Kingston Sd Hc Faulty. Replacement In Thailand Easily Available?

[pattayadingo]

In the last 2 weeks I bought a Kingston micro SD HC card 4GB. It will not read on the computer and I am using an SD HC reader. These memory cards come with a lifetime guarantee.

I do not remember the shop where I bought it, nor do I have the receipt.

Has anyone had the need to replace one of these or similar from Kingston under this guarantee and had any success in doing so here in Thailand?

Thanks

[MJCM]

Will it show as a Drive Letter on your pc ??

If so, try to format it.

[Dork]

Unfortunately Kingston is the most common brand used for China made fakes. Not saying that yours necessarily is but if it is faulty I would say the chance is quite high. I got bitten once with a 32GB one and only found out when I couldn't format it with NTFS. Under FAT32 it could be formatted and reported as 32GB but in fact was only a much lower capacity.

Whenever I've bought them since I ask the seller if it is real. Some do actually answer that no, it's a copy. Otherwise, if a real one, the seller has informed me that I have to keep the original packaging for warranty, which is a bit ridiculous. But that's what they said.

If you google "Kingston fake SD card" you can see how to tell a copy from a real one.

[pattayadingo]

Cannot access it to format it. It is not there at all.

Has to be the card itself as my Acer one and another Kingston work great. Both are SD HC too.

[Crossy]

Synnex are Kingston local service agent http://www.synnex.co.th/services/Kingston_service/default.aspx so they should be your starting point.

TBH a 4GB card is so cheap to replace it's almost not worth the time / bus fare. Not Kingston I know but http://www.invadeit.co.th/product/memory-cards/sandisk/standard-sdhc-card-4gb-sdsdb_004g_b35-p005163/ is 132 Baht.

[kkerry]

Some are down to as little as 100 baht now so hardly worth the effort in replacing under warranty. Try San Disk, Transcend or Adata and you should be able to get a class 10 8GB card for about 250 baht.

If you are using an old computer it could be that the card reader won't read cards larger than 2GB.

Edited November 29, 2012 by kkerry

[WhizBang]

What OS are you using?

You might give this free Panasonic utility a try...

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/sd/download/index.html

[bendejo]

It would be nice if there was a quick & easy way to spot fakes while shopping, with the gadget still sealed up in its wrapper. The sellers in Panthip will not open and test the things for you, as far as they are concerned they are just selling boxes/packages.

I bought a Seagate 1Tb external HD in KL a few months back and it took some doing before I could get the shop to open the box, connect the device to a computer and allow me to see Windows report that it was indeed a 1Tb drive.

I was unaware that Kingston was the most popular brand for fakes before this thread, been sticking with the brand because I've always had good results. I have a beat-up 1Gb on my keychain that I bought in 2006 for US$40 (a bargain price back then!) and the case is all worn but functions just as well.

One rule I have given myself is flashdrives must have lights that blink when being accessed. I have a Kingston DataTraveler 108 (no light) that 'naps' at times and it is annoying.

Edited November 30, 2012 by bendejo

[kkerry]

The fake Kingston cards and flash drives are mainly the bigger sizes so less likely a 4GB bought recently would be fake. 128GB flashdrives selling in upcountry markets for a few hundred baht are clearly fakes.

Nowadays when you walk around Panthip it seems Kingston is all that many small shops sell so either Kingston have a stellar local marketing department or many of the small shops are selling fake merchandise. I only buy Transcend, Adata or SanDisk now.

I still use a Kingston 256MB SD card, hard to believe it cost 1200 baht You can buy a 32GB Transcend SD HC class 10 for less than that today...

[NeverSure]

I installed a brand new hard disk as a slave yesterday and "My Computer" couldn't see it, so no formatting. I had to go into Disk Manager and create a drive first. I'm sure everyone knows that a hard disk is hardware but a hard drive is software. Point in fact: I can create up to 24 hard drives (drive letters) on one physical hard disk using software.

I have seen portable storage where there was not yet any software for the computer to see. There was no primary drive created yet in software. Until then, you can't format it.

I would go into Disk Manager. Later versions of Windows have fuzzy logic and you can just type disk manager in the field which appears with the start button, lower left. Otherwise, google it for your OS. It will show you a blank hardware item. Right click on it and choose something similar to "create primary drive." When that is done, right click again and take the option of shrinking it if you want partitions, or just format it by using the right click menu. If you create partitions you format each one. That will now allow them to show in "My Computer" and allow you to use the space. While in Disk Manager you can also right click and choose explore, but double clicking won't open it.

Anyway, it's always worth a shot if you think you have a defective hardware storage item.

Ever notice how almost no hard disks and many solid state storage items rarely get high ratings from consumer feedback? They don't know what to do if they hook it up wrong or it has the problems above or... Same with RAM. If they don't know basics of dual channel, single, etc. they screw it up and blame it on the hardware.

Not saying this USB device isn't crap, but it's worth a shot. Good luck.

PS I have also bought "new" storage devices which had been partitioned, but the new partition hadn't been made into a primary or logical drive. Now it looks as if the device has less capacity than it does. I have deleted partitions by going to Disk Manager and right-clicking. Once the device is back to a single partition and formatted again, it shows its full capacity less the normal overhead amount. Obviously I was sold a slightly used device as new. It's really nice to know how to kick them around though.

Edited November 30, 2012 by NeverSure

[pattayadingo]

Synnex are Kingston local service agent http://www.synnex.co...ce/default.aspx so they should be your starting point.

TBH a 4GB card is so cheap to replace it's almost not worth the time / bus fare. Not Kingston I know but http://www.invadeit....4g_b35-p005163/ is 132 Baht.

Looking around in Tukcom yesterday I could see how cheap thee new SD crds are and have to agree it is not worth the trouble and hassle to get it replaced under warranty.