128GB Pen Drives

[Mercutio]

There seem to be a number of Ebay sellers offering 128GB pen drives for $20 - $30 at the moment. I'm not sure what the scam is, or whether there is a scam, but since those drive normally retail north of $250, I thought I'd share it with you all.

Here's a sample auction. There are others.

 

[timwhit]

Can you buy one and let us know if it's a scam or not?

 

[LunarMist]

Direct from China flash memory at unbelievably low prices? Yeah, I'd trust that with may data.:tdown:

 

[Mercutio]

Direct from China flash memory at unbelievably low prices? Yeah, I'd trust that with may data.:tdown:

It's flash memory. It either holds data or it doesn't.

Yeah, I bought one. 128GB is enough to hold all my prepared install images on one drive.

 

[Stereodude]

Enjoy some portion of it not working. :silent:

Of course the seller will offer you a replacement if you send it back, but shipping it back to China with tracking will cost you more than you paid for it.

 

[ddrueding]

When I was in China, I bought an 8GB USB drive in a market for about $8, at the time that was friggin' huge. I was skeptical, so I pulled out my laptop and plugged it in. Sure enough it reported 8GB, and when I went to copy an 8GB file to it, it happily copied away and showed the file as being there. However, when I viewed the properties of the file, it showed 0KB, and could not be opened. Of course, I didn't do that last step until I had bought some and gone home.

 

[LunarMist]

It's flash memory. It either holds data or it doesn't.

Yeah, I bought one. 128GB is enough to hold all my prepared install images on one drive.

I hope it holds yoert data. I don't trust anything until it has been tested many times. Or maybe it is because I can't order anything from China.

 

[timwhit]

I hope it holds yoert data. I don't trust anything until it has been tested many times. Or maybe it is because I can't order anything from China.

If it's used for temporary storage, who cares.

 

[Stereodude]

If it's used for temporary storage, who cares.

That storage is going to be real temporary. :rofl:

 

[LunarMist]

That storage is going to be real temporary. :rofl:

Measured in µs? :mrgrn:

 

[LunarMist]

According to the Egg, the price is 20x higher.

 

[Mercutio]

Either it works and I get a 128GB drive or it doesn't and I'm out $25. I'll take that chance.

 

[Stereodude]

Measured in µs? :mrgrn:

Something like that. ;-)

 

[LunarMist]

Either it works and I get a 128GB drive or it doesn't and I'm out $25. I'll take that chance.

Sure, why not. If I had the capability of buying from the Chinese, I'd consider it too.

 

[Stereodude]

Sure, why not. If I had the capability of buying from the Chinese, I'd consider it too.

So, you're unable or unwilling to use ebay?

 

[LunarMist]

So, you're unable or unwilling to use ebay?

Unable. I had some Paypal accounts but they are hosed up.

 

[udaman]

Unable. I had some Paypal accounts but they are hosed up.

U don't need a PP acct.

U can pay for ebay stuff, or other sites via PP using a CC (most sellers accept) w/o setting up an acct.

 

[timwhit]

Depending on the seller, some accept other forms of payment. When I sold things on eBay I accepted Paypal, cashiers checks, money orders, and personal checks with a 2 week waiting period.

 

[ddrueding]

U don't need a PP acct.

U can pay for ebay stuff, or other sites via PP using a CC (most sellers accept) w/o setting up an acct.

Actually, you can't. After putting a certain amount through paypal transactions (IIRC $5k), they require bank acct information or they don't let you continue. Fuck that.

 

[Handruin]

I created a separate bank account for paypal to protect my own interests. I know that seems like a pain, but it's the best I could think of where situations require paypal and I want the item being sold.

 

[mubs]

I remember an old scam - the flash drive was touted as, say, 2GB, indicated as such in Windows, but was actually a 256 MB drive with hacked firmware that lied. Or something like that.

 

[sechs]

Either it works and I get a 128GB drive or it doesn't and I'm out $25. I'll take that chance.

Reasons to use credit cards when buying stuff....

 

[LunarMist]

Merc, how is the USB drive working out?

 

[Mercutio]

I have not received it yet. I'll let you know.
As I said before, it's worth $25 just to try to get one.

 

[MaxBurn]

Did you get tracking info?