Where to buy USB flash memory sticks (UK)

  • An ongoing debate between James Harris and All rages on ...

JH> Any suggestions as to where in the UK is a safe place to buy USB flash JH> memory sticks?

Radio Shack or your equivalent of the local hobbyist electronic outlet. :)

.- Keep the faith, --------------------------------------------------. | | | Ben aka cMech Web: http|ftp|binkp|telnet://cmech.dynip.com | | Email: fido4cmech(at)lusfiber.net | | Home page:

formatting link
| `----------- WildCat! Board 24/7 +1-337-984-4794 any BAUD 8,N,1 ---'

... Work is the curse of the drinking class.

Reply to
Ben Ritchey
Loading thread data ...

In Amazon's reviews of USB flash memory sticks there is a concerning divergence of opinion. Some people say they are very happy with their purchases while other reviewers say that they received fake products.

For example, at

formatting link
"I received a fake. An 8GB drive masquerading as 32GB drive, as verified by the excellent h2testw sortware. Please beware."

Of course, the negative reviews could well be lies planted by rival companies. So I thought I would ask you guys - knowing, as I do, that none of you are unreal. :-)

Any suggestions as to where in the UK is a safe place to buy USB flash memory sticks?

--
James Harris
Reply to
James Harris

I've not had any problems like that buying from Amazon, but I've tended to buy for speed rather than price, as these sticks are used for backup so write speed is important. For my most recent purchase, the sweet spot was 32 GB SanDisk extreme USB 3.0.

--
Cheers, 
David 
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
David Taylor

I've never had any problems with anything from mymemory.co.uk - but I may have just been yhpxl of course.

--
Steve O'Hara-Smith                          |   Directable Mirror Arrays 
C:>WIN                                      | A better way to focus the sun 
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
Ahem A Rivet's Shot

ISTR someone saying that Amazon puts all the reviews for different suppliers of similar products together, so you can't tell if a particular review is for the item you're actually looking at. I tend to buy flash from 7dayshop.com (also batteries etc.)

Reply to
Rob Morley

Yes, but beware of buying through amazon. If sold by themselves or at least distributed by them you can feel reasonably safe. If they just advertise the offer and take the money be more careful. Their money back guarantee is very reliable, but you have to do your checking inside a rather short time interval. I often put new consumables away until needed.

--




/ \  Mail | -- No unannounced, large, binary attachments, please! --
Reply to
Axel Berger

Tandy/RadioShack is long gone here, we just have Maplin which is the sort of place you only go if you urgently need something. Some supermarkets sell a limited range of memory products, probably cheaper than Maplin but more expensive than reputable online retailers.

Reply to
Rob Morley

They do. They also put reviews for different but related products together

- so the 8GB and the 256GB USB stick reviews might all show together. Often there can be substantial differences this obscures. As well as allowing non-purchasers to write reviews.

TL;DR: take Amazon reviews with a large pinch of salt.

The way to get genuine stock is to buy from Amazon direct, not Marketplace or FBA sellers. In the sidebar, look for the Seller list and pick 'Amazon.co.uk'. This filters out the rest.

mymemory.co.uk is also worth a look for flash media.

Theo

Reply to
Theo

I spent some time digging into the fake memory issue. The basics are simple. The bad guys buy a flash drive and reprogram it to report it is larger than it really is and stick a new label on it. Even the packaging is pretty good, but not always identical to the real thing.

When you get the memory it will work for a while, but when you try to use more memory than the device really has it craps out. There are programs out there to test and report this. As soon as you get any memory, USB or SD, test it with one of these programs. Then report the vendor.

Oh, the other way to spot the cheating vendors is the price. You will find most vendors don't go below a certain price. There will be a cluster of sellers near that lowest price. Then there will be vendors significantly below that price. Those are *ALL* selling faked drives.

--

Rick C
Reply to
rickman

I buy German books locally, on principle. That does not stop me from having an opnion on them.

You can usually tell if someone writes generic prose or speaks from experience. For hardware I begin with the negative ones and often - but by no means always - the criticism is totally irrelevant. The positive reviews often only say the product arrived in one piece.

--




/ \  Mail | -- No unannounced, large, binary attachments, please! --
Reply to
Axel Berger

Indeed - the "I shall be complaining that this product is unsuitable for uses it was never intended for" comments are sometimes quite funny.

Reply to
Rob Morley

Testing on receipt is an excellent suggestion. The widely recommended h2testw is what I use. I would also avoid 3rd-party purchases if at all possible.

--
Cheers, 
David 
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
David Taylor

The high street stores yes, but they have not disappeared online:

formatting link

Whether they have any Radioshack branded stuff these days is another matter as Radioshack (US) filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2015.

Not dug very deeply, on that site, quoted prices inc VAT, seem

Generally yes, but some stuff is competative, mostly the more specialised stuff. "Consumer" things can be eye wateringly over priced.

.

Memory is "consumer", looking at the prices in Tesco I don't think Maplin are *that* expensive but compared against CPC or Amazon (not Amazon sellers) both have a 100%+ markup.

--
Cheers 
Dave.
Reply to
Dave Liquorice

A Raspberry Pi makes a lousy boat-anchor or doorstop.

--
Graham. 
%Profound_observation%
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
Graham.

The company behind that website may be called "Tandy Corporation Ltd"

but is a UK company originally called "ADSL Nation Ltd" that was formed in 2002 (after Tandy renamed itself to Radio Shack) and which subsequently changed its name in 2012, I doubt it has any relation to the original Tandy leather company.

Reply to
Andy Burns

Your clock seems a bit off. Your reply is dated sixteen hours or more before the original post.

--
James Harris
Reply to
James Harris

Wow! That's a name from the past which I didn't think was still active in the UK.

--
James Harris
Reply to
James Harris

There are many links for downloadble code called h2testw. Even if they are all the same package I know that some distributors add their own trojan-esque code to downloads. Would you recommend any particular site, perhaps where you downloaded yours from?

--
James Harris
Reply to
James Harris

On 06/03/2017 15:31, James Harris wrote: []

formatting link

Zip archive is 218,129 bytes, and the contained .exe file is 418.816 bytes, 2008/Feb/11 at 11:33. I think they may be the originators of h2testw, but I'm unsure about that.

--
Cheers, 
David 
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
David Taylor

They've done a crap job of marketing the site - I'm the sort of casual hobbyist they presumably want to sell to, and I'd never heard of it.

Mostly stuff I buy on eBay (price) or somewhere like Pimoroni (range). Their Adafruit stuff seems competitive, but that's only relative - Adafruit has always seemed rather expensive for what it is.

Reply to
Rob Morley

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.