***Those of you looking for memory cards***

[Inn3r-Child]

Heya,
I just thought I would post this since it would help alot of people get decent prices on memory cards and avoid being victims to fakes that are about on www.ebay.co.uk and www.amazon.co.uk . Don't get me wrong if you find a decent enough price and you legit cards on either of those sites then thats cool but if buying from either of those places make sure they will send them to you factory sealed or at least have the feedback from others buying the same item to avoid the scams.

If you have had problems with any sites give them a mention at least that way we can warn each other and avoid being ripped off. If you mention a site thats bad for any reason please make it a valid reason e.g Fake cards, refused refund when advertises otherwise. Don't post it as a bad site if e.g It took an extra day to deliver, I bought a card and then found out they don't ship to my country etc.

If anyone else can suggest more sites that do good deals or that they have purchased from and are reliable I will add them to this thread. Im in no way responsible if you use any sites listed here, this is just to guide you to the right places. If it's a U.S website you can convert USD($) to GBP(£) here http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html (Thanks EclipseSin).

Update: If there is conflicting information about a site it will go into the bad list as selling possible fakes to save concern
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Good Sites - Get your memory cards from here:
www.mobymemory.com
www.dabs.com
www.mymemory.co.uk
www.newegg.com
www.sony.co.uk
www.estarland.com
www.cclonline.com
www.play.com
www.zipzoomfly.com
www.newegg.com
www.shop1.frys.com
www.allmemorycards.co.uk



Bad Sites - Avoid going here:
www.ebay.com - Possible fakes flying around, be very careful
www.amazon.com - Possible fakes flying around, be very careful
www.tigerdirect.com - Confirmed fakes & No refunds
www.net-stick.com - Confirmed fakes, Good quality fakes
www.memorybits.co.uk - Confirmed fakes

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If you have a Sandisk card follow this:

http://www.sandisk.com/registration/
1. I don't have an eBox (Register)
2.Gaming cards
3.Select a product group: (MS PRO Duo Gaming Cards)
4.Select your product model:
5.Where do you use this item? (home/work)

From waynevan2000 @ Maxconsole

For Sony Pro Duo cards:

Don't be foolish thinking you got a "CHEAP 4GB / 8GB" MSPD deal, in fact you were paying for a corresponding "VERY EXPENSIVE 1GB / 2GB" MSPD stick. The sellers are laughing their way to the bank!

So when you see a Powerseller who has over 10,000 positive eBay feedbacks and without doing your homework you think it should be OK to purchase from them? Unfortunately the answer is a big NO! Check with us for a list of notorious eBay Powersellers who are selling nothing but FAKES!

Why risk losing your irrecoverable valuable moment and capture? The FACT is there are NO Cheap Genuine cards, there are only Cheap FAKE cards. We can't be more precise!

Since many have not seen genuine production Sony unit and counterfeit is now made to appear like 90% genuine, it is indeed difficult for most people to tell them apart. From the pictures submitted by eBayers all over the world, we are exposing the physical difference in the counterfeit which you can benefit from whether you intend to purchase one or make comparison with your own. Beware of sellers that are using original Sony web download pictures to sell counterfeit Sony as they do not represent the actual item that you will receive!


Clue #1 False SONY Part Number or MagicGate not supported

All Genuine SONY Memory Sticks have exactly the following part numbers:-
PRO series: 1GB (MSX-1GS), 2GB (MSX-2GS).
PRO Duo Hi-Speed series: 1GB (MSX-M1GN), 2GB (MSX-M2GN), 4GB (MSX-M4GN).
PRO Duo series (previous): 1GB (MSX-M1GST), 2GB (MSX-M2GS), 4GB (MSX-M4GS), 8GB (MSX-M8GS).
PRO Duo series (current): 2GB (MSX-M2GS/X), 4GB (MSX-M4GS/X), 8GB (MSX-M8GS/X).

Below are easily identifiable FALSE Sony part numbers with extra letter T, these are FAKE Sony!!!
PRO Duo: 2GB (MSX-M2GST/X), 4GB (MSX-M4GST/X), 8GB (MSX-M8GST/X).
For PSP owner:- In your PSP Menu screen, go to Memory Stick, press the Triangle button, then select Information. Genuine SONY will display as MagicGate Supported. If you see Unknown or Unsupported then you know you have a FAKE Sony! This also works with Sandisk!!!!

Clue #2 Retail Packaging view
Genuine retail blister packaging has long staple-shape heat-pressed seals indicated by the yellow arrows. Fake has round dimple glue seals indicated by the encircled red arrows.
Genuine retail blister packaging has 9+6+9 (some has 3+2+3) staple heat seals along the Left, Top and Right edges of the pack while fake always only has 3+3 round dimple glue seals along the Left and Right edges with NO seal at the Top edge. This applies to all 1GB/2GB/4GB/8GB retail packaging products.
Genuine has color coded round label: 1GB is Light Blue, 2GB is Light Green, 4GB is Purple Blue, 8GB is Red. Fake Sony has similar color codes for 1GB, 2GB and 4GB so not as easy to differentiate, except Fake 8GB is Light Blue which is easily identified.

Genuine retail blister packaging will have a golden metallic 3D 'SONY holographic sticker' at the front as pictured. Newer fakes now also have similar identical holographic sticker. Bring the packaging to your nearest SONY retail outlet and ask for a SONY Anti-counterfeit Handy Viewer to tell if your item is genuine. The viewer has 2 see through Lens. Genuine hologram will appear as complete BLACK when see through the Left lens and Normal on the Right lens. Counterfeit hologram will appear as Normal through both Left and Right lens.


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Counterfeit 8GB extra T - Genuine 8GB

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Counterfeit 4GB extra T - Genuine 4GB

Clue #3 Front view
Genuine uses print ready/control vector art technique to print all the letterings. Fake uses inferior hi-res bitmap to copy the genuine, so zoom in a bit to see the printing flaw. The font on the fake usually is bolder, messy, out of focus and rub off easily. Newer fakes have exact print now.

Genuine card is often thinner than fake. Try fitting the card into an adapter and you may find that it has problem as it doesn't seems to fit into the adapter easily (feels like its squeezing in). Newer 2GB fake (1959MB version) even has problem fitting into a PSP (PlayStation Portable).

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Genuine - Counterfeit
Clue #4 Back view
The font face, font size and printing technique are the main criteria to differentiate the genuine from the fake, so you must take notice.
Genuine has the letter 'S' in 'MSX-4GS' as Italic than the 'S' used in other writings such as 'BBSC1000000'. Also notice the OPEN top letter '4' for both 2GB and 4GB cards. Fake is using identical normal font face throughout!
On the 10 gold metal stripes/contact, genuine is covered fully by the black plastic housing from the top to the bottom end. Fakes may have small black holes on the some metal stripes, some have its gold metal stripe not fully covered by the black plastic housing. Some fakes have internal green color PCB board exposed as pictured displaying its inferior manufacturing defect.
Genuine uses print ready/control vector art technique and has all golden letterings engraved by laser-etched into the plastic shell of the card. Fake uses inferior hi-res bitmap to copy the genuine, so zoom in a bit to see the printing flaw. The font on the fake usually is messy, out of focus and rub off easily. To know if it is printed, just use your finger to feel the surface as the letterings are a bit raised.

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Genuine 2GB - Genuine 4GB

Clue #5 Exposing internals
On the inside, genuine has Sony-marked PCB (Printed Circuit Board) and usually use Samsung flash memory chip wheares the fake does not use the same Sony-marked PCB and is unmarked with unmarked/unknown brand flash memory chip.
Genuine uses BGA (Ball Grid Array) memory chip where the pin connections are beneath the chip whereas the fake uses TSOP (Thin Small Outline Package) chips where its pin connections are on the edge. Fake always perform unreliably.

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Clue #6 Capacity and Transfer Speed Test

Genuine 4GB displays default capacity as 3839MB and genuine 2GB displays default capacity as 1909MB while some devices will read them at 1910MB. Some older fake 2GB shows 1948MB and 1959MB of memory space when being tested. Newer fake 2GB may now show any of these figures including the 1910MB of a genuine. However some 2GB fakes only have a true capacity of only 512MB/1GB. Try transferring as much data as possible to your card and also READ BACK from the card to see if it will actually hold close to the stated capacity with no sign of data corruption.
Genuine hi-speed card (with red-stripe) has a transfer speed at about 80Mbps. Fake has a slower transfer speed with 1948MB fake actually can do about 65Mbps to 70Mbps and 1959MB fake at most 60Mbps.

Clue #7 SONY counterfeit hotline
SanDisk counterfeit hotline
- SanDisk Australia +61.1800.793652
- SanDisk Brazil +55.800.891.4506
- SanDisk China +86.800.852.1251
- SanDisk France +33.171.230.328
- SanDisk Germany +49.695.007.2840
- SanDisk Hong Kong +852.3002.7886
- SanDisk India +91.800.100.3277
- SanDisk Italy +39.2.6968.2725
- SanDisk Singapore +65.800.852.3607
- SanDisk UK +44.207.365.4193
- SanDisk USA +1.866.726.3475, SanDisk Extreme Memory Cards +1.866.270.5532


SONY counterfeit hotline
- Sony Australia +61.1300.137669 / +61.2.9878.9712
- Sony China +86.800.810.2228 (Toll free hotline) / +86.106.588.0933
- Sony Germany +49.180.525.2586
- Sony Hong Kong +852.2345.2966
- Sony India +91.115.167.9990
- Sony Singapore +65.6544.8600
- Sony UK +44.870.511.1999
- Sony USA +1.888.476.6972

Information from aussieram - Ebay

Thanks for the sites everyone :mrgreenthumbsup:
Edit: Ok small update done on all the new sites popping up, thanks to everyone who added to the list this post will help alot of people =)

[Inn3r-Child]

-Bump- Anymore anyone?

[scooochie4]

Good site: mymemory.co.uk

[EclipseSin]

Newegg is good site, I trust their products. I've never had any problems with delivery or refunds or replacements. They usually have good deals on all kinds of things ranging from Flash Memory (Memory Sticks) to PC Hardware. All of my cards and my brothers have come from this site. We use SanDisk Memory Stick Pro Duo cards. Cheaper than sony cards, work great, never had any problems with them.

Newegg's products are listed in U.S. Dollars, for a £ (Euro) to U.S. Dollar, or vice-versa currency converter to compare prices, I use this site.

http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html

Though, I don't think this belongs in the help section...

[Inn3r-Child]

Originally Posted by EclipseSin

Though, I don't think this belongs in the help section...

I agree but I put it here since alot of the 'Where can I get a memory card' posts will end up here. It can be moved if a mod finds it better somewhere else :mrgreenthumbsup: Thanks for the sites btw

[_vamp_]

nice info on getting memory stick. thanks man :mrgreenthumbsup:

[Inn3r-Child]

So far your the only person to find it helpful so its made it worth while :mrgreenthumbsup: Cheers again now and in advance to anyone else who puts links in for this :mrgreenthumbsup:

[EclipseSin]

Ooops I mistook the GBP sign for Euro :O

Damn 1280x1024 desktop from 5 feet. My eyes are slowly dying -sigh- but anyways, you're welcome for the exchange rate site. :)

[Inn3r-Child]

lol not just mine then cause i didnt notice it =P 1440 x 900 lmao

[chadp13]

rofl great idea for a post man I've seen these problems all the time should be stickied :wink: :wink: I, personally, just don't buy memory cards on the net its too insecure and why wait 1-5 days to get a memory card when you could go to wal-mart and get one right there and then and know it isn't fake =D