Dodge Memory Sticks

Last year I purchased a 1 GB memory stick (MS Pro Duo) off ebay. It was a Sony (supposidly) imported from Japan.

The memory stick worked as advertised, transfering at the faster speed of the “Pro” range and allowing me to use the full 1GB (apparently there are some scams where people sell supposidly large media/devices which are actually small). However, I soon realised that the craftmanship was quite pathetic.

The top of the card was basically coming off. Working with PSP’s as I am, and with a Camera that also takes the same memory, I was re-inserting it several times a week. Soon enough, it gave in and snapped in two places. Super glue did the trick and it was fine for another two weeks – then even more of it fell off. Super glue the second time was far less effective. I have managed to insert the card back into my PSP and it is recognised, but I am pretty sure when I remove it next it will desintergrate (hopefully I can extract all the parts from the PSP). I’m glad the thing didn’t totally die as it was $140 – and it is still useful in the PSP, but rather annoying that I can’t now change memory sticks in the PSP.

I am now thinking it was possibly a counterfeit? Ebay is till currently loaded with heaps of the same model but they could all be too.

So, here’s a little guide if you are buying Memory Sticks for a PSP or Sony Camera:

Brown Sony MS: BAD BAD – avoid like the plague

Blue or Black Sony/Sandisk: These I know are genuine. They should last, however they are the same design with two halves glued together and can come a part (I have experimented with a 32MB one)

Transparent, Coloured Sandisk: These are the best. Instead of the other two which have the circuit and memory mounted on a board, the circuitry and memory are in the same black unit and the connecters form part of this unit as well. The plastic is properly sealed and not glued. You will have a hard time breaking these, even if you are constantly re-inserting the card into several devices/readers.

There are some also really cool PSP extensions such as the Neo Flash Converter which is basically a CF reader which plugs into the MS slot. It also comes with a 4GB Micro-HDD which is neat (noting that the HDD’s are slow so not as good for games, but fine for watching movies, and probably no slower than the official UMD’s anyway). The only probably is finding one down-under – good luck!

Will.