16GB Flash Drives -- true or false?

Hi all,

I see all those 16 gigabytes usb flash drives on eBay, for example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/REAL-16GB-USB-2-...QQcmdZViewItem

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-16GB-USB-2-0...QQcmdZViewItem

Those actually go out for 40-50$, orders of magnitude cheaper than if
you were getting a brand name 16gb at bestbuy for example.

Just wondering if they can be real at that price, or there's a catch
to it (16 gigabits instead of gigabytes? very very low transfer
speeds? not working at all?) Looking at the buyer's comment seems to
indicate they're all satisfied.

What's you guys opinion on that?
Cheers.

"mrblack" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I see all those 16 gigabytes usb flash drives on eBay, for example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/REAL-16GB-USB-2-...QQcmdZViewItem

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-16GB-USB-2-0...QQcmdZViewItem

Those actually go out for 40-50$, orders of magnitude cheaper than if
you were getting a brand name 16gb at bestbuy for example.

Just wondering if they can be real at that price, or there's a catch
to it (16 gigabits instead of gigabytes? very very low transfer
speeds? not working at all?) Looking at the buyer's comment seems to
indicate they're all satisfied.

What's you guys opinion on that?

My opinion is, "trust your instinct". If it spells fishy, leave it alone! On
the other hand at those prices you could just take a gamble - even if it is
16 Gb (2GB) instead of GB, does it really matter for that price?

mrblack wrote:
Hi all,

I see all those 16 gigabytes usb flash drives on eBay, for example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/REAL-16GB-USB-2-...QQcmdZViewItem

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-16GB-USB-2-0...QQcmdZViewItem

Those actually go out for 40-50$, orders of magnitude cheaper than if
you were getting a brand name 16gb at bestbuy for example.

Just wondering if they can be real at that price, or there's a catch
to it (16 gigabits instead of gigabytes? very very low transfer
speeds? not working at all?) Looking at the buyer's comment seems to
indicate they're all satisfied.

What's you guys opinion on that?
Cheers.

As long as there are fake USB flash devices on Ebay, I won't be
buying any to find out. Too bad for the legitimate sellers, if there
are any legitimate sellers to be found.

If a price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Notice the
cheapest here is $130, and the reviews on the SuperTalent one aren't
very good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...nd&Order=PRICE

Sample reviews:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820609222

Paul

Bert wrote:
On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:23:19 -0800 (PST), mrblack
wrote:


Just wondering if they can be real at that price, or there's a catch
to it (16 gigabits instead of gigabytes? very very low transfer
speeds? not working at all?) Looking at the buyer's comment seems to
indicate they're all satisfied.

What's you guys opinion on that?

[Q]
More than 95% of all 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB USB Flash Drives listed on eBay
are counterfeit items and have fake & overstated capacities. All 32GB USB Flash
Drives are mostly FAKE.
[\Q]


http://reviews.ebay.com/BEWARE-of-FA...00000001236200

Using a link provided in the page above, the seller the OP mentioned
does not look very good:

http://www.toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs...rn=Received+by

On Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:23:19 -0800 (PST), mrblack
wrote:

Hi all,

I see all those 16 gigabytes usb flash drives on eBay, for example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/REAL-16GB-USB-2-...QQcmdZViewItem

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-16GB-USB-2-0...QQcmdZViewItem

Those actually go out for 40-50$, orders of magnitude cheaper than if
you were getting a brand name 16gb at bestbuy for example.

Just wondering if they can be real at that price, or there's a catch
to it (16 gigabits instead of gigabytes? very very low transfer
speeds? not working at all?) Looking at the buyer's comment seems to
indicate they're all satisfied.

What's you guys opinion on that?
Cheers.

It's probably using MLC flash and very slow. It may also
have specs claiming the 16GB is only reached using some kind
of compression which assumes all files will reduce by 50% or
more in size, while many already compressed formats
obviously wouldn't.

On the other hand I suppose they could've jacked a truck
somewhere and they're hot, or they're defective in some way
and these factors account for the incredibly low price.

Hi mrblack,

Read this before you buy:

http://www.mashada.com/blogs/Kikuyum...ake_usb_sticks

Don't know if it's true...

Steven

And also:

http://reviews.ebay.com/BEWARE-of-FA...00000001236200

Steven

On Nov 28, 10:30 am, "Steven Spits" wrote:
And also:

http://reviews.ebay.com/BEWARE-of-FA...USB-Flash-Driv...

Steven

Steven, I have lost track here but started off with your link & ended
up here
http://www.mashada.com/blogs/Kikuyum...ake_usb_sticks
This is one terrific site. From "bent" data sticks to home-made
helicopters, hang-gliders etc. Great, man. Absolutely ace that way
these guys make stuff from throw-aways.

"mrblack" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I see all those 16 gigabytes usb flash drives on eBay, for example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/REAL-16GB-USB-2-...QQcmdZViewItem

or

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-16GB-USB-2-0...QQcmdZViewItem

Those actually go out for 40-50$, orders of magnitude cheaper than if
you were getting a brand name 16gb at bestbuy for example.

Just wondering if they can be real at that price, or there's a catch
to it (16 gigabits instead of gigabytes? very very low transfer
speeds? not working at all?) Looking at the buyer's comment seems to
indicate they're all satisfied.

What's you guys opinion on that?
Cheers.

Considering that here are usually 8 bits in a byte, I would hazard a guess
that a 16 gigabit device is actually a 2 gigabyte unit.

Well yes you guys are all right, and I too have many doubts about
either

1. The real capacity of those drives (gigabits vs gigabytes, aka a non-
negligible factor of 8!)
2. The speed of those drives (ie, very slow MLC flash)

And I do realize the real 16gb brand ones go for upwards of 140-150$.
I've looked at the links you guys pointed me too; I had already seen a
few of them / similar ones.

What baffles me though are the eBay feedbacks left by buyers who
bought those flash drives. Take as a random example this "winermean"
guy on ebay-. Look at these sample feedbacks:

"Good Flash Drive, Fast Shipping."
"A-1 seller. Flash drive as described and fast shipping. Highly
recommended!"

And these have the same picture as the fake ones described in one of
the links you guys submitted:
http://reviews.ebay.com/BEWARE-of-FA...00000001236200.

Sure, none of the feedbacks purposedly say "Item is really 16gb; I've
tested every byte of it", but I mean come on, personally that's the
first thing I'd do upon receiving the item, so if it were a fake there
would have to be at least someone reporting it.

I'm not an eBay expert, but is it that easy to fake buyer feedbacks?
Guess I'm just not that used to seeing such blatent ebay scams ...