Problems with new USB sticks?

T

Triggaaar

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,456
Name
Mike
Edit My Images
Yes
I'm after some 16GB USB sticks, so had a look at Amazon, and saw a couple of suitable contenders:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-SDC...6779505&sr=1-2&keywords=16gb+usb+memory+stick
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-Te...6779943&sr=1-1&keywords=16gb+usb+memory+stick

Under £6 for sticks from reliable brands - but then I clicked on the reviews, and saw plenty of people are having problems. Yes, they've got thousands of reviews (and sold many more), so yes there's always going to be some people that aren't happy, but reading some of the recent reviews I'm concerned that new supplies may be fakes. Recent reviews are along these lines:

"I ordered three 32Gb of these flash drives and when they arrived all three were only 4Gb. The packaging said 32Gb as well as the receipt."
"I bought few of these and every single one has stopped working within a few months."
"Started writing files to it and it seemed fine. Then after a while I noticed many of my folders were empty. On examining the drive, I found a 64GB label had been stuck on over the inscription on the case which said '16GB' "
"I already have a Kingston data traveller and this compared to the original is obviously a cheap copy."

Is it likely that Amazon Prime have accidentally ended up with fake copies?
What's the best way to get decent, reliable USB sticks?

Thanks
 
Not had any issues from Amazon direct however when I order a case for my ipad via a market seller but fulfilled by Amazon the one I got was a fake.

Amazon sorted by it out straight away.

For memory have a look at my memory as well.
 
sep9001 said:
For memory have a look at my memory as well.
Click to expand...
Worth timing how long it takes to copy a few gig of data, to be sure it's the right stuff. I thought it was safe buying from amazon direct, but no doubt they're on the wrong end of fake stock sometime too. I currently send disks to clients, but I'm considering using USBs - but sending them a dud is not an option.
 
It's more than likely amazon have fakes too- they are likely to purchase through resellers and much like the horsemeat scandal, their procurement department is likely only driven by numbers and probably doesn't even know the source a lot of the time.
Interesting point raised though- might take it further just out of interest.

As for your immediate problem- I would buy from Amazon direct then test them yourself- at least they will sort it out quickly if it turns out fake. There's so much money to be made in the market that it is awash with fakes so there are no guarantees unless you are getting direct from the manufacturer.
 
Dr_O said:
As for your immediate problem- I would buy from Amazon direct then test them yourself- at least they will sort it out quickly if it turns out fake.
Click to expand...
Yep. Some things are easier to test than others though. It's pretty straightforward to test the size of a usb stick, but knowing if it's the right brand, with the reliability could be harder. Maybe run a speed test utility on it. The whole world is awash with fakes though, it's a huge problem.
 
Not true. I had one at work that reported as 16GB but when you took it apart only had a 4 GB flash memory chip on the board.
 
Triggaaar said:
Yep. Some things are easier to test than others though. It's pretty straightforward to test the size of a usb stick
Click to expand...
st599 said:
Not true. I had one at work that reported as 16GB but when you took it apart only had a 4 GB flash memory chip on the board.
Click to expand...
It's still fairly straightforward to test. Simply copy 16gb worth of data to it.
 
There could be many reasons for the poor reviews.

1. People are idiots
2. It's not unknown for rivals to post bad reviews
3. People have unrealistic expectations (one review seems outraged that write speed is slower than read speed) basically see point 1.
4. Reviews aren't always on the right product on Amazon. If I buy a "SanDisk" stick on their marketplace and it's a shoddy fake it's too easy for me accidentally to review the one that Amazon sell.

By coincidence, a stick from the first link arrived here today. I wasn't planning to open it (I like to carry factory sealed stick in case a client needs pics on one - that guarantees that they don't have another client's data on them). But in the name of science I just popped it open and plugged it into the Mac. It's a 16GB stick with the SanDisk s/w on it - just like I expected. FWIW BlackMagic says it's writing at about 7MB/s and reading at about 15 - though I can't honestly say I care about the speed. Delivered next day (on Prime) for less than 6 quid. Bargain.
 
JonathanRyan said:
There could be many reasons for the poor reviews.

1. People are idiots
2. It's not unknown for rivals to post bad reviews
3. People have unrealistic expectations (one review seems outraged that write speed is slower than read speed) basically see point 1.
4. Reviews aren't always on the right product on Amazon. If I buy a "SanDisk" stick on their marketplace and it's a shoddy fake it's too easy for me accidentally to review the one that Amazon sell.
Click to expand...
Without doubt. These points are not lost on me.

I like to carry factory sealed stick in case a client needs pics on one - that guarantees that they don't have another client's data on them
Click to expand...
Good point - I'd not thought of that, as I've never used them for a client before (just used DVDs).

It's a 16GB stick with the SanDisk s/w on it - just like I expected. FWIW BlackMagic says it's writing at about 7MB/s and reading at about 15 - though I can't honestly say I care about the speed.
Click to expand...
I only care about the read and write speed in that I want to check it's genuine. It's not like putting SanDisk software on a disk is beyond a professional faking outfit.
 
Triggaaar said:
Good point - I'd not thought of that, as I've never used them for a client before (just used DVDs).
Click to expand...

More and more office machines don't have DVD drives. Some don't allow USB thumb drives to be mounted either but at least you're in with a fighting chance.

Triggaaar said:
I only care about the read and write speed in that I want to check it's genuine. It's not like putting SanDisk software on a disk is beyond a professional faking outfit.
Click to expand...

I'm sure I read somewhere that the reason that SanDisk did those naff keyring cases with their CF cards for ages was that they cost more to fake than the cards. You're better off checking the packaging than the item itself. But these speeds are right on what SanDisk say they should be (disregarding 30% of advertising puff).
 
JonathanRyan said:
More and more office machines don't have DVD drives. Some don't allow USB thumb drives to be mounted either but at least you're in with a fighting chance.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I plan to switch to branded USB sticks at some point, but I wasn't planning on 16GB drives (which I may now need - don't ask).
 
st599 said:
Not true. I had one at work that reported as 16GB but when you took it apart only had a 4 GB flash memory chip on the board.
Click to expand...
Triggaaar said:
It's still fairly straightforward to test. Simply copy 16gb worth of data to it.
Click to expand...
Except it's not always that obvious. The data appears to copy correctly but all it does when it hits 4gb of data is overwrite.

It's a pretty well known scam.
 
neil_g said:
Except it's not always that obvious. The data appears to copy correctly but all it does when it hits 4gb of data is overwrite.
Click to expand...
So when you look at the stick at the end, what do you see? Do you see your 16GB of data there? What happens when you copy a 10GB file to it?
 
The file for all intense purposes looks okay but the data blocks at the start/end may not be present.

For example a video file 4gb+ may play fine up to a point.

Also I wonder how many of the people on amazon had the stick formatted to fat and tried copying a 4gb+ file to it. That won't have helped either.
 
Anything on Amazon that's commonly faked and being sold by lots of different sellers ends up with lots of reviews like those. Amazon themselves aren't likely to be selling fakes but people leave product reviews instead of seller reviews so it all gets thrown in together. Plus there are people who get a lemon from the genuine manufacturer and decide to leave a bad review rather than just return it for a replacement.
 
Last edited:
Triggaaar said:
So when you look at the stick at the end, what do you see? Do you see your 16GB of data there? What happens when you copy a 10GB file to it?
Click to expand...

The file allocation table reports a 10GB file - but the data blocks don't exist.
 
So, if we're concerned:
1) Test the speed with utility of choice
2) Copy a big file to it (eg, a movie)
3) Test the file works
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top