flash drives on Ebay query

I would like to pick up a good 16 GB flash drive. I know a good brand like
Sandisk seems to range from $60-$90, at least on the Circuit City site (I'm
going to look elsewhere).

However, I looked on EBAY and there seem to be a ton of these under $20.
Most are free shipping. These are brand I never heard of and it looks like
the merchants are from Hong Kong or China although they ship from within the
USA. In most cases, feedback ratings are good.

To see what I am talking about, go to EBAY and search "flash drive 16 GB"

Still, this seems suspicious. Is anyone familiar with this?

Mel

Hi!

> Still, this seems suspicious. Is anyone familiar with this?

If they're being sold as new, they're most likely fakes. From
http://www.dansdata.com/gz086.htm:

"In the computer world, the same rules apply to flash memory cards and
power supplies.

Brand-name memory cards are like razor cartridges; it's almost
impossible to buy a real one on eBay, or from various other seedy
online dealers. If you're lucky, you'll get some cheap slow card with
a forged SanDisk or Lexar "high speed" sticker stuck on it. If you're
less lucky, you'll get a card that only actually has half or less of
the storage capacity that it says on the label - and in the card's
firmware, too. So it looks like a 4Gb card, but if you try to write
more than 2Gb of data to it you'll get a big fat error, as it runs out
of actual memory."

William

As I suspected. Thanks for the info.

Mel
"William R. Walsh" <> wrote in message
news:28b46232-5f4d-4058-b60b-...
> Hi!
>
>> Still, this seems suspicious. Is anyone familiar with this?
>
> If they're being sold as new, they're most likely fakes. From
> http://www.dansdata.com/gz086.htm:
>
> "In the computer world, the same rules apply to flash memory cards and
> power supplies.
>
> Brand-name memory cards are like razor cartridges; it's almost
> impossible to buy a real one on eBay, or from various other seedy
> online dealers. If you're lucky, you'll get some cheap slow card with
> a forged SanDisk or Lexar "high speed" sticker stuck on it. If you're
> less lucky, you'll get a card that only actually has half or less of
> the storage capacity that it says on the label - and in the card's
> firmware, too. So it looks like a 4Gb card, but if you try to write
> more than 2Gb of data to it you'll get a big fat error, as it runs out
> of actual memory."
>
> William

(!) wrote:
> "MZB" <> wrote in message
> news:gqpPk.11435$...
>> I would like to pick up a good 16 GB flash drive. I know a good brand like
>> Sandisk seems to range from $60-$90, at least on the Circuit City site (I'm
>> going to look elsewhere).
>>
>> However, I looked on EBAY and there seem to be a ton of these under $20.
>> Most are free shipping. These are brand I never heard of and it looks like
>> the merchants are from Hong Kong or China although they ship from within
>> the USA. In most cases, feedback ratings are good.
>>
>> To see what I am talking about, go to EBAY and search "flash drive 16 GB"
>>
>> Still, this seems suspicious. Is anyone familiar with this?
>>
>> Mel
>>
>>
>
> yes, I bought one of those, it only has 1/2 the stated capacity.
>
>

Report the seller to eBay. What bothers me about eBay these days are
the sellers who advertise themselves as based in the US, when they are
really in Hong Kong. I've bought a few items from these folks (even Dell
laptop keyboards and palmrests, and some other interesting hardware),
and delivery has been pretty quick. They don't charge a lot for
shipping, and I'll bet that the Chinese government subsidizes them with
lower-than-cost postage rates.

Fortunately, I have not been burned by bogus equipment from China. Yet.
I bought a pair of 8GB SD cards from a turned-out-to-be-in-China
seller, who also included a USB adapter that turns one into a thumb
drive. They are labeled SanDisk, and the capacity is the advertised 8GB.

Try Staples for flash drives. I bought a pair of Sandisk at Staples on
sale at $25 apiece. Now they sell for around $29. There is a serious
glut of flash chips and media on the market these days, so shop around
for better prices... Ben Myers

I've seen 16GB (Corsair & Kingston) from reputable
sellers (Chiefvalue and Newegg) for $20
Saw a 32GB Kingston for $29.99 from Newegg last week.
Nothing on sale so far this week, but wait, as Ben Myers
said they are almost giving away flash memory !


Best Regards,
Bob Johnson

here is a good cheap 16gb usb drive.... shipped for $29
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.as...70&dcaid=17070
circuit city announced that it will be closing 155 stores so you might what
to shop elsewhere...
cheap, no name drives are not that much cheaper in price but are cheaper in
quality, right down to the connector that makes it unusabe when it fails.
ebay has lots of creative listings where you might think you are buying a
16gb drive but end up with two 8gb ones or some such nonesense.

"MZB" <> wrote in message
news:gqpPk.11435$...
>I would like to pick up a good 16 GB flash drive. I know a good brand like
>Sandisk seems to range from $60-$90, at least on the Circuit City site (I'm
>going to look elsewhere).
>
> However, I looked on EBAY and there seem to be a ton of these under $20.
> Most are free shipping. These are brand I never heard of and it looks like
> the merchants are from Hong Kong or China although they ship from within
> the USA. In most cases, feedback ratings are good.
>
> To see what I am talking about, go to EBAY and search "flash drive 16 GB"
>
> Still, this seems suspicious. Is anyone familiar with this?
>
> Mel
>

On Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:27:21 -0500, Ben Myers <>
wrote:

>(!) wrote:
>> "MZB" <> wrote in message
>> news:gqpPk.11435$...
>>> I would like to pick up a good 16 GB flash drive. I know a good brand like
>>> Sandisk seems to range from $60-$90, at least on the Circuit City site (I'm
>>> going to look elsewhere).
>>>
>>> However, I looked on EBAY and there seem to be a ton of these under $20.
>>> Most are free shipping. These are brand I never heard of and it looks like
>>> the merchants are from Hong Kong or China although they ship from within
>>> the USA. In most cases, feedback ratings are good.
>>>
>>> To see what I am talking about, go to EBAY and search "flash drive 16 GB"
>>>
>>> Still, this seems suspicious. Is anyone familiar with this?
>>>
>>> Mel
>>>
>>>
>>
>> yes, I bought one of those, it only has 1/2 the stated capacity.
>>
>>
>
>Report the seller to eBay. What bothers me about eBay these days are
>the sellers who advertise themselves as based in the US, when they are
>really in Hong Kong. I've bought a few items from these folks (even Dell
>laptop keyboards and palmrests, and some other interesting hardware),
>and delivery has been pretty quick. They don't charge a lot for
>shipping, and I'll bet that the Chinese government subsidizes them with
>lower-than-cost postage rates.
>
>Fortunately, I have not been burned by bogus equipment from China. Yet.
> I bought a pair of 8GB SD cards from a turned-out-to-be-in-China
>seller, who also included a USB adapter that turns one into a thumb
>drive. They are labeled SanDisk, and the capacity is the advertised 8GB.
>
>Try Staples for flash drives. I bought a pair of Sandisk at Staples on
>sale at $25 apiece. Now they sell for around $29. There is a serious
>glut of flash chips and media on the market these days, so shop around
>for better prices... Ben Myers


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233061

Try this. I have bought 2 for less than this price with rebates. One
should up shortly. Good basic usb drives, no U3. Works fine as is with
linux as well.

This thread seems to be confusing flash drives and flash cards.

Mike