C100: Warning! Stay Away From SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Cards

nedcam

nedcam

Well-known member
Twice! Ugh! The little lock slider broke off in the Locked position on two of my 32GB 95mbps cards. I always am careful using my thumbnail to slide it gently but they break. Such an iconic, great brand wants to save some money with Made in China. So, two round trips to Best Buy, negotiate with customer service, one on Black Friday, took 2.5 hours out of my life. My Panasonic cards have a robust slider that never breaks.

Spread the word. This post is my revenge.
 
Interesting... I have actually seen a couple of broken locks on a couple of SanDisks myself - 32GB. I also have just bought two 64GB for my HC-X1000.

However I myself never use the locks... so probably not much of an issue for myself.
 
I always order mine from B&H and have never had a problem.

If ordering from eBay look for these:

http://www.ebay.com.au/gds/How-to-S...s-on-eBay-Watch-out-/10000000177430789/g.html
Clue #1 Front view
  1. Genuine has a 'notch' at the bottom edge of the card. Fake does not have the 'notch' is all flat.
  2. Genuine has white color plastic sliding Lock switch. Some fake has sawteeth on the sliding switch and some is yellow color.

CluFake has inferior low resolution dot-matrix printing on the dark gray wave lines easily exposed by zooming in.
  1. Genuine uses print ready/control vector art technique to print the label. Fake has imperfect logo print (white edge artifact, a result of printing over the original scanned duplication).

Clue #3 Back view
  1. Genuine has a 'notch' as the bottom edge on the card. Fake does not have the 'notch'.
  2. Genuine has 2 lines of white color production batch/serial number 'BE06xxxxxxxxB' and 'MADE IN CHINA' near the bottom edge. Older fake usually has none. Newer fake has other different pattern of characters like: 'CN0605330205D', '828690621024', 'ASYD0607CG', 'ASS0606DH', ... and using quite different font face. If you see other variant patterns with non-white colors, they are fake.
  3. Newer fakes are now being reported to have the 'legitimate' batch number like the genuine so this may no longer be a useful criteria.
 
I have a 64 GB SanDisk thats starting to split in half and those tiny plastic separators on the pins is also broken. It's one of the newest cards I have. I'm very easy on gear too. I thought I was unlucky but seems like a pattern.
 
Hmm maybe there are some bad batches out there. I have had two 64gb Sandisk Extreme cards that I have used for almost two years and I have had no problems. I also have a couple of the 32 and 16gb versions and again no problems.
 
I've been using the same type 32GB SanDisk cards for a year and a half. Have not experienced any problems.
 
Have about 2 dozen sandisk cards of various sizes/speeds, can't say I've ever experienced a similar issue. Although I never use the locking mechanism(prefer multiple cards and tape labels). Your issue seems more relative to the form factor rather then with the brand. SD cards were developed as consumer technology and was never intended for professional use.
 
I've never used the locking mechanism. Only purchased Sandisk Extreme Pro from B&H and have NEVER experienced any problem! PLEASE make sure you only purchase from an AUTHORIZED dealer (as you'll definitely come across fakes on ebay/ craigslist/ etc)!
 
A production I work with has 70+ Sandisk 95 Mbps SD cards (mostly 64 GB but some 32) & about half a dozen have had the locking tab break. Also one began to split in two.
 
I'm the OP. There is no way that Best Buy could have been duped into buying fake Sandisk products, is there? Wouldn't a major electronics retailer be buying from Sandisk directly?

Is it their Chinese manufacturing source cutting corners to save money by cheapening up the plastics? I try never to buy anything metal made in China (long story).

As to not sliding the safety lock, I've been trained since the days of SVHS to always lock the media upon ejection. I can't fathom doing otherwise. A tremendous risk if not done and I would be very upset if one of my crew did not do that. Now I know to be very gentle with the Sandisk lock slide. I don't think Best Buy wants me in their return line anymore.
 
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