Correct as of August 2007.
Have you got a fake memory stick? Or are you planning to buy, but aren't sure about its quality? Read on.
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I quote from eBay:
Millions of eBayers have been deceived by inferior quality, unpopular cheap MS disguised as Sony Memory Stick PRO DUO as more than 98% of ALL 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB MSPD listed on eBay are counterfeit items and many have FAKE & OVERSTATED capacities (some even call it COMPRESSED). Genuine buyers got scammed by fraudulent eBay sellers everyday and this process keep on repeating.
Even if a seller has tons of positive feedback, and lots of buyers, it doesn't mean a product is genuine.
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The Clues:
1. A fake SONY part number and MagicGate incompatibility.Genuine memory sticks have proper part numbers. These are:
- 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).
Fake memory sticks have a different number. They have an extra T.
If you have a PSP then you can check the MagicGate status of the Memory Stick. Navigate to your Memory Stick on your PSP and press triangle. Go to information and check if it says MagicGate Supported. If it is unknown or unsupported then you have a fake Memory Stick.
2. The packagingGenuine packaging has heat seals around the edges. They look like long rectangles. Fakes have round glue seals and can be opened too easily.
Genuine packaging also has 9-6-9 (some has 3-2-3) rectangular heat seals along the Left, Top and Right edges of the pack while fake always only has 3-3 round 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.
The size label (the round one) is colour coded. 1gb is Light Blue, 2gb is Light Green, 4gb is Purple Blue, 8gb is Red. The 1gb-4gb may be hard to spot out but the fake 8gb will be Light Blue.
Genuine packaging will have a golden 3D 'SONY holographic sticker' at the front. 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 see if your item is genuine. The viewer has 2 see through Lens. A genuine hologram will appear as complete BLACK when seen through the Left lens and Normal on the Right lens. A counterfeit hologram will appear as Normal through both Left and Right lens.
Notice the different colour code and the extra T. [left=genuine, right=fake]
3. The front
[left=genuine, right=fake]
A genuine Memory Stick uses print ready/control vector art technique to print all the letterings. Fakes use inferior hi-res bitmap to copy the genuine, so there is a printing flaw. The font on the fake usually is bolder, messy, out of focus and rubs off easily. Newer fakes may have the exact print.
Fakes are usually thicker. Try fitting the card into an adapter. It may seem like it's squeezed in. Newer 2gb fakes (1959mb version) even has problems fitting into a PSP.
4. The backThe font type, size and printing style may differ between fakes and genuines. Real Memory Sticks have the letter S in 'M
SX-4G
S' as italic but the S used in other writings such as 'BBSC1000000' won't be. The genuine cards have text laser-etched onto the plastic and can be felt with your finger. Fakes use the hi-res technique and will be smooth and can rub off.
Take note of the gold contacts. If the plastic covering or the actual stripe looks deficient then it may be fake.
A genuine 2gb stick.
5. The inside
I'm not going to go into detail here (its not like you're gonna open up your memory stick). Sony uses a marked PCB board that usually uses a Samsung chip. Fakes have an unknown and an unmarked flash chip.
6. Capacity and speedA genuine 4gb displays the default capacity as 3839mb and a genuine 2gb displays the default capacity as 1909mb (some devices will show 1910mb). Some older fake 2gb sticks shows 1948mb and 1959mb of memory space when being tested. Newer fake 2gb sticks 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 data from the card to see if it will actually hold the stated capacity with no sign of data corruption.
The genuine hi-speed card (with the red-stripe) has a transfer speed of about 80mbps. Fakes have a slower transfer speed with a 1948mb fake only doing about 65mbps to 70mbps and a 1959mb fake only doing at the most, 60mbps.
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Fake sticks don't usually last that long and files stored can become corrupt after reading them.
If you're buying a stick online, beware. Sellers can also mislead you by posting genuine photos and not ones of the actual product they are selling. Remember to check the packaging and maybe sometimes things can be "to good to be true".
Simon Vin
Images grabbed off eBay.
More info and references:
http://www.videogames.net.au/how-to-spot-a-fake-sony-memory-stick/http://reviews.ebay.com.au/FAKE-Sony-Memory-Stick-Pro-Duo-MagicGate-Cards-Exposed_W0QQugidZ10000000001535703
