How to identify a FAKE Memory Stick Pro Duo with a PSP system

Nephilim

Nephilim

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Be very careful buying Memory Sticks of any kind on eBay or Amazon third party sellers.

Most of the eBay ones are FAKE. ALL of them from dealextreme.com are FAKES

They are packaged exactly the same, look the same and even work fine in some cases.

So who cares if it is fake?
You will when your data gets corrupted or the stick just plain dies.

Here is how you can tell for sure if you have a PSP and are testing a Memory Stick Pro Duo

-Navigate to your Memory stick
-Press Triangle
-Press X on 'Information'

If next to "MagicGate" it says "Supported". memory stick is Genuine
If next to "MagicGate" it says "Unknown". memory stick if FAKE.
 
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[quote name='briandadude']Just buy a Sandisk.[/QUOTE]


Um, what? Sony and Sandisk brands both are copied and sold as FAKES. I have even seen Lexar fakes.

By and large though, it is Sony and Sandisk that can be FAKES.
 
[quote name='Nephilim']Um, what? Sony and Sandisk brands both are copied and sold as FAKES. I have even seen Lexar fakes.

By and large though, it is Sony and Sandisk that can be FAKES.[/quote]

Fair enough. Only buy from Buy.com, Amazon.com, or Fry's. Brick & Mortar stores historically lag in pricing.
 
[quote name='briandadude']Fair enough. Only buy from Buy.com, Amazon.com, or Fry's. Brick & Mortar stores historically lag in pricing.[/QUOTE]

This is pretty much implied in the OP, but yes, buying from a known retailer is your best bet.

eBay, Dealextreme, Amazon third party, these would be things to avoid for buying Memory Sticks of any kind.
 
[quote name='SumOG']http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...eals&_encoding=UTF8&m=A15V2R7WKY312X&v=glance

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0013AX2HO?tag=slickdeals

im assuming the cheaper one could be a fake??
kinda off topic but related...
are psps only compatible with certain pro duo cards?
im seeing "pro duo platinum II" and "MARK2"...does these cards also work with the psp?
thanks[/QUOTE]

PSP will work with ANY Pro Duo stick, Mark 2 and Ultra II, etc just have faster write and read speeds that are only noticeable with cameras or when transferring to pc from PSP.

MOST amazon third party sticks are FAKE, if the price is too good to be true, you will get a FAKE. Problem is the packaging and stick look absolutely flipping identical. The only way to tell is the procedure above.
 
Nice, checked the one I have and it's supported. No surprise, as its the 4gb from staples a while back.

Good idea.
 
I bought 2 fakes from eBay knowing they were fakes (Sony 8GB MS) and both work great. The only thing lacking is the speed of Magic Gate but it's no biggie. I got about 7.5GB of ISO's on each MS.

Some fakes are crap and others are not as bad as some make them out to be. :applause:
 
[quote name='Devil May Cry']Got my 8 GB from Amazon. Fake. Works fine though, just reads a little slower.[/quote]
Fill it up and see if it reads everything...
 
I decided to order a probable genuine from ebay vs. a larger, less expensive, probable fake. Got a repackaged 2 GB Sony Mark 2 for $12.99 shipped. I know I could have gotten a fake 8 GB for a couple of dollars more, but I didn't want to risk it. Anyhow, it arrived today, and I just tested it - it is genuine. Thanks for the info on how to test.
 
I bought my Sony 16GB Mark 2 from Amazon for $90 and it is real.

Only buy from Amazon and not the Third Party sellers!
 
^^Good price for Amazon. I got my 16gb from Frys.com for $69.99, cheapest I have seen and of course it is genuine.

Glad some people are getting some use from this thread.
 
I bought two fake 8GB Sony MS from ebay and they work and have worked for close to a year with no problems except both fakes are not as fast as a Magic Gate MS. I got six ISO's installed on each MS. Moral of the story not all fakes are bad. :applause:
 
[quote name='trevor213']what about the Sony 8 GB one that is selling on ebay for $22.50
i would post the link but im not allowed to.[/QUOTE]

Almost all on eBay are FAKES even if they say in the auction they are GENUINE DIRECT FROM SONY, etc.

Don't buy them on eBay, or from Amazon third party sellers, period.
 
I'm just going out on a limb here and assuming if I'm using a Dual Micro SDHC to MS Pro Duo adapter, it's going to come up Magic Gate Unknown regardless?

Mods, please edit if I shouldn't be mentioning this here, and I'll edit to remove.
 
[quote name='caldazar']I'm just going out on a limb here and assuming if I'm using a Dual Micro SDHC to MS Pro Duo adapter, it's going to come up Magic Gate Unknown regardless?

Mods, please edit if I shouldn't be mentioning this here, and I'll edit to remove.[/QUOTE]

Yes, it will show 'Unknown' with that setup.
 
wow, the way I found out is that I put it in my PSP and used the USB mode and all of the folders where in some crazy font. I could not delete any of them and ended up corrupting the stick and it broke. Filed a dispute with Ebay and got my money back in a few days and the seller just disappeared off of ebay. Still trying to find a legit 32GB memory stick pro duo...
 
[quote name='Davestation']wow, the way I found out is that I put it in my PSP and used the USB mode and all of the folders where in some crazy font. I could not delete any of them and ended up corrupting the stick and it broke. Filed a dispute with Ebay and got my money back in a few days and the seller just disappeared off of ebay. Still trying to find a legit 32GB memory stick pro duo...[/QUOTE]

The Sony official 32gb stick has been announced but is not on the market yet as far as I know and I want one too.

I don't think there are any name brand ones yet either.

The only way to get a legit 32gb is to do the method a few posts up with the (2) 16gb Dual Micro SDHC to MS Pro Duo adapter. I don't want to risk losing my saves and such with that setup but it works for plenty of less fussy folks and costs way less.
 
Not good.

Brought a 16GB Memory Stick from eBay, turns out to be fake.

Reluctant to use now, in fear that something might go wrong.

Thanks for the guide though.
 
[quote name='Nephilim']The Sony official 32gb stick has been announced but is not on the market yet as far as I know and I want one too.

I don't think there are any name brand ones yet either.

The only way to get a legit 32gb is to do the method a few posts up with the (2) 16gb Dual Micro SDHC to MS Pro Duo adapter. I don't want to risk losing my saves and such with that setup but it works for plenty of less fussy folks and costs way less.[/QUOTE]

I plan to back up my Mem Stick on a weekly basis in the hopes to avoid losing any data. Seems a good plan to never overwrite the previous backup though, considering you might find out too late that you've lost all of your data.

I've had too many lost data occurrences to not do so.

Figure if I lose a week of data, I'll survive.
 
[quote name='CloudStrife']Not good.

Brought a 16GB Memory Stick from eBay, turns out to be fake.

Reluctant to use now, in fear that something might go wrong.

Thanks for the guide though.[/QUOTE]


Yeah, as I mention in the OP, getting an Authentic MSPD on eBay is almost impossible, regardless of what the auction says or even messages from the seller.

Bottom line, buy from a retailer online like Amazon (not third party sellers) or Frys.com, etc.

16gb sticks from Amazon are only $65 SHIPPED right now.
 
[quote name='caldazar']I plan to back up my Mem Stick on a weekly basis in the hopes to avoid losing any data. Seems a good plan to never overwrite the previous backup though, considering you might find out too late that you've lost all of your data.

I've had too many lost data occurrences to not do so.

Figure if I lose a week of data, I'll survive.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, 32gb would be nice but I have an old PC (USB 1.0) and backing up that much data would take 3 days. Not to mention I have a thing for "non-rigged-up name brand" stuff, especially with Sony.

That adapter thing is just too sketchy for mwah.
 
I guess this is all well and good I just don't see the big deal. Plenty of people use said adapter without any problems. Ebay is always caveat emptor as far as fakes/bootlegs of anything. It's not like Sony is going to fry your PSP or anything, which is what the level of urgency of some of these posts seem to assume. I just think it's a little one-sided. I'm willing to risk some save files that I backup once a month or so just to save $100+ on getting 32gb. Personally I'd just use official for games, and unofficial for media files if you're really concerned.
 
Well, it takes a while to get all that "stuff" on the stick and I am not willing to sacrifice my saves either. The $100 is less important to me than having a rigged up memory stick that may or may not have issues some day.

But hey, that is just me and i am a fanatical about my games.
 
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There's no reason to believe that an official stick is infallible either. Data corruption can happen on almost any form of media. Yes your chances are less with official, but that doesn't make it impervious. As far as "stuff" I back up, I only back up the saves, which takes about 5 minutes. The games are stored on my PS3's HD if I ever need to recopy them. Media on my PCs. Regardless I'm not discounting that it's good information I just don't think it's as big of a deal as it's being presented to be - just saying it should be pretty clear that both sides have a valid argument and there's no reason to assume the worst. I guess ultimately I don't play enough to worry about losing one month a play time for X game - if I did I'd guess I'd back up the saves weekly if I was worried.
 
Seems like all of the sticks on amazon are sold by 3rd Parties, but there are a bunch that are "Fulfilled by Amazon" so you get Prime shipping.

Anyone get a fake ordering from a "Fulfilled by Amazon" seller?
 
Got a Lexar 16GB stick from a 3rd party fulfilled by Amazon seller for Christmas and no issues with MagicGate support. 14GB free space to use.
 
Coming in really late to the game since I'm new here and all, but since this is a stickied thread, 'necroing' this thread from the dead shouldn't be too big a deal especially since the issue is still as important as it ever was.

Another way to tell that the Memory Stick is bad (fake or just simply DOA/Dead On Arrival) is to format the Memory Stick and see if it formats properly and gives you the proper memory space.

Especially for the 4GB+ (4, 8, 16GB etc) Memory Sticks, all too often, the fakes will be unable to format properly leaving you with either NO space or way LESS space than there should be. Also, checking to see if what your PSP says about how much 'Stick space there is matches what your PC says is another way to possibly tell because again, oftentimes there are discrepancies with fake 'Sticks.

If you are experiencing issues with corrupted save files or corrupted data on your 'Stick for no explainable reason, that is another warning sign to be aware of as well.

And yes, where not ALL fake Memory Sticks are 'bad', the last thing anyone needs is for their PSN downloaded game to suddenly be wiped out/corrupted because suddenly, the fake Memory Stick GOES bad.

This isn't to say that genuine Memory Sticks DON'T go bad, but if it goes bad within a certain period of time, it is at least possible to return, exchange, or file for the warranty/guarantee which is something you CAN'T do for a fake.

Besides my PSP 3000, I've used Memory Sticks (the original Memory Stick up to the Pro Duo) since the beginning because I owned a lot of Sony gear (Clie, in this case) that used Memory Sticks. Because of this, I've had a lot of experience with the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to good and bad 'Sticks.

The real moral of the story is this:

The fakes are CHEAP for a REASON. Their reliability can NOT be counted upon especially if the information you are storing on them is important.

If you are one of the people whose fake Memory Stick has managed to hold out beyond a few months of continuous use, then you are one of the FEW. Be wary of that, not proud, because one of these days, your luck quite possibly WILL run out and you will have no recourse for it because rescuing data on a crapped out 'Stick is a major pain in the ass if it is even rescue-worthy in the first place.

EDIT: A GREAT time to buy a cheap Memory Stick Pro Duo supported up to 16 Gigs is online and during Black Friday (for those in the USA). I purchased a 16 Gig Sony branded Memory Stick Pro Duo for $32 + shipping + taxes during 2010's Black Friday.

[quote name='Frys.com Order Receipt'][FONT=Helvetica, Arial][FONT=Helvetica, Arial]
5546170[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial] 16GB MSPD MARK 2 SONY MSMT16G [/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial]1[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial] $32.00[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial]$32.00[/FONT]
[FONT=Helvetica, Arial]
Thanks again for placing your order with us![/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Subtotal:[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial] $32.00[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Net Product:[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial] $32.00[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Shipping and Handling:[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial]$1.99[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Sales Tax:[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial]$3.31[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial]Order Total:[/FONT] [FONT=Helvetica, Arial]$37.30[/FONT][/QUOTE]
 
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[quote name='CollectiCopia']Coming in really late to the game since I'm new here and all, but since this is a stickied thread, 'necroing' this thread from the dead shouldn't be too big a deal especially since the issue is still as important as it ever was.

Another way to tell that the Memory Stick is bad (fake or just simply DOA/Dead On Arrival) is to format the Memory Stick and see if it formats properly and gives you the proper memory space.

Especially for the 4GB+ (4, 8, 16GB etc) Memory Sticks, all too often, the fakes will be unable to format properly leaving you with either NO space or way LESS space than there should be. Also, checking to see if what your PSP says about how much 'Stick space there is matches what your PC says is another way to possibly tell because again, oftentimes there are discrepancies with fake 'Sticks.

If you are experiencing issues with corrupted save files or corrupted data on your 'Stick for no explainable reason, that is another warning sign to be aware of as well.

And yes, where not ALL fake Memory Sticks are 'bad', the last thing anyone needs is for their PSN downloaded game to suddenly be wiped out/corrupted because suddenly, the fake Memory Stick GOES bad.

This isn't to say that genuine Memory Sticks DON'T go bad, but if it goes bad within a certain period of time, it is at least possible to return, exchange, or file for the warranty/guarantee which is something you CAN'T do for a fake.

Besides my PSP 3000, I've used Memory Sticks (the original Memory Stick up to the Pro Duo) since the beginning because I owned a lot of Sony gear (Clie, in this case) that used Memory Sticks. Because of this, I've had a lot of experience with the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to good and bad 'Sticks.

The real moral of the story is this:

The fakes are CHEAP for a REASON. Their reliability can NOT be counted upon especially if the information you are storing on them is important.

If you are one of the people whose fake Memory Stick has managed to hold out beyond a few months of continuous use, then you are one of the FEW. Be wary of that, not proud, because one of these days, your luck quite possibly WILL run out and you will have no recourse for it because rescuing data on a crapped out 'Stick is a major pain in the ass if it is even rescue-worthy in the first place.

EDIT: A GREAT time to buy a cheap Memory Stick Pro Duo supported up to 16 Gigs is online and during Black Friday (for those in the USA). I purchased a 16 Gig Sony branded Memory Stick Pro Duo for $32 + shipping + taxes during 2010's Black Friday.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for that info! I know I'm late on this thread too, but I'm on the lookout for reasonably priced 8 or 16gb Sony MS Pro Duo sticks as well. I only have a few 4gb ones right now and am looking to upgrade. I know on Black Friday there should be some deals (maybe), so I'll keep my eyes out . . . but Amazon does not seem to directly sell the 8 or 16gb sticks (or even the 4gb for that matter), and I don't feel comfortable buying any of these off Ebay due to all the fakes out there.

Anyone know of any current deals on larger capacity, genuine MS Pro Duo sticks?
 
[quote name='chimpmeister']Thanks for that info! I know I'm late on this thread too, but I'm on the lookout for reasonably priced 8 or 16gb Sony MS Pro Duo sticks as well. I only have a few 4gb ones right now and am looking to upgrade. I know on Black Friday there should be some deals (maybe), so I'll keep my eyes out . . . but Amazon does not seem to directly sell the 8 or 16gb sticks (or even the 4gb for that matter), and I don't feel comfortable buying any of these off Ebay due to all the fakes out there.

Anyone know of any current deals on larger capacity, genuine MS Pro Duo sticks?[/QUOTE]

Get A PSP GO one w? adapter. They're only $20... and I haven't seen any fake ones of those.
 
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