Is this sandisk card legit?

DeepSpring · Sep 6, 2007

An administrator at my school gave it to me as a thank you for taking a lot of pictures for him at various events during the year (he's a photographer himself) But the thing is I have never seen a sandisk card look like this and I couldn't find one online... any idea of this is real? I don't want to fill up 4 gigs and then it dies or something...... It came with that costco coupon inside so maybe it's a special one only they have?

soylentgreen · Sep 6, 2007

Never seen packaging like that from them before. Is it an import model for foreign market?

The Phototron · Sep 6, 2007

Probably an older version of this:

http://www.sandisk.com/Products/Item(1159)-SDCFH-4096-SanDisk_Ultra_II_CompactFlash_4GB.aspx

DeepSpring · Sep 6, 2007

I guess it could be an older version... the weird thing is the sandisk logo isnt anywhere on it.

No it doesn't look foreign from what I can tell, tho I odnt know what to look for.

~Stella~ · Sep 7, 2007

Did you check the Costco website?

DeepSpring · Sep 7, 2007

I did and they have the one normal one that is in stores and online and such.... but the in store might have been different?

~Stella~ · Sep 7, 2007

I bought memory at Costco before and IIRC, it did have special packaging and a coupon inside. However, that doesn't mean Costco couldn't possibly sell bogus cards. Call Sandisk and ask - or use it and hope for the best.

You can google "counterfeit sandisk" and a ton of stuff pops up.

http://reviews.ebay.com/Beware-of-F...lash-Cards-on-eBay_W0QQugidZ10000000001235396

http://martybugs.net/articles/fakesandisk.cgi

ilockert · Sep 7, 2007

Popular photo did a write up on fake cards, last month if im not mistaken
http://www.popphoto.com/popularphotographyfeatures/4433/real-or-fake.html

thats a link to an article on the site, not sure if its going to be the full write up or not.
Hope this helps.

Garbz · Sep 7, 2007

Hey guys. Compact flash is compact flash. The design of them are standard ripped straight from a datasheet of a memory manufacturer. The are all equally reliable and providing they are assembled properly equally durable. Their re-write life expectancy is a function of the technology and not the quality.

The only thing that differs is the write speed. I use the fake cards because my camera's buffer is large enough to make the write speed a non issue for me. The fakes are usually nothing more than old stock (reads slow chips) with a different sticker on them. Heck my card had a stick on it clearly injet printed which did say Sandisk LOL. A card I bought for someone else had a label which said Sandisc [sic]. I have written two and deleted over 30000 photos over nearly a year and I'm sure my memory card is going to reach the end of it's life soon, but so far I have not had an issue with it.

usayit · Sep 7, 2007

I've seen multitude of failures from low quality fakes.... trust me.. there is a difference. A search through the internet will also reveal the same issue.

The difference between cheap and expensive cards might simply be minimal specs and quality control which ends up being a big difference.

Garbz · Sep 7, 2007

hmmmm. Manufacturing defects then?

End Game · Sep 7, 2007

I suppose testing it is just out of the question. If it corrupts or destroys anything YOU DO HAVE A LEGAL BASIS TO SUE, So what do you have to lose? You have a lot to gain, maybe a few hundred bucks on the side :mrgreen:

Ah, and the guy who mentioned Popular Photography, I used to know Jack Howard very well, he's an editor and the head of the PopPhoto site. Awesome dude, and that article was very well written. Search their forums too, there was something in there that was even better, I dunno if it's still there though.

~Stella~ · Sep 7, 2007

End Game said:
If it corrupts or destroys anything YOU DO HAVE A LEGAL BASIS TO SUE,

Who, the guy who gave it to him? Not unless the guy knew it was a fake. Sandisk? Not unless it's really theirs and even then, you are probably limited to the cost of replacement. And to sue Costco, you'd have to prove it came from Costco and a host of other things. A small lawsuit will cost 5-15k in fees. It's just not worth it.

End Game · Sep 7, 2007

Normally is you have a 4GB card, you would know by now if it was fake or not. And the Costco logo is easy to fake, and if it is a fake it didn't come from Costco, so, yes, the guy who gave it to him. *That was a lot of commas*

~Stella~ · Sep 7, 2007

Would it be worth 5-30k to sue someone he is apparently friends with and who may or may not (likely not) be liable anyway? Oh, and since it was a gift (therefore no contract involved), chances are, that's another way to avoid any liability for damages. And since he knows it might be bad (as evidenced by this thread which would be subject to discovery), IMO, the damages are on him if he decides to use it and it wipes out an entire wedding shoot (or whatever).

ETA: That sounds rather hostile. I was going for practical, not hostile, ftr. :lol: