Cheap memory cards, are they worth the risk ?

17 June 2016 | Admin

There are what seem to be fantastic deals on the internet, cheap memory cards from unscrupulous sites that sell all manner of gadgetry at prices that draw you in and In retrospect could be fake.

I fell foul to the temptation of a 128GB micro SD card from one such site. The reviews seemed favourable the price was great and so many friends were telling me of the great stuff they had purchased. I placed my order, paid my £4 and £1 delivery then waited and waited and waited. Four weeks later my package arrived from China. Excitedly I charged my cameras and headed out to time lapse the winter sun setting over my home town and the stars coming out to play.

4hrs later after a fantastic sunset and freezing my toes off in the bitter cold . I was eager to see my results ARGHhhh every third photo out of the 12000 frames I had captured was corrupt. Some had half the frame washed out in a solid colour of pink or yellow others had the top half of one frame on the bottom half of the next.

I sent repeated emails to the online company complaining that the card was useless, or words to that effect. No reply has ever been received and I gave up , thankful that I had only paid £5 in total.

I was also grateful that the card had not damaged my camera and phone, think about it, the card being fake could have had malware programming secretly inserted.

Now the only card I use are reputable, reliable and trusted SanDisk a company you can trust and talk to. Don't be fooled by offers for cheap memory, its a false economy

Richard Lindley

If you are in any doubt about whether a memory card is genuine, your first stop should always be the "where to buy" pages on a manufacturer website. If the company is listed there you should receive the genuine product. If the price is too good to be true, the product may not be genuine.