[geeks] How to avoid counterfit gadgets?

[microcode at zoho.com]

I remember a discussion a while ago elsewhere about SanDisk memory cards and
how often they are (were?) being counterfitted. A bunch of people reported
receiving bogus cards from various ebay sellers.

Recently I was looking for batteries and it looks to me like the local shops
are selling counterfit Duracells. The batteries themselves look pretty good
but they have some Chinese characters on them. The dead giveaway is the
packaging. It doesn't say Duracell anywhere on it. It's brown, generic
packaging. This is ok for people who know what Duracells and Duracell
packages are supposed to look like and read English (most people where I
live don't) but it can and I guess does fool most of the people most of the
time. Incidentally, there are legit Duracells here, we just bought a bunch.

I need to buy a few SD cards and was wondering how likely I am to get real
SanDisks when ordering from ebay, Amazon, etc. since I don't know any stores
that ship internationally (Damn you, NewEgg!) that have reasonable prices.

Aside from ordering something that is supposed to come in original retail
packaging (as opposed to bulk) is there anything to look for?

Thanks.

-- 
I was a programmer in the 1970s and I still am.
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