I got one DOA, one horribly corrupting files, and one inconspicuously corrupting files (that last one being the nastiest)!
They are all dog slow too: 8 MB/s read, 1.6 MB/s write.
I gave up and will return what I have. I have already bought a 16Gig Kingston from MSY, apart from being completely error free (from my testing with checksummed data), it is fast too: 27.3 MB/s read, 12.9 MB/s write.
Surely Aldi must be aware of this by now. And if they are, they are being downright evil by continuing to sell these.
I wrote up the ugly details of testing here: http://techbabnos.stewart.com
For the record – I did return the USB stick... but I haven't had the courage to try another, despite standing right next to the display box on more than one occasion.
I doubt I will ever seriously consider these USB sticks for any purpose, other than out of morbid curiosity – to see if I could find one without errors.
Quite simply – should I actually succeed in finding such a beast, I just could not trust it.
Seems Aldi has been duped by the old "Faked Capacity Memory" scam that has been rife on Ebay for years now.
Quote from the sosfakeflash site:
http://sosfakeflash.wordpres
"ALDI Australia – 8GB Flash Drives Please Test Capacity With H2testw Before Using. Supermarket Chain Receives Bad Supply Of USB Flash Drives, Newest Victim In The Fake Flash Chip Memory Wars."
Seems Aldi has been duped
Update:
Had purchased a total of 5 of these "8GB" flash drives from 2 Aldi stores in my area & used the free H2testw tool to fully test them. (As well as loading & attempting to retrieve over 1GB of assorted files)
All came in at under 1GB actual capacity & would corrupt/fail once that limit was exceeded.
Despite leaving Aldi several written reports as well as phoning their distribution centre nearly 2 weeks back suggesting they be withdrawn I note they still had them on sale today.
Guy at work bought one of these. Exchanged it 3 times. All 4 never worked. Don't buy a thumb drive from Aldi.
I wouldn't trust Aldi for my storage...
Anyway why not try JB HI FI?
http://www.jbhifi.com.au/computers/storage/
They even offer free delivery on some of their products. And the prices are pretty similar.
I couldn't understand why Aldi hasn't recalled all those phony flash drives after seeing multiple complaints.
I hope someone from Aldi would read this.
Consumer Alert Aldi Stores Australia Fission 8GB USB stick – Less Than 1 GB Actual Capacity
Buyers in Australia wonder why their Aldi 8 GB Fission usb sticks don't work properly – it's the oldest reason, upgraded flash memory storage chips. Five units have been tested with h2testw, four report a real capacity less than 1 GB storage, one almost impossible to test. Buyers contacted Aldi stores about the fake capacity [.]
SanDisk 8GB Cruzer $11.98 at Officeworks
http://www.officeworks.com.a
Consumer Alert Aldi Stores Australia Fission 8GB USB stick – Less Than 1 GB Actual Capacity
Was informed by the manager at my local Aldi that these items have now been withdrawn from sale as a result of warnings published on the sosfakeflash site.
So anyone who purchased one of these fakes should have no problems getting a refund.
Your commercial reputation is worth more than that!
meh, our company provides such bad support to our customers that distracting them from their broken network (that we are meant to be fixing) to a broken pen is actually a stress-reliever.
These usbs are rubbish. I bought a few of them and all of them have either turned all my hard work into corrupted files or the worst one being the one that keeps overheating and burning my fingers when i try to unplug it after a minute of usage.
These are the WORST USBS IN THE FACE OF THE EARTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!