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Looking for large microSD Card — Parallax Forums

Looking for large microSD Card

mctriviamctrivia Posts: 3,772
edited 2014-11-04 17:21 in General Discussion
I am looking for a cheap really large micro sd card and came across: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/High-Quality-256gb-micro-sd-card_1996599334.html

is there any chance this is real? If not has anyone found good price on 128+GB cards?

Comments

  • JRetSapDoogJRetSapDoog Posts: 954
    edited 2014-11-01 21:02
    Yeah, that initial ad copy and the photo are weird. But as you've likely already noticed, down in the details, it mentions that the capacity is 256MB instead of 256GB (1000X less), which seems in line with the price. Plus, in the specifications section, it mentions capacities that start off at 256MB and top out at 64GB, so this would be the bottom of the range, like an entry-level card they include with a camera just so that you can take a few pics. But, yeah, that doesn't explain the initial wording of the ad or picture. Perhaps that's a deliberately-deceptive attention-getting ad technique.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2014-11-01 21:06
    The "B" on the card is capitalized; the "b" in the description is not. Bytes or bits? Draw your own conclusion.

    -Phil
  • ValeTValeT Posts: 308
    edited 2014-11-02 05:01
    mctrivia wrote: »
    I am looking for a cheap really large micro sd card and came across: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/High-Quality-256gb-micro-sd-card_1996599334.html

    is there any chance this is real? If not has anyone found good price on 128+GB cards?

    As far as I know of, you can only get 128 GB SD cards and those cost a ton of money.
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2014-11-02 06:22
    For Chinese merchants, don't expct them to know the different meaning of 'b' and 'B'...

    Also, it's one of the goods I would never buy from China. There's just too many fakes and hacked cards coming from that area.
  • JRetSapDoogJRetSapDoog Posts: 954
    edited 2014-11-02 13:11
    I noticed the lowercase 'b' in the description versus the capital "B" in the photo, but confusion between bits and bytes would only explain an 8-fold difference, not a 1000-fold one. The discrepancy does indeed raise a red flag, though. Conventionally, card capacities are reported in bytes "B" not bits "b," in contrast to capacities for flash memory chips, which are often expressed in bits. At any rate, I've been told by a sales person that sells SD controllers for cards that some shady manufacturers in China make cards that falsely report the card capacity to the OS. Such cards still store data, but fill up much faster than expected based on the stated capacity. That could be a disaster if, for example, shooting a video of a one-time event like a wedding. In such a case, you might think that you had an hour of capacity when you only had, say, ten minutes. Pretty evil of such companies. I'm not China bashing...because they make so much of our technology affordable (and they also innovate). But there are unscrupulous operators (not limited to China, of course) that try to profit on things that are only partially functional (half truths, so to speak). So, it's probably advisable to stick with trusted brands when it comes to cards. Unfortunately, there are knock-offs of the better brands, so even that is no guarantee.
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2014-11-02 17:05
    mctrivia wrote: »
    I am looking for a cheap really large micro sd card and came across: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/High-Quality-256gb-micro-sd-card_1996599334.html

    is there any chance this is real? If not has anyone found good price on 128+GB cards?


    Always accept the fact that many of these merchants are happy to take your money, however they get it. Remember the saying "Caveat Emptor" before you give them your money but in this case it should be blindingly obvious to anyone that this ad just wants your money. There is no such thing as a 256GB microSD, the max at present is 128GB at a super premium price. Do your research. The best value for money in microSD are 16GB or 32GB.

    BTW, the big orange (matching html content) 256GB label plastered over the ad should be a giveaway and have a close look at the zoom window, it's been mirror flipped but here it is flipped back.
    Screenshot from 2014-11-03 11:04:15.png

    Yep, 2GB
    Screenshot from 2014-11-03 11:04:15.png
    189 x 126 - 24K
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-11-02 17:42
    If it looks too good to be true...

    From what I've seen, Alibaba and Aliexpress (and Dealextreme and others) have somewhat similar minimum prices as Ebay, so that's my reference point. I looked on Ebay and the cheapest 256GB I saw was ~$58 (from Canada!): http://www.ebay.com/itm/256GB-Micro-SD-Card-class-10-with-Adapter-/221592150261?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_210&hash=item3397ebe0f5

    That said, you can always email the seller through Alibaba to ask questions to clarify details. Aliexpress (and I'm sure Alibaba does too) has a dispute system much like Ebay & Paypal. They keep your money in escrow and the seller doesn't get paid until you verify receipt of acceptable goods. I bought some sensors from Aliexpress that didn't work and used the dispute system. I received a full refund and I did not have to return the sensors. I'm sure return postage to China would have cost more than I paid for the sensors.
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2014-11-02 17:48
    erco wrote: »
    If it looks too good to be true...

    From what I've seen, Alibaba and Aliexpress (and Dealextreme and others) have somewhat similar minimum prices as Ebay, so that's my reference point. I looked on Ebay and the cheapest 256GB I saw was ~$58 (from Canada!): http://www.ebay.com/itm/256GB-Micro-SD-Card-class-10-with-Adapter-/221592150261?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_210&hash=item3397ebe0f5

    That said, you can always email the seller through Alibaba to ask questions to clarify details. Aliexpress (and I'm sure Alibaba does too) has a dispute system much like Ebay & Paypal. They keep your money in escrow and the seller doesn't get paid until you verify receipt of acceptable goods. I bought some sensors from Aliexpress that didn't work and used the dispute system. I received a full refund and I did not have to return the sensors. I'm sure return postage to China would have cost more than I paid for the sensors.

    Don't even waste your time, unless it's free and you have plenty of it you want to waste. There are 256G and even very very expensive 512GB SD cards, but not micro SD. However Alibaba and his 40 thieves would have you believe there are. Remember this little story:

    "There were two men that went into business together, they had a great partnership, one had the money, the other the experience. By the end of it the other had the money, and the other, the experience"
  • Courtney JacobsCourtney Jacobs Posts: 903
    edited 2014-11-03 09:22
    Threads of this nature tend to digress into arguments about politics and conspiracies. Remember to keep on topic and respect forum guidelines or risk being moderated.
  • DomanikDomanik Posts: 233
    edited 2014-11-03 12:04
    How about this for a description of a motor from China?

    "THIS IS a poorly running or downright faulty gear box motor for this brand new, high quality 37mm, 12V, 5RPM 0.9A replacement"

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/37GB-37MM-12V-DC-5RPM-0-9A-High-Torque-Gear-Box-Electric-Motor-90mA-/181261006414?ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#ht_2963wt_886

    Tried to explain the wording problem to the seller but he didn't understand. Unfortunately it's used on many of his ebay ads.
    Dom..
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2014-11-03 12:36
    Now THAT'S funny, Dom, excellent find. I suppose he was trying to say " THIS IS a brand new, high quality 37mm, 12V, 5RPM 0.9A replacement for your poorly running or downright faulty gear box motor."

    What a difference a subject/object swap can make. Maybe they don't diagram sentences when teaching English overseas. :)

    5 rpm, must be a torque bugger.
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2014-11-03 13:15
    Courtney Jacobs wrote: »
    Threads of this nature tend to digress into arguments about politics and conspiracies. Remember to keep on topic and respect forum guidelines or risk being moderated.


    Politics and conspiracies??? Where did that come from?

    We are talking about the prevalence of dishonest and very misleading ads and merchants that abound on the Internet and how to be a little more discerning before we part with our money.
  • Courtney JacobsCourtney Jacobs Posts: 903
    edited 2014-11-03 13:27
    A post of the "politics and conspiracies" nature has already been deleted from this thread.

    Therefore, a reminder to follow guidelines was issued.
  • Peter JakackiPeter Jakacki Posts: 10,193
    edited 2014-11-03 13:42
    Courtney Jacobs wrote: »
    A post of the "politics and conspiracies" nature has already been deleted from this thread.

    Therefore, a reminder to follow guidelines was issued.

    My apologies, I didn't realize.
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,451
    edited 2014-11-04 17:21
    As others have mentioned, flash memory is (because it is a commodity) one of the most frequently faked products. Flash (including SD cards, USB sticks, CompactFlash, and so on) turns out surprisingly often to be empty packaging, QC rejects repackaged sometimes by the workers at the very plant that makes the good stuff using that plant's machinery after hours, or lower capacity stuff pretending to be higher capacity. (There's a computer in every SD card that does the sector mapping which makes this a trivial thing to do and a hard one to detect until you hit the unadvertised memory limit.)

    I wouldn't dream of buying flash memory from any but the most reliable manufacturers offering a good warranty.
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