Best USB Flash Drives?
 

Hi there,

I'm looking around for a few USB flash drive type devices and there are so many choices out there with new features like Cruzer etc. Does anyone have any advice on picking the right one?


Thanks!

I hate the Cruzer U3 crap. We use Kingston thumb drives at work and they're great. No U3, no software, just plug n play perfection. The best part: you can get the 1 GB models at www.buy.com for $10, and if you sign up for a Google checkout account when you pay for it they deduct $10 so you get the thumb drive for free. Then choose free shipping and you get it for literally $0.00. I've bought three of them this way and it works everytime. If you wanted a bigger one like 2 GB or 4 GB you can still get $10 off.

Here's the one I have:

http://www.buy.com/prod/kingston-2gb...202378602.html

I like the U3 because it works for stupid or lazy people. They don't have to do anything but plug it in and it does 1/2 the work for them. I know you can modify any USB drive to do such a thing, but open the package, plug in, choose add programs and it does most of the work for you.

You'll have a hard time convincing me there are more than two or three flash memory factories supplying every major flash drive manufacturer. I'd say buy whatever form factor your fancy that you can get for cheap, and use it as intended: Data transportation. Don't put anything on it you couldn't afford to lose (either through data loss or physical loss) at the end of the day.

That said, my favorite form factor BY FAR, is the 'as small as possible' drives.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/images/prod...memory_key.jpg

This waterproof pico-form factor 8 gig for $50 is about as good as it gets.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/drives/a6d9/

Can't the new U3 nonsense be formatted off it?

I have an OLD 512MB Cruzer from SanDisk and I vaguely remember something like that on there before I formatted it. It STILL works after being plugged in nearly all day every day for at least three years now.

I personally like the Sandisk stuff. These new Cruzers are slick that you can pull the USB interface back into the drive so no need for those blasted caps. No blasted caps: can't lose blasted caps.

I have a Kingston DT mini and I love it. It's 2 Gb and about as small as the pic posted by twistedmosaic, except it has a slide over cover for protection. I bought it a while back, but I'm pretty sure I got it for around $15 shipped. It comes with a small lanyard which I like to use to yank it out when it's tucked between several other usb cables in the back of a PC.

Co-workers who saw it said it was so small they'd lose it, so keep in mind how easily you lose things.

http://www.kingston.com/flash/dtmini_migo.asp

yeah, U3 can be taken off, but the only reason they're more expensive is the U3...so, why get it to begin with?

Yeah you can use a U3 uninstaller and get it off. I just hate having to get rid of it on a weekly basis because coworkers/customers of mine have no idea what it is besides it making their thumb drive act like a CD-ROM and running bloatware in the background.

I've used a Corsair Voyager for years and it has never failed me. I've dropped it in water, stepped on it, sucked it up with a vacuum cleaner and it just wont die. Cheap too.

I've almost decided on a Corsair Survivor. I like the idea of a drive that isn't overly small and loseable, and the screw-in cover means it's less likely to come loose from the cap.

http://www.everythingusb.com/corsair...8gb_12805.html

The Survivor is nice if you are in need of ultra rugged stuff. Otherwise it's just too damned pricey for 8GB.

I have a 3 year old Sandisk mini cruzer 1 GB. It's plug and play as an external drive. It does have software that you can run to protect/version control, but I second the opinion on the U3 stuff. Can't stand it.

this is what i use.
http://www.buy.com/prod/kingston-4gb...207937969.html

its on sale now too, and at a great price.
4 gigs for $22 shipped.

i keep it on my key chain so its always with me.
the only bad thing is to you have to remember to take your keys with you when you leave.
it's happened to me before but thank god i use it for work. it would be a different story if perhaps you left it in a school library.

That is SO excessive. Flash memory is one of the most stable electronic 'devices' there is. You can't shock it, there are no moving parts, and it's not sensitive to water, so why you would need to take this nearly physically indestructible device and put it in an aluminum 'ruggedized' shell is beyond me. :shakehead:

Edit: Holy shit, $200 for an 8gb flash drive ?!! If you are paying more than $60 for an 8-gig you are getting raped...i got a Sony-brand switchblade style 8 gig for $20 on sale at staples. If you are carrying data so sensitive you need an ultradurable flash drive YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG. Flashdrives should always be backed up and disposable, since their most likely demise is loss, not 300m water submersion. :rolleyes:

Yeah, I'm agreeing with twistedmosaic on the "$200 for an 8gb flash drive" thing - I think you're paying mostly for the 'cool' factor. Don't think of a flash drive as a backup solution - it isn't. Everything you put on it that you care about should be backed up, because Things Happen. Even if this drive is significantly sturdier than others, at 3x the price, you could just buy more 'standard' drives if the first one breaks....which is pretty rare, AFAIK. Solid state and all.

Personally, I've had a 4gb sandisk cruzer for a couple of months now that I'm pretty happy with. I wiped whatever software crap was on it first thing, though, and just use it as a USB drive under linux.

To me, there are three real factors for buying a USB drive. First, reliability - in that you don't want it to crap out when you're trying to do something. Anything but the cheapest crap should be fine here. Second, speed - for instance, the corsair voyager GT is supposed to be faster than the standard drive according to corsair and various reviews...if that's a factor for you, maybe it's worth the premium. Third is just the shape - does it have a cap that you'll lose? Is it ginormous? Are the USB contacts expose so they might be damaged? Is it so small that you'll lose it? Does it attache easily to a keychain?

Ok, personally, that's probably the one I'd get. Small, fast, has a little loop to attach to my keychain - the only drawback I can see is the exposed USB connectors. I'd be afraid they'd get damaged eventually in my pocket with the keys.

I've have about four 1GB Sandisk Cruzer Micros; getting rid of the U3 is simple, and I got all of them for like $10 each, all of them including a surge protector and some stupid PC software; was a price mistake on Dell's website.

Anywho, I got a 4GB Sandisk TITANIUM Cruzer Micro for about $20 from some seller on Amazon not tooo long ago; damn this thing is built like a tank!!! You could get the fattest person in the world to stand on it and I assure you it wouldn't break.

Well, I shelled out for a 16gb Corsair Survivor for 40 quid (just under $80) and I can live with that. I actually learned quite a lot from this thread so thanks all... will probably be getting one of the other ones as well sometime.

I have a Supertalent C drive (supermosaic's photo) and it is excellent and super small. I have it on my key ring and I don't even know it's there. My only gripe with it is that it is a little tight on some USB sockets but it works great. Linux, Windows, no problems!