They could be 1,2,4 or 8Gb and when you write to them they basically overwrite the data over their real capacity. There is a test program you can use to see if they actually hold the amount they claim (most people won't find out for a while)...

Con-men are getting more and more devious....

 

[unique]

i recently heard about the scam too. i've been keeping an eye on prices for 8gig and 16gig models, and 16gig has recently dropped to £17 on play.com, but 32gig are still very expensive and 64gig are just out, so there is no way you would get a 32gig stick for £20, nevermind a 64gig

this will be a post i'll look back on in 2 years and laugh at how the price has changed so much!

 

[Bilbob]

I wouldn't touch one on Ebay unless it came from a VERY reliable seller...
THat price is silly for what it it is, and yes, they can be faked so that they LOOK like a 64 gig when you plug it in, but when you actually try and use the space, you will lose files, it'll screw up, all sorts.

 

[andykn]

A mate of mine was sold an undersized stick a couple of years ago by a seller he'd used many time before (who refunded him no quibble). I think that even good ebay sellers can be caught out too.

The best way to tell in the old days was to try and copy the full amount of data to the stick, but who has 64GB of data lying around or the time to do it?

 

[unique]

A mate of mine was sold an undersized stick a couple of years ago by a seller he'd used many time before (who refunded him no quibble). I think that even good ebay sellers can be caught out too.

The best way to tell in the old days was to try and copy the full amount of data to the stick, but who has 64GB of data lying around or the time to do it?

you could just copy your windows or programs folder for test purposes, and do this at some point when you don't need to do anything else on the computer, ie. overnight or when you pop to the pub or to work etc. i usually back up / swap HD's etc by starting a full format early evening and then leaving the copying running overnight. if i wake up in the middle of the night i can turn the pc off if it's finished

 

[Newton's Ring]

Almost definitely a bogus drive. I bought one from Hong Kong from a seller with good(ish) feedback and found that a 32GB drive turned out to be actually less than 4GB - loads of corrupt sectors etc.

I even left good feedback myself - I loaded it up with over 30GB worth of data and tested a couple of files - all looked ok so I left good feedback. I later tested the drive using a program called h2testw_1.4 and found that only about 4GB was uncorrupted.

Of course, you'd have to buy the drive to test it but I'd have to say, if you pay around £20 for one of these drives, it's going to be a duffer.

Don't do it.

Incidentally, I filed a Paypal dispute and managed to negotiate a £12 refund (I only paid £18), so I was pretty happy but then I think they figure the amount of refunds they give vs. the amount they sell.

 

[Naqv]

I bought a 4GB mp3 player from china (when 4GB was brand new!!), and it turned out to be 1GB. After that I avoid ebay like a plague.

 

[Member 55145]

whenever i buy any storage media(USB/CARD/Disc/Disk), the first thing i do is fill it with files (Ctrl+V is a wonderful tool ) then try to drag it all back off again. if i cant then it goes back as faulty

and always do a full scandisk

 

[andykn]

Almost definitely a bogus drive. I bought one from Hong Kong from a seller with good(ish) feedback and found that a 32GB drive turned out to be actually less than 4GB - loads of corrupt sectors etc.

I even left good feedback myself - I loaded it up with over 30GB worth of data and tested a couple of files - all looked ok so I left good feedback. I later tested the drive using a program called h2testw_1.4 and found that only about 4GB was uncorrupted.

Of course, you'd have to buy the drive to test it but I'd have to say, if you pay around £20 for one of these drives, it's going to be a duffer.

Don't do it.

Incidentally, I filed a Paypal dispute and managed to negotiate a £12 refund (I only paid £18), so I was pretty happy but then I think they figure the amount of refunds they give vs. the amount they sell.

That's interesting, I thought they duff sticks barfed as soon as you tried to copy more than the actual capacity. So, proper test program definitely required then.

 

[bouncer]

I had one of those cheap iPod clones that was "4GB" turned out to be 1GB, Recently thought about buying a 16GB Stick, I am aware of memory spoofing so if I bought one id obviously do a full test, If it was fake id most likly get some of my money back and if its spoofed on a 4GB Drive, then atleast I have antoher flashdrive (Like the 8 I already have)

 

[Curry Monster]

Yup bought an 8Gb SDHC card for my lumix camera for £5 delivered (!) and it doesnt work - when you try and put any files on it it says the card is full....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=120309870843


Got a refund from paypal so be aware that fakes are on ebay (!)

 

[Matt_C]

I bought an 8GB usb flash drive off good old ebay cos it was only £9 (delivered) and knew it was probably too good to be true. I actually got near 4GB of data on it before anything went wrong. Up to that point it was working fine, I'd added and deleted plenty of files (mostly music and video) and was fine. As said got about 4GB on it and was fine, then went to put a few music tracks on it, so I dragged over the folder they were in, went downstairs, stuck it in the other PC and the folder I put on the USB drive said it was empty.... Strange I thought so I did it again - empty!

I wiped the card, put only that folder on and still said empty....

So I found a tool called H2TESTW.EXE and ran that on it, to be told it was completely mashed with virtually no good sectors at all.

So looks like it was a hacked stick, that when filled to real capacity (4GB I'm guessing) refused to write more data, yet showed it as written) and then when formatted gave up entirely!

Wouldn't buy another one unless as said was from a VERY reputable seller and if it looks far to cheap, then it's probably fake!

 

[Sonic67]

Buy cheap, buy twice.

 

[Curry Monster]

Well using the program mentioned above the card which I was sold as 8gig is actually only 2gig and wont work in my camera because of this.

Does anyone know if its possible to repair the card back to its real size so it can be used?

 

[Newton's Ring]

Well using the program mentioned above the card which I was sold as 8gig is actually only 2gig and wont work in my camera because of this.

Does anyone know if its possible to repair the card back to its real size so it can be used?

I wondered that too - I did a bit of searching for some way of returning it to its true status/capacity because a 4GB drive would be better than the useless piece of plastic it is at the moment. I couldn't find anything so any help would be appreciated.

 

[Rorifett]

Buy cheap, buy twice.

To be fair, my russian bride was well worth the dolla dolla

 

[jenic]

64GB memory sticks

I remember our first mac only had a 500MB HDD!

 

[pandemic]

These have been around for years, they quote so many gig yet they are much smaller. It's easy to find out though just format the drive and it will show the real size.

 

[sunnysunnysunny]

Not necessarily so - I tried to format one and it trashed the drive because I didn't think it through properly and chose the wrong method. You really need to know what you are doing - and most computer users don't.

Nice username btw

 

[nwgarratt]

64GB memory sticks

I remember our first mac only had a 500MB HDD!

My first PC didn't even have a HDD and was floppy only. My first HDD was just 20MB.

 

[jonesyx]

Bought loads of cheap memory off ebay and not had this problem, will watch out for it though!

 

[sdoidge]

I guess you get what you pay for, glad I saw this thread as was looking at these today.

 

[Iccz]

Holy thread resurrection, Batman!