What Is The Largest Flash Memory Card? Who Makes Them?

The highest capacity for flash memory cards is currently 128GB made by Sandisk and Lexar. For CompactFlash cards, Sandisk is the choice. For 128GB SDXC cards, Lexar is the leader from a price perspective. Kingston Technologies offers 64GB capacity SDXC memory cards.  What do these new 128GB flash memory cards look like and how much do they cost?

SANDISK ANNOUNCES WORLD’S FASTEST HIGH-CAPACITY COMPACTFLASH CARD

You will not find a bargain price for a flash memory card advertised at 128GB on the internet. The CompactFlash 128GB cards are professional for the most demanding photographer. SDXC cards will also be expensive.

At Newegg:

SanDisk 128GB Compact Flash (CF) Flash Card Model SDCFXP-128G-A91

Current price over $1000 US.

At Amazon:

SanDisk 128 GB CompactFlash Type 2 Flash Memory Card SDCFXP-128G-X46 – Black

Current price over $1400 US.

The lowest price for a SDXC 128GB flash memory card is on Amazon currently on sale for over $200 US.

Lexar Media 128 GB SDXC Flash Memory Card LSD128CRBNA133 found on the internet from a reputable discount site was at Amazon

Currently Kingston Technologies is not offering a 128GB capacity for flash memory cards. Their largest capacity is 64GB for flash memory cards. The Kingston 64 GB Class 10 SDXC Flash Card SD10A/64GB is high end and generally does not sell for less then $380 US.

If you need high capacity 64GB or 128GB flash memory cards, expect to pay a fair price. Do not try to buy them on eBay for low prices. If you do, you will become a victim of flash memory fraud. These high capacity flash memory cards are expensive to manufacture and must pass many quality tests to ensure they meet the standards you expect.

A 128GB flash memory card is blazing new technology, it is not cheap, it is very high end. Few brand names offer them and there are currently no generics available in real advertised capacity. Beware of any flash memory card advertised in a capacity higher than 128 GB, the technology in 2011 does not yet exist on the consumer market.

Additonal Reading:

H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives

Genuine Verses Fake Counterfeit USB Flash Drives – A Guide – USB Flash Chips Used In USB Flash Drives – Grades A B C D

yanyanseller2008 Ebay Fake Flash Memory Seller Alert – Hong Kong. eBay Flash Memory Counterfeit Ring Zhuo Qiuge(PC). Fake 32GB SD SDHC And MicroSD Cards On eBay. The Sale Of Fake Memory Cards Increasing on eBay.

eBay Private Auctions. Fraud. Flash Memory. 199 eBay Sellers Involved.

Private auctions are a fraudulent sellers best weapon to evade detection on eBay, especially for flash memory producrts. These days 32GB 64Gb 128GB and 256GB advertised capacity are hot. They are usually used by eBay sellers in Asia. You will find Western sellers using them too. In almost all cases, they are violating eBay policy. They tend to make the most money and according to SOSFakeFlash, are the hardest to shut down.

Kingston DT310/256 Counterfeits Sold On eBay!

Kingston Technologies continues to suffer from Counterfeiters in China for their usb flash drives. The new the DT310 in 256GB is now available on eBay for only $98 US !

Newegg.com offers it at $722.99 US

TechChips published: DT310/256GB Replaces DataTraveler DT300 256GB DataTraveler From Kingston Technologies. DT310 Is The Biggest USB Pen Stick Memory Flash Drive Size on February 20 2010. We did not expect that the new DT310/256GB would be counterfeited so quickly.

Something is very wrong at Kingston Technologies. Their usb flash drives are counterfeited too quickly. Is there a security problem at Kingston? The SOSFakeFlash site is documenting too many false capacity Kingston usb flash drives. It is the most counterfeited brand name for flash memory technology.

No other brand name is reported the most to SOSFakeFlash. Are Kingston usb flash drives being counterfeited because of the high profile for the brand? Or is it because Kingston exercises the least security and control for their products? TechChips is unable to answer this question. Can you?

Additional Reading:

Kingston USB Flash Drives. How To Check You Have A Genuine One And Not A Counterfeit – Easy Guide. Kingston Technologies Fighting To Protect Consumers And Itself From Counterfeits.

Kingston Technologies Under Attack From Fake Flash Memory Seller Piranhas In The Orient. DT200 Counterfeits 8GB 16GB 32GB Flood Global Market.

Current Prices For Genuine Kingston DataTraveler 200 128GB USB2.0 Flash Drives DT200/128GB And For Fakes – A Guide

Buying A Kingston DataTraveler DT200 128GB Flash Drive On eBay? What You See Might Not Be What You Receive. Have a look.

Tool Software To Test Flash Memory – USB Flash Drives, MP Players, Memory Cards. Best In Breed, Free And Accurate Too! Recommended By SOSFakeFlash.

How do you test the memory capacity of flash memory? Find out the real size? If you want to make sure that your usb flash drive, memory card or mp player is the size sellers advertise, you need to use a simple and easy to use software tool.

128GB USB Flash Drives Fat16 IS It Possible? The True Revealed.

If a usb flash drive is formatted with Fat16, what is the the maximum size you can have? 4 Gigabytes. For Windows operating systems before XP, you can only have 2 GB with a Fat16 file system (Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows 95, or MS-DOS). For more information on Fat16 read: Maximum size fat16

How is it possible to have a 128 GB flash usb flash drive that uses Fat16? There is only one way. Using low level formatting software tools that digitally alter what the operating system sees – hacking the flash memory chip.

The problem of false capacity usb flash drives being sold on eBay has reached crises mode
. Some sellers attempt to reassure their buyers. Usually they will present a screen capture of what the operating system reports. In other cases they will show testing information from HD TUNE.

Looks reassuring does it?

To a non technical buyer, the results look fine.

There is only one little problem, Fat16 can not support 128GB. Buyers, especially on eBay do not know a lot about file allocation systems. Fat32 and NTFS will ring a bell for most users, but Fat16? Not likely – unless you have been using computers for the past 15 years or longer.

Little details are important. The seller did not pay attention to the details. TD Tune did not pick up the false capacity. If you want to detect false capacity for usb flash drives, you need to run a program that is free to use: H2testw. It will tell you the real size of a flash memory chip and also report any errors or anomalies.

The usb flash drive sold by this seller was:

 

So far SOSFakeFlash has never received a report where this model has more than 4GB, usually it has 2GB and in some cases only 1GB. It is available up to 16GB, sold at internet sites that specialize in doing custom logos for usb flash drives as promotional products.

Faulty Flash Memory Chips – Are They Really Faulty Or Have They Been Hacked To Lie About Their Real Capacity?

Faulty implies a manufacturing defect – there is nothing “faulty” about flash memory chips reprogrammed to lie about their actual capacity. This practice is very common in the Orient. The nand flash memory chips are digitally altered using low level formatting tools. Quite a few usb controller chips are easily manipulated. The most common are found in Alcor, AMECO, iCreate and Micov families.

Software is widely available often the same software used to prepare the chips in Fabs for correct capacity. Digital alteration is commonly referred to as “Hacked” memory. Is it difficult to do?

Flash Memory Prices On eBay. Global Report From SOSFakeFlash Published at FlashFakeCentral.

SOSFakeFlash collects information and data on eBay for fake flash memory products sold. They just completed a two year study. Do you want to know how much eBay sellers charge for fake MPx players, memory cards and usb flash drives sold on eBay? What buyers pay on average?

What Countries Suffer The Most Fraud On Ebay For Flash Memory Items? 16GB 32GB 64GB.

SOSFakeFlash has just released a list of the top 25 countries receiving fake flash memory products purchased on eBay. Read: eBay – Top 25 Countries Frauded. Fake Flash Memory Items Available On Ebay. 200912

Part of the problem is that members on eBay have no understanding as to the real costs of flash memory chips.

There is an need to increase awareness. Education.

• How Can You Spot Fake Flash Memory Chips? What Is the Key Factor That Determines If MP3 MP4 Players, USB Flash Drives Or Memory Cards Are Fake Capacity?
• Flash Memory Prices Are Rising In 2009 – Up To 25% Since April 2009. Danger Of Grade C and D Being Used In False Capacity MP Players, USB Flash Drives And Memory Cards.

You can help promote awareness and educate the public. Please visit internet sites in your country and let them know about FrankenFlash Project Sites:

• http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/ (Main Site)
• http://fakeflashnews.wordpress.com/ (News On Fake Flash Memory Items)
• http://flashdrivefacts.wordpress.com/ (The Facts On Flash Memory – Archive On Brand Names Being Attacked)
• http://fakememorysentinel.wordpress.com/ (Early Detection System, Special Projects)
• http://flashfakecentral.wordpress.com/ (Reports, Stories, Other Activities In The Battle Against Fake Memory Products)
• http://fixfakeflash.wordpress.com/ (Repairing And Restoring Memory Chips To Original Capacity)

How Can You Spot Fake Flash Memory Chips? What Is the Key Factor That Determines If MP3 MP4 Players, USB Flash Drives Or Memory Cards Are Fake Capacity?

How can you avoid fake flash memory purchases? Do you know what fake capacity is? If you are not careful you could buy memory cards, usb flash drives or MP Players that have reprogrammed chips that lie about their real size. These are dangerous items as they cause people to lose their information!

So what is the easiest way to spot a fake?

SDRAM RAM Memory Chips Used In Fake Flash Capacity MP3 MP4 Players Sold On eBay?

SOSFakeFlash received a recent report for an Fake MP Player sold by eBay Fake Flash Memory seller kinhome88. It was an MP Player advertised as 32GB. When the victim opened the player he found SAMSUNG’s K4S281632C-TC1L as the storage chip. At Samsung, this is an EOL SDRAM memory chip.

See: Yogi’s Fake 32GB MP Player From kinhome88 eBay Fake Flash Memory Seller – Charger Blows Up

The questions:

• Are old EOL SDRAM chips from Samsung finding their way into false capacity MP Players being sold on eBay?
• Is the chip serial K4S281632C-TC1L being counterfeited?

Should You Repair A Fake USB Flash (Pen) Drive?

Before you attempt to repair a fake aka upgraded USB Flash (Pen) Drive you should ask yourself the following questions:

• What are my chances of being successful?
• What are the chances of downloading a virus?
• How trustworthy are repaired drives?
• How much is my time worth?

Flash Memory Prices Are Rising In 2009 – Up To 25% Since April 2009. Danger Of Grade C and D Being Used In False Capacity MP Players, USB Flash Drives And Memory Cards.

The price of flash memory chips continues to increase since April 2009, as much as 25%. A recent article published by Digitimes on 14 September 2009: Apple demand causing serious NAND flash shortage in Taiwan explains some of the reasons why.

Few consumers have any idea about the cost of the flash memory chips used in their mp players, usb flash drives and memory cards. Many fall prey to fraudulent sellers, who sell them items with false capacity – flash memory chips that have been digitally altered to report a size much larger than they really are. You usually find these items for sale on eBay. Usb flash drives advertised as 16GB are sold for as little as $15 US. 32GB memory cards are frequently won for $25 and under. MP Players advertised to be 8GB or 16GB often sell in the $15 and $30 US range.

What are the new costs of flash memory chips?

How To Test The Capacity (Size) of MP Players, Memory Cards, USB Flash Drive Memory Sticks

To find the real capacity of nand flash memory storage chips, the best software that is “free” is H2testw.

To learn more read: H2testw 1.4 – Gold Standard In Detecting USB Counterfeit Drives. It has all the information you need to understand how the program works and where to get the download.

The software was written by Harald Bögeholz. It is copyrighted, but is offered to people to test their nand flash memory devices. The article also explains why it is the best testing software available and why it is recommended. People use it to test usb pen sticks, memory cards and mp players.

Update 20091023: If you find you have a fake capacity flash memory item and want to repair it, please consult the new FAQ at FixFakeFlash Inspectortech for important information on repairing fake flash memory items before you attempt to repair.

The Difference Between A Fake USB Memory Pen Stick And A Substandard One

Major brand manufacturers have placed large orders for flash memory chips. Prices are rising. Many facilities in China have scaled back production to clear existing inventory. It costs a lot to create quality memory nand storage chips. No one can not afford to sell below production costs.

The pricing information the FrankenFlash project has in What Are The Real Costs For Flash Chips In China? Guide 2009 may now contain prices that are lower then current costs.

Recently a website in New Zealand has hit the radar.  It is called: www.trademe.co.nz

The Oceania team has been examining this site for some time. There are fake usb pen drives being sold there. According to this team, it is not the only problem. It appears that many sellers at this site are receiving substandard merchandise from China.