Is There Really a 128 GB USB Flash Drive Out There?

Written by: Rebecca Scudder • Edited by: Lamar Stonecypher
Updated Apr 27, 2010 • Related Guides: Usb Connector

USB Flash Drives get bigger and cheaper every year.So what is the biggest thumb drive you can buy right now?There are reliable companies making 128GB USB drives now, but there are ads and claims for some very good fakes of 128 GB drives too. Bright Hub looks at what is out there, finding 6 real ones

Yes, Virginia, there are real 128GB USB flash drives now

Be warned: there are a number of fakes out there. However, as of June 2009, there were three 128GB USB flash drives available from reputable companies. Kingston was the first, making an announcement mid June of 2009.

Also in June 2009, Edge-Tech and Patriot announced they also now have 128GB drives.

In 2008, a number of companies released 64GB USB flash drives. In 2009, there started to be claims that there are also 128GB USB flash dives available. While there are reliable 64 GB USB thumb drives available from well known online and off line suppliers, there were no actual 128GB capacity drives on the market until June 2009. There is a supply of counterfeit goods from China, made of hacked 512mb, 2GB and, 4GB flash drives formatted to appear as 16GB, 3GB, 64GBGB and 128GB flash drives.

However, on June 15, 2009, Kingston announced they are selling a 128GB USB flash drive. Because of the enormous number of fake 128GB USB flash drives on the market, it is very important to know what Kingston's 128 GB drive looks like.

The drive is in the new Data Traveler series 200, which has three sizes: 128GB, 64GB and 128GB. The 32GB and 64GB drives are readily available from reputable online sellers such as Amazon and Newegg, however, Kingston said each 128GB drive (MRSP $547) is built to order, *updated*, but they are now available.

Currently, Kingston has the drive in stock. The drive can be ordered from Amazon, and other reputable online retailers

The Data Traveler 200 line is very distinct from other series of USB drives sold by Kingston.

. Kingston 128gb Data Traveler 200 USB flash drive- open

128GB drive shown in open and closed state.

*Update* In March of 2010, there are now six real 128 GB USB drives, and while some prices have come down a little, the cheapest price I have seen from a reputable source is about $300.

Corsair, Super Talent, and Team x091 have drives available now. As well, a relatively unknown company called Unique IT has announced the 128 GB Integral Titan in the UK, although there are no details about its availability.

Be aware; there are not currently any 128 GB drives available from Sony, Samsung, or generic suppliers.

The actual Kingston 128GB USB flash Drive

The 32GB drive has a blue end with lanyard slot, the 64GB drive has a yellow end with lanyard slot, and the 128GB drive is solid black, as shown in the pictures above. They all also have a serial number engraved on the USB connector.

If you see a Kingston 128GB drive advertised, and it does not look like the pictures here, it is a fake. Notice the differences between this drive and the fake shown on the next page.

Keep reading for more info on fake 128 GB drives; don't get swindled!

Warning! Better Fakes are out now

*Update* April 2010 Counterfeiters have now copied the actual Kingston 128GB drive, and unfortunately, it is a good copy. However, it does not have a serial number burned into the connector.

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Rebecca Scudder Mar 18, 2011 1:19 AM

Fake Kingston 256 GB drive

Yes, Rosebud, I think the $70 price is a dead giveaway - and likely to give you a dead drive if you had bought it. Your post is likely to help someone else from being swindled - thanks for posting.
Rebecca

Rosebud Mar 17, 2011 1:34 PM

Kingston Data Traveler DT300 256gb

So after reading all the comments, I am really doubting that the Kingston Data Traveler DT300-256GB Flash Drive that is for sale on line for $70 sounds to good to be true, when most are costing $700+ would be a HUGE red flag and I should not buy it! I never heard of the site and I normally don't purchase anything without a full investigation of the company and the product. This is why I really appreciate people voicing their opinion.

John Taylor Feb 19, 2011 11:08 AM

Too good to be true

Flash drives are the easiest things to copy and margins are huge. It is easy to print fake packaging and plastic covers. Just slap anything inside the case. I bought a 256 mb Kingston DT300 for $48 on Ebay. It quickly failed and failed "h2testw", a free download. Furthermore based on posts here I checked the USB connector and it was stamped DT101/8gb. In flash drives, if it sounds too good to be true, then it is.
In my case I wasted two valuable days trying to fix it before discarding it. A year before I bought a fake Kingston DT150. It failed the "h2testw" and the usb connector was unmarked.
I learned a hard lesson; buy from a reputable dealer and there's no skimping on price. Unfortuantely I have a DT310 coming that I paid $75 for and I don't care if it ever gets here.

Dieter Schönefeld Dec 30, 2010 8:21 PM

fake Kingston 128GB flash

...after reading Your stories i feel a bit half-foul by telling You that i bought one half a year ago - payd in Sweden about 43 dollars - it holds 128GB allright of movies and music - we are watching videos from it directly so the reading speed is goodenough - i bought it legally and it works as supposed. Sorry for Your misfortune.
Dieter

Rebecca Scudder Jun 12, 2010 12:38 AM

Fake Kingston 128GB drive

Hi Maria,
I agree with you, the drive you gave a link to is not genuine. The carving does not show. You cannot tell on the 128GB drive shown, but when you look at the 64GB drive, also a fake, you can see the seam of the USB connector, rather than the smoother side with laser engraving. A fake 128GB drive I have handled has the same upside down connector, although that one does have the carving. It does not have the laser engraving on the connector either. Unfortunately, as long as the drive is not open in the photo, you are not able to see if the USB connector is upside down. You were lucky - because many fakes are put up for sale with a photo from the manufacturer, and on this fake a photo of the fake was used. And as you said, $42 dollars is too good to be true. Thank you for warning people.

maria Jun 11, 2010 10:03 PM

fake one found

i really want one of these, but after reading this article, i'm proud to say that i'm glad i read it.. before i got to this article i found this.. http://www.memorystickpaypal.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=3

i was about to buy it because it does look exactly like the actual flashdrives you provided in this article, however, there is no carving. the real one has a carving, but this one doesn't.. plus 42 dollar is far too good to be true.. and the 64gb one is two dollars cheaper??

i'm not sure where to report it but here you go. http://www.memorystickpaypal.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=3

Rebecca Scudder Jun 7, 2010 9:59 PM

Fake Kingston 128GB USB drive

Hi Ryan,
I am sorry to hear your purchases from eBay were fake drives. It is good to know you were able to get a complete refund for the one drive. Unfortunately, it seems most of the large drives sold on eBay are fakes. The best way to fight them is to publicize what happened. If you send the information about the listings to the SOSFAKEFLASH site, they will use the information to build cases against the sellers. If you happen to have screenshots, let them know.

eBay consistently seems to remove the listings on the fake drives, including the negative feedback, which negates the effect of the feedback system. Many sellers come back with new listings and the lack of feedback hurts buyers.

Ryan Jun 7, 2010 8:48 PM

Fake drives

I purchased 2 fake Kingston drives, a long, leather one and the black Data 200 (cheap plastic, no serial number). I have received a full refund for the first transaction and have opened a new case for the second. On both occasions the EBay listing was deleted so I am unable to leave negative feedback.

Rebecca Scudder May 25, 2010 10:22 AM

Re: I got a fake Kingston 128Gb drive off Ebay

Hi AJ,
I am sorry to hear you were cheated. Please notify eBay and see if you can obtain a refund through PayPal, if you used it to purchase the drive. I also suggest that you give the seller very negative feedback, so others are not tricked. If you use the link to SOSFAKEFLASH above, you can report the seller to them as well, and they will try to have them removed from eBay. I suggest you take a screenshot of the listing for the fake drive, if it is still showing before you report the incident to eBay, as they may remove it abruptly. That way you have the image to forward to everyone even if the original listing disappears. If you are unable to access your listing anymore, get all the information you can about the seller, and see if they have other fake drives up for sale that you can screenshot too. Perhaps it will be some satisfaction if you can stop the seller from swindling others.

I have recently been sent a fake Kingston 128GB drive purchased through eBay by someone else who was cheated, and I will be posting an article with a number of images to show how it differs from a real Kingston 128 GB drive. There will be a link from this article to that one after it is finished.

AJ May 25, 2010 8:49 AM

I got a fake Kingston off Ebay

Thanks for answering why my 128GB Kingston drive doesn't work- it's a fake.

It looks just like the all-black drive pictured in your article, the only thing missing is the serial # on the USB plug. I bought it on Ebay for $75 and it came in what seemed to be the original packaging.

I should have researched how expensive 128GB drives are right now and I would have realised $75 was way too good of a deal to be true.

Rebecca Scudder Mar 4, 2010 2:57 PM

Bright Hub Message system

Hi Tommy,

Click on my name at the top of the article- the hyperlink, and it will take you to my profile page. You should see send a message there. Send me a message and I will send you my email to you so you can send an attachment to me at the email.
thanks,
Rebecca

tommy Mar 4, 2010 2:38 PM

mail

Can't figure out how to mail you :-/

Tommy Mar 4, 2010 2:33 PM

Fake

>>Did you run the H2testw program on the drive to find the true size?
Yes, I ran the program which showed that 80% of all sectors where corrupt.

>>What brand drive is it?
It was a Kingston Data200 on 128GB.

>>Where did you buy it?
Danish website called QXL.

>>Did you get given a price break on it that made it seem a really good deal?

It was a auction and I was really skeptic when the price ended on $160 - way less than my maximum bid.

I stalled the deal a bit, but was convinced when 4 of the others who won on of the 8 sticks had given him good grades.

>>Is there any way you can send me a jpg of the drive?
On the way.

>>Again, I am very sorry that you were ripped off with a fake drive.

I am unsure if the seller knew what he was doing - but when he realized that I was filing a claim with the police and Kingston I immediately got my money back and he got the flash drive back.

But the site are notified, so he won't be selling them there again.

Rebecca Scudder Mar 4, 2010 12:58 PM

Tommy- Fake 128 GBDrive

Hi Tommy,

I am very sorry to hear that you bought a faked drive which looks like one of the real drives pictured here. Is there any way you could provide some more information about the drive?
-Did you run the H2testw program on the drive to find the true size? The link to the program is up higher on this page in the article.
-What brand drive is it?
-Where did you buy it?
- Did you get given a price break on it that made it seem a really good deal?
-Is there any way you can send me a jpg of the drive? You can message me via clicking on my name as writer, and sending a message from the profile page, and I will let you know where to email the picture. If you give permission, I will post the picture of the fake in the article.
-Contact SOSFAKEFLASH at http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/ on their report a fake page, and give them all the information you can.
Again, I am very sorry that you were ripped off with a fake drive. However, with your help it may be possible to report the parties responsible for the fake to the authorities and to the manufacturer of the drive.
Rebecca

Tommy Mar 4, 2010 5:53 AM

I think they have started

I have just bought a flash-drive exactly as the one you shows. Except it's fake. 80% of the sectors are defective :-(

Rebecca Scudder Oct 12, 2009 10:57 PM

correction on color of data 200 drive

Thank you Tomor, for pointing out the 64GB is actually yellow. I checked on the Kingston site and you are correct. The article will be updated.
Rebecca

tomor Oct 12, 2009 5:27 AM

yellow, blue...details, details

Amazon, Buy & Newegg all agree the 64gb version is yellow. Perhaps they all wrong and the author is correct. Bad data mars an otherwise helpful article.

Randy Aug 3, 2009 10:43 AM

Biggest USB drive now 256GB

See:

http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/biggest-usb-flash-drive-just-released-256gb-from-kingston-technologies-sosfakeflash-news-august-2nd-2009/

Rebecca Scudder Jul 20, 2009 4:35 PM

New 128GB USB drives

Hi jhechotek ,
Yes, there are now three 128GB USB flash drives announced by reputable companies. Kingston announced the first, on June 16th, and the next day, Edge-tech and Patriot both announced they had one too. Patriot must have written their press release before hearing about Kingston's announcement, because they also claim to be the first. In the article How to Identify Fake Flash Drives before Buying Them, (http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/articles/39985.aspx) , there are pictures of all three of the authentic drives in the article, as well as the estimated price known at the time. I also blogged on the new 128GB drives back at the end of June; http://www.brighthub.com/hubfolio/rebecca-scudder/blog.aspx. Now that the drives are actually starting to show up on shelves, I'll check different online retailers and see what the drives are going for, and update these other articles as well.
Rebecca

jhechotek Jul 18, 2009 3:10 AM

Patriot PEF128GMNUSB

I guess these "journalists" don't do any real reporting or research any more because Patriot has a 128GB USB flash drive (PEF128GMNUSB) for $399 at NewEgg.com

Rebecca Scudder Jun 18, 2009 12:18 PM

Yes, Virgina, there is a 128GB USB flash drive now- just one

Kingston has released a 129GB USB flash drive, as of June 15, according to their press release: http://www.kingston.com/press/2009/flash/06b.asp. Now, we just need to make sure everyone knows what it looks like! Additional information available in the above article and in http://www.brighthub.com/computing/hardware/reviews/33097.aspx What are the Biggest and Best USB Flash drives Available?

joeee Jun 18, 2009 9:43 AM

yay

YaY Good Job kingston for being the first to release the 128gb drive..

Chaz Jun 17, 2009 12:16 PM

Kingston 128GB flash drive

Randy is right. Check the datatraveler 200 @ kingston.com. It's going at $547!!!!!
http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/configurator_new/PartsInfo.asp?root=us&LinkBack=http://www.kingston.com&ktcpartno=DT200/128GB&referid=28

Randy Jun 17, 2009 12:47 AM

128GB Flash now official.\

see http://flashdrivefacts.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/kingston-technologies-releases-dt200-128gb-usb-flash-drive-to-market/

KittyFireFlash Jun 13, 2009 2:33 AM

Kingston Fakes And Ad's Inserted Into Your Article

This may seem like a strange irony. Google ad inserts show the site www.kingstonusbcf.com showing up in your article on Kingston fakes.

The odd thing is that this site has been reported for selling counterfeit Kingston usb flash drives. Unlike eBay or Amazon there is no place to leave feedback. However you can look at the following two articles:

http://fakeflashnews.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/how-did-kingstonusbcf-com-get-reported-as-a-seller-of-counterfeit-kingston-usb-flash-drives/

and

http://fakeflashnews.wordpress.com/2009/06/10/kingstonusbcf-com-said-to-sell-counterfeit-kingston-flash-drives/

The problem is everywhere these days.

Is There Really a 128 GB USB Flash Drive Out There?

Yes, Virginia, there are real 128GB USB flash drives now

The actual Kingston 128GB USB flash Drive

Warning! Better Fakes are out now

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