Recently, it would seem that there are more counterfeit items in the marketplace than legitimate equivalents. In many cases a fake may do the job fine but in others the quality and performance are inferior to the genuine article and you may end up wondering if saving a few quid was actually worth while.

A few weeks ago I bought a 1GB SanDisk MicroSD card from a high street retailer to slot into my new Nokia N95. It cost around £20 and meant that I didn't have to await delivery from a cheaper internet based seller. However, the same afternoon I found some 2GB SanDisk MicroSD cards for sale at auction and priced between £10 and £20. I bought one and awaited delivery. On arrival, the new card looked pretty much the same as the shop bought item although there were a few differences. For a start, the auctioned item lacked any original packaging, although I optomistically hoped that this may have been to save on postal weight. Also, the tiny printed wrinting identifying the model and serial number wasn't identical in printing technique or font between the cards. This is very difficult to see as the writing is so small. Again, it is possible that the 1GB and 2GB cards are manufactured in different locations and hence these subtle differences?

Functionally, both cards seem to operate fine in the N95 although with the 2GB in place, the phone has a habit of unexpectedly rebooting once or twice a day. This may be coincidence and it's possible that I just haven't noticed it with the 1GB card inserted. However, the main functional difference is that I can't get either my PC or laptop to read or write to the 2GB card. The 1GB is fine whereas neither computer even recognises that the 2GB card has been inserted. This is despite mixing and matching the MicroSD to SD/MMC adapters. The fault is definately with the card.

I have since scoured the internet for information on spotting counterfeit MicroSD but have so far pretty much drawn a blank with much of the info being either vague and/or irrelevant. Using a program like SiSoft Sandra will allow you to test comparative data transfer rates but this is not much use if the card can't be read by a PC. Another problem is that the MicroSD cards are so small that subtle differences, more easily identified on larger memory stick formats, need a magnifying glass to spot on the MicroSD. In the end, I used my digital camera in macro mode to get a close up of the 2GB and sent the information to SanDisk customer services (see below). They got back to me within 24 hours to confirm that the card was indeed a fake. I think this is the only sure-fire way of positively identifying some of the fakes out there. Even the feedback of my seller didn't suggest a problem with a rating over 99% with around 15,000 buyers. I think the problem may well lie in premature feedback - the item arrives quickly and seems to work fine but only after feedback has been left does the buyer realise the shortcomings of the purchase.

So... spend an little extra in the knowledge that you are getting a genuine item or try to save a few quid and end up with something that falls short of your expectations? You pays your money and takes your choice.