Paul Frew
How to spot a fake Sony Memory Stick
May 16th 2006 14:06
I always strive to get quality and I am always that person who will go the extra mile or spend that extra dollar to achieve it. One day I decided to go for a bargain and have now suffered the consequences for it (well sort of).
Sony is one of the best known manufactures of household technology which range from television sets to video cameras. High quality storage media are a series of products that Sony is excelling in worldwide and the counterfeit gurus are jumping in the bandwagon for a massive profit hike.
Since I value Sony’s product range I have purchased a camera and Playstation portable from Sony. The camera and PSP both utilise Sony’s storage media of memory sticks. These memory sticks are quite useful, small and hold a large amount of space – all of which have become a necessity to store data (mp3s, photos, videos) when using certain Sony products.
One ‘downfall’ – some can say, is that these memory sticks cost a lot of money. For example, the memory card I will be discussing retails at AUS$399. Hence, counterfeiters have produced fake memory sticks at very very low prices. These can be found in online auction sites such as eBay and Amazon.
This blog will focus on the 2GB (gigabyte) Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo (High speed) – Model MSX-M2GN and how to spot it as a fake. All pictures below were taken by my Sony Cybershot P73.
Packaging
1. As I opened my express post packet I immediately realised that the product was a fake. Just from the packaging alone! (Having done research on this scam over the internet for a long time all the tell tale signs were there).
As you can notice the package is sealed with dots of glue. Real Sony packaging is sealed with heat (in rectangles). The colouring is also not bright and vivid. The pictures on the right-hand column are in a different order compared to the real packaging.
2. I could open the packet by squeezing it by its sides and sliding out the memory card. Real Sony packaging cannot be opened in such a manner and is much more secure.
Physical appearance
1. The memory stick had a sticker on the back with the letters ‘QZD’. I am assuming this means the card has been ‘quality’ checked – or checked to see that the fake memory is working when first used. I have never seen a memory card from Sony having quality checked stickers on it.
2. The serial and ‘Made in Japan’ writing seems to be printed on the memory card and will eventually rub off with your fingers over time. Real Sony memory sticks have the writing etched in with lasers and the letters can be felt (bumpy) when you slide your finger over the words. More so, the letters can be seen on an angle, where as the fake cannot be seen on an angle (being smooth).
3. The card feels like it can snap very easily if I bend it a bit. When bending the stick close to the gold inserts, the black lines (plastic) come up directly off the connector.
4. On comparison to a real memory stick, the gold inserts are not as ‘shiny’ or thick in width as they should be.
5. No warranty card was provided. The real product comes with a 5 year warranty.
Actual storage capacity
1. Supposedly the real capacity of the 2 GB Memory stick Pro Duo is 1910Mb when read on a PSP. Fake ones show 1956mb, 1959mb, or 1949mb. When I read my fake memory stick through my PC, it showed 1.91gb (weird – perhaps programming of the fake stick enables it to look like this capacity)
2. The actual true capacity of fake memory sticks vary. My memory stick could in fact hold just under 2 GB of data. The traditional fake memory sticks could hold only 1 GB of data and were programmed to ‘act’ like 2 GB sticks.
3. After playing songs on my PSP, some songs which I had just finished listening to had become ‘corrupted’ and not playable (i.e. ‘corrupted data’ was displayed on my PSP).
4. Performing a speed test using HD Tach, I could only acquire speeds up to 6.5mb per second (fluctuating). Not very fast for a ‘high speed’ memory stick worth AUS$399.
5. Transfer of 2 GB of data took me approx 6 minutes. If it was high speed, the card should have been transferring data at the minimum speed of 15mbps- and should have taken approx 2 minutes to transfer.
How long will it last?
I have purchased cheap memory cards during my PSX days and found out that they eventually died after a month. From reading other user’s experiences with fake memory sticks, some sticks lasted 2 days, some 2 weeks. Some ‘lucky’ ones lasted a few months.
What am I going to do?
I have notified the vendor where I won the auction for the memory stick and am in the process of returning it for a refund. According to the vendor, it will be checked to see if my claims are valid and if not, I will be charged the postage fee and the item will be returned to me. After visiting a Sony store and being given confirmation that it is a counterfeit…I am pretty confident that I should be getting a refund.
On the other hand, the address I will be mailing it back to seems to be the address I received the item from (the person selling the counterfeit). Looks like I will be visiting consumer affairs soon.
What can you do?
Avoid purchasing Memory sticks (including Sandisk) from online sellers. Spend those extra dollars and get a genuine product from a proper Sony retailer.
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Comment by Scarlett
Dessert
Being the owner of a Sony digi cam, I have been wary of buying memory sticks online because I am afraid what happened to you would also happen to me.
That's very bad luck and I hope you get a refund a.s.a.p.
Comment by Dani
Comment by Anonymous
Fake ones these days last aprox. 4-6 months
Better to buy fakes off ebay, 2gb for 50$ AU
Comment by Dani
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Comment by Dani
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Comment by Dani
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Comment by Anonymous
1. Glued Package
2. Sticker About To Peal Off The Memory Card.
3. Very Dark Writing On Back Of Card.
4. Easily To Crack About To Crack.
5. Too Cheap, Not Even Supported To My PSP.
6. Letters On Card Are All Not Even.
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Anonymous
thank you!
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Comment by Anonymous