Gaming 16gb pro duo off ebay (obvious fake)... How screwed?

[mrwienerdog]

I bought the 4 gig that I use now off of ebay a few years ago, and it has worked excellently. Any chance that a 16 gig would work as well as this one, or are they all pretty much shit? Any feedback?

 

[MelodieOctavia]

I bought the 4 gig that I use now off of ebay a few years ago, and it has worked excellently. Any chance that a 16 gig would work as well as this one, or are they all pretty much shit? Any feedback?

If you want to buy a genuine 16GB do not buy it from ebay. simple as that. Even if you buy it from a "US Seller" you'll still get a package that came from Hong Kong with a US label slapped on it.

 

[mrwienerdog]

I'm just curious as to it's reliability. I'm sure it depends, and is a total crapshoot, but because the 4 gb that I use now works so well, I kinda wonder about taking the risk. $23 from ebay, $90 plus at retail. $23 sounds like a reasonable gamble to me. But if they are all crap, then I won't even bother. Also, I was wondering how well the micro sd to ms produo adapters work. Any idea?

 

[431unknown]

Not sure what someone else might say but I use the MS SD micro adapters quite often and I think they work extremely well. I have about five 4 GB micros and just swap out with one adapter tho I bought 3 when i first got them.

 

[WildWon]

I, too, use a microsd > mspduo adapter with an 8gig micro. It works amazingly. Also, when larger micros drop in size, i'll be able to snag em w/out batting an eye.

There are DUAL adapters as well (a mspduo with 2 micro sd slots). So, there you have it.

I would *NOT* buy another memory stick (of ANY brand) off of ebay.

There's a good chance you'll get a seriously fucked card. (it happened to me once. Sucked nuts.)

Also, using the microsd, i just pull the micro out of the PSP and use a micro USB, rather than hooking the PSP to the 'puter. That just works easier for me, and i can move files around at friends places w/out needing the cable. But that's the way i roll

 

[Law]

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16489

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19040 x 2

About $45? More than the fake from eBay, but still less than retail. There are probably cheaper 8GB MicroSD cards out there, too (there's one for $15 on DX, but it's sold out at the moment).

Also, using the microsd, i just pull the micro out of the PSP and use a micro USB, rather than hooking the PSP to the 'puter. That just works easier for me, and i can move files around at friends places w/out needing the cable. But that's the way i roll

You can get USB card readers that take MS Pro Duo, mine actually has slots for SD, MicroSD and MSPD.

 

[BlackDave]

I got my 16gb on amazon.com for $42 (shipping included) instead of +$89.... it was a promotion or somethin

 

[Tikker]

The "fake" 16gb stick I have has worked fine for 2ish years now


It's a bit slow to load games initially bur runs evrything full speed np

 

[xist]

Doubt that games like Ultimate Alliance 2 run at full speed on your fake 16Gb.

TC....bigger the stick size, the bigger the mistake you make when you buy a fake.

 

[phillyrider807]

Well the 8gb fake i bought from ebay for 11$ a year ago still works to this day. It's slow when adding files to the ms but it runs everything at full speed on the psp. Even .cso. Load times are about 2-5 secs longer then they are on my 4gb sandisk but for 11$ i dont care.

 

[WildWon]

Also, using the microsd, i just pull the micro out of the PSP and use a micro USB, rather than hooking the PSP to the 'puter. That just works easier for me, and i can move files around at friends places w/out needing the cable. But that's the way i roll

You can get USB card readers that take MS Pro Duo, mine actually has slots for SD, MicroSD and MSPD.

Yea, but those aren't the size of a flash drive. I'm talking about the one i got with my cyclo. It's a reader that i have on me at all times, w/ a micro in it. (effectively making it a jump drive)

 

[Originality]

"Fake" can mean two things when it comes to memory cards. Either they use Chinese chips which are the worst quality (Taiwan ftw), resulting in poor data communication rates between the device and the chips = slow read/write = slow loading (but still faster than UMD), or they could be using compression on the chips to make 2 or 4GB seem like 8 or 16GB. Worse still, you could end up with both.

Compression in the storage chips is bad, since access speeds are reduced again (due to the decompression cycle) but also there is a fair chance of the data becoming corrupted, especially when the chip is over 85% full. Corruption sometimes only affects certain blocks, but I've experienced a fake 8GB card corrupting entirely several times over, despite attempts to create a stable format (merely as an exercise in turning a useless memory card into something useful).

There is no substitute for official memory cards, especially the "high speed" variety you now find entering the market. My SanDisk UltraII loads a full 4-8 seconds quicker than my brother's official Sony MS in some games - an advantage I really appreciate. Makes me wonder what the SanDisk ExtremeIII cards are like, although they're over double the price so I won't try.

EDIT for the OP: If a memory card you get off eBay is fake, simply report it. What may happen is that they'll just ask you to send it back and provide a refund, but in any case, they'll get flagged for selling fake goods and you will have helped eBay protect a hundred others.

 

[dirty_harry]

Hey I went with the guys using a microsd>pro duo adapter. It should arrive within a few days. ozmodchips also support this idea as well. BUT I have a question. Can you occupy both the micro sd slots (2x8gb) and still work it on the psp? I wonder how it manages to save data, does it fill one microsd and then move to the other or just see them as 16gb?

 

[mrwienerdog]

So I endend up ordering the adapter that fits the two microsd's. Appreciate everyone's feedback.

 

[WildWon]

Hey I went with the guys using a microsd>pro duo adapter. It should arrive within a few days. ozmodchips also support this idea as well. BUT I have a question. Can you occupy both the micro sd slots (2x8gb) and still work it on the psp? I wonder how it manages to save data, does it fill one microsd and then move to the other or just see them as 16gb?

I have NOT used the dual adapter, but, i'm under the impression that you have to use it as a Memory Stick Pro Duo, you cannot pull out either of the MicroSD's and use them separately...

But, that's what i had read a while back, and i honestly don't know if you can separate them.

Maybe someone else would would know more lol

 

[xist]

It's a mini RAID set up. Rip one MicroSD out and you lose everything.

 

[Tikker]

Doubt that games like Ultimate Alliance 2 run at full speed on your fake 16Gb.

you can doubt it all you like, but it runs games just fine

read speed is well over 10mb/s

write speed is just slow

 

[dirty_harry]

A mini raid huh? Cool stuff. I think it's quite useful anyway, It's much easier to find good quality microSD's than produo's. I didn't want to risk that $40 AUD obvious fake 16gb produo.

Now I get 2 microsdhc 8gb cards, I can always use one on my DS if I somehow need more than 4gb

 

[xist]

you can doubt it all you like, but it runs games just fine

read speed is well over 10mb/s

write speed is just slow

I doubt it because i have Genuine 4Gb Sandisk sticks that stutter on some games (MUA2 for one).

 

[Yanazake]

Ok, found a good topic to ask about the adapters!

So, I know the adapters and dual adapters sound awesome and such, like "Omg! 32gb of storage with just two 16gb microSDs! and it was much cheaper!!"

Yep, sounds amazing. BUT... can it in ANY way be harmful to the psp slot that reads the Memory Sticks?

If it doesn't, aside from losing data by doing stuff you shouldn't [taking them out of the adapter], sounds ok - I just want to be sure before I buy one... or two [a single and a double adapter]

Thanks in advance!