How to pick out a thumb drive that isn't a scam?

[atavax]

Any tips for picking out a thumb drive that is actually the size it says it is?

[_Omega_]

buy one from a trustworthy seller and brand, like a sandisk one directly from amazon 

[Radium_Angel]

By from a brick and mortar store. They have a vested interest in ensuring they sell legit parts.

[shoutingsteve]

is this something that is happening a lot?  I have never bought a thumbdrive that isn't the correct capacity...

[_Omega_]

3 minutes ago, shoutingsteve said:

is this something that is happening a lot?  I have never bought a thumbdrive that isn't the correct capacity...

if you buy them on wish yes... i even have bought some on aliexpress and they were the right capacity 

[Poinkachu]

13 minutes ago, shoutingsteve said:

is this something that is happening a lot?  I have never bought a thumbdrive that isn't the correct capacity...

 

10 minutes ago, _Omega_ said:

if you buy them on wish yes... i even have bought some on aliexpress and they were the right capacity 

If you live in my country, oh boy... there's fake version of thumb drives & sd cards.
Lots of 'em.
There's also jank refurb of Seagate & WD HDD, and some jank SSD.

Either they don't come with correct capacity, or they die within days, or like have a speed of a 56k modem.

4GB to 32GB usually comes with correct capacity, 64 and above is the b*tch I think. Especially when it reaches the 1tb or more sector.

[atavax]

11 minutes ago, _Omega_ said:

if you buy them on wish yes... i even have bought some on aliexpress and they were the right capacity 

 i mean, I saw the exact same thumb drive same price on amazon and newegg, so thought it was likely legit. ordered it off newegg because i didn't see any indication it was a third party. And it was fake. I did get a refund at least.

[_Omega_]

2 minutes ago, atavax said:

 i mean, I saw the exact same thumb drive on amazon and newegg, so thought it was likely legit. ordered it off newegg because i didn't see any indication it was a third party. And it was fake. I did get a refund at least.

i have no experience with newegg, but i would just use amazon because they clearly say who the vendor is 

[RokinAmerica]

What is the difference between advertised and actual size?

[corrado33]

Buy one of these brands:

 

Kingston, ADATA, Samsung, Sandisk, Corsair.

 

All of those brands are legit. (In no particular order. They're all good, although I prefer the ADATA drives cause they're generally a bit cheaper than the other ones and, in my experience, perform better overall.)

 

Just FYI, due to filesystem overhead, you will NEVER get.... say... 32 GB out of a 32 GB drive. The usable space will ALWAYS be slightly smaller. This isn't a scam, it's just how filesystems work. The difference in advertised size vs. usable space with normal filesystems is generally less than 10%. 

 

Also, never buy a USB drive that seems too good to be true (like a multiple TB drive for super cheap.)