Which brand of flash / USB memory device do you prefer ?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Which brand of flash / USB memory device do you prefer ? (Page 1 of 2)

Posted: 4/28/2011 1:13:41 PM EDT

Lots to choose from with varying capacities - 4 GB, 8 GB, 16 GB, etc:

HP
PNY
Lexar
Toshiba
Sandisk
... and so on

I realize that in many ways they're all probably quite similar, but am wondering if people have had particularly good (or bad) luck with one brand versus the others ...

Posted: 4/28/2011 1:15:49 PM EDT

[#1]

i use sandisk

Posted: 4/28/2011 1:16:51 PM EDT

[#2]

I have a 32 GB Sandisk.

People complain on the net that it's slow, but other than that, it works great for me. I haven't tried to upload/dl an entire hard drive yet though.

Posted: 4/28/2011 1:18:08 PM EDT

[#3]

Posted: 4/28/2011 1:18:26 PM EDT

[#4]

I've had excellent results from Patriot USB drives.

Matter of fact, because I loved the 8gb ones I had, I just purchased a 16gb and a 32gb of the Patriot Xporter XT Boost models.

On amazon there is a $10 rebate form, eligible for 1 per product per household (buy one of each, get $20 back).

I put 'em to the test the other day and they are lightning fast for a USB drive.

They're also made of rubber making them very durable and unless you're diving with the thing in your hand, waterproof to a degree.

Love 'em.

$57 for the 32gb ($47 after rebate)

$25 for the 16gb ($15 after rebate)

ETA: They also have a *lifetime* warranty

Posted: 4/28/2011 1:21:55 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:

I've had excellent results from Patriot USB drives.

Matter of fact, because I loved the 8gb ones I had, I just purchased a 16gb and a 32gb of the Patriot Xporter XT Boost models.

On amazon there is a $10 rebate form, eligible for 1 per product per household (buy one of each, get $20 back).

I put 'em to the test the other day and they are lightning fast for a USB drive.

They're also made of rubber making them very durable and unless you're diving with the thing in your hand, waterproof to a degree.

Love 'em.

$57 for the 32gb ($47 after rebate)

$25 for the 16gb ($15 after rebate)

ETA: They also have a *lifetime* warranty

What he said

Posted: 4/28/2011 4:13:38 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:

Quoted:

I've had excellent results from Patriot USB drives.

Matter of fact, because I loved the 8gb ones I had, I just purchased a 16gb and a 32gb of the Patriot Xporter XT Boost models.

On amazon there is a $10 rebate form, eligible for 1 per product per household (buy one of each, get $20 back).

I put 'em to the test the other day and they are lightning fast for a USB drive.

They're also made of rubber making them very durable and unless you're diving with the thing in your hand, waterproof to a degree.

Love 'em.

$57 for the 32gb ($47 after rebate)
$25 for the 16gb ($15 after rebate)

ETA: They also have a *lifetime* warranty

What he said

Excellent; thanks for the tip

I hadn't heard of these before.

I only need 8 GB of capacity, but I'm not finding any rebate offers ... not a big deal though as they seem to be reasonably priced.

Here's what I've found:

Amazon $15.93

Newegg $15.99

Next question - - I have no experience ordering with Newegg ... Any thoughts on ordering from them vs. Amazon

Posted: 4/28/2011 4:52:40 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:

Quoted:

I've had excellent results from Patriot USB drives.

Matter of fact, because I loved the 8gb ones I had, I just purchased a 16gb and a 32gb of the Patriot Xporter XT Boost models.

On amazon there is a $10 rebate form, eligible for 1 per product per household (buy one of each, get $20 back).

I put 'em to the test the other day and they are lightning fast for a USB drive.

They're also made of rubber making them very durable and unless you're diving with the thing in your hand, waterproof to a degree.

Love 'em.

$57 for the 32gb ($47 after rebate)

$25 for the 16gb ($15 after rebate)

ETA: They also have a *lifetime* warranty

What he said

Excellent; thanks for the tip

I hadn't heard of these before.

I only need 8 GB of capacity, but I'm not finding any rebate offers ... not a big deal though as they seem to be reasonably priced.

Here's what I've found:

Amazon $15.93

Newegg $15.99

Next question - - I have no experience ordering with Newegg ... Any thoughts on ordering from them vs. Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Patriot-Xporter-Boost-Flash-PEF8GUSB/dp/B000VE2RP6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1304035278&sr=8-2

Posted: 4/29/2011 9:46:02 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:

Quoted:

<snip>

http://www.amazon.com/Patriot-Xporter-Boost-Flash-PEF8GUSB/dp/B000VE2RP6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1304035278&sr=8-2

Yep ...

I think that's the same one that I linked to in the post above your last.

Thanks.

Posted: 4/29/2011 9:46:53 AM EDT

[#9]

I like the sandisk cruzer and corsair voyagers.

Posted: 4/29/2011 9:47:51 AM EDT

[#10]

Corsair or Sandisk.

Posted: 4/29/2011 9:59:19 AM EDT

[#11]

I have a couple 8gb san disk, and I have a microcenter 16 gb that works great. the 16 gb was cheap too. Like 12 bucks

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:00:40 AM EDT

[#12]

I have had good luck with both Sandisk and Toshiba. I am hard on my flash drives at work and they get used every day, in various computers and seem to stand up the best.

Used to use Patriots because they are low cost and I could get em in bulk, maybe I got a bad batch but had had several take a shit on me.

J-

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:02:49 AM EDT

[#13]

I have mostly sandisk and pny. Whatever is cheapest. PNY and other brands than sandisk get bonus points for not having the U3 shit on them.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:03:46 AM EDT

[#14]

A tremendous number of those are the same underlying chipset/components with a different brand name slapped on.

I view them as disposable commodity items. Run whatever was in the bargain bin at the checkout line of your local MicroCenter or Fry's. Better yet go to some shitty sales expo or conference they'll be giving them away.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:06:39 AM EDT

[#15]

fiver has it nailed

I usually buy patriot stuff

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:06:46 AM EDT

[#16]

The one that someone gives me for free?

I prefer Transcend and OCZ though.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:16:54 AM EDT

[#17]

Whatever is cheapest.

I have about a dozen thumb drives and probably 4 or 5 different brands. They all have functioned just fine.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:19:42 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
Whatever is cheapest.

I have about a dozen thumb drives and probably 4 or 5 different brands. They all have functioned just fine.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:31:32 AM EDT

[#19]

whatever i get for free or find online cheap enough to meet free shipping requirements when i'm ordering something else.

the most expensive flash drive i bought was a Corsair 8GB GT when they first came out... it was a piece of crap... tons of r/w errors... sent it back... the replacement lasted a couple months before it just would just corrupt itself randomly... third time's a charm? wrong, the usb connector broke off...

i have a dell 16mb, yes 16mb, from 2004? that still has data on it from 7 years ago and works great.

i have a sandisk and a couple kingstons, and a freebie micro drive i got at the RSA conference (another security company was letting people scan them with their antivirus/malware tools, and then formatting them - it was a total coincidence, yet a clever way to show off their product)

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:32:14 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:

I have mostly sandisk and pny. Whatever is cheapest. PNY and other brands than sandisk get bonus points for not having the U3 shit on them.

What's the U3 stuff and why is it bad ?

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:32:54 AM EDT

[#21]

Anymore, they are all just fine.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:33:25 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
http://i.imgur.com/wf3ZS.jpg

Same, but i haven't found a need for the Titanium.

These things work well. The locking mechanism holds tight, even after literally years of use.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:34:38 AM EDT

[#23]

So far the only two I own are no-name freebies. Neither has had any kind of failure, but I do keep them backed up.

Wait - one's an Imation and the other is a Dane-Elec. The Imation is a 2GB that I've had for several years. The Dane-Elec is an 8GB that I got last fall.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:35:26 AM EDT

[#24]

Iron Key. If you lose it, no one can access your data. They are pricie, but are worth. I have one I have carried on my key chain for 3 years now and it still is going strong. The wife has ran it through the washing machine a couple of times.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:35:48 AM EDT

[#25]

Corsair - Voyager

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:37:56 AM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
What's the U3 stuff and why is it bad ?

U3 is some software that SanDisk loads onto the flash drive.
I think it includes some portable apps (openoffice, keepass, firefox) but I am not certain. I unload it easily by reformatting the drive when I first plug the drive in.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:39:28 AM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
I have mostly sandisk and pny. Whatever is cheapest. PNY and other brands than sandisk get bonus points for not having the U3 shit on them.

Not to high-jack, but isn't there some small program that will keep the U3 and other crap from opening/running? Thought I read about something like that a while back.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:40:25 AM EDT

[#28]

I've used a bunch of different USB drives over the years. I've never had a single problem with any of them. I had an SD card go bad once, but that was after using it 10 trillion times. At least.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:40:41 AM EDT

[#29]

Whatevers the most highly reviewed on Newegg in a size I want at a price I want. Seriously that is how I decide.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:41:28 AM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:

Quoted:
What's the U3 stuff and why is it bad ?

U3 is some software that SanDisk loads onto the flash drive.
I think it includes some portable apps (openoffice, keepass, firefox) but I am not certain. I unload it easily by reformatting the drive when I first plug the drive in.

I've had some that won't give you the opportunity to format before they open and run. Solution?

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:46:43 AM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:

Quoted:
What's the U3 stuff and why is it bad ?

U3 is some software that SanDisk loads onto the flash drive.
I think it includes some portable apps (openoffice, keepass, firefox) but I am not certain. I unload it easily by reformatting the drive when I first plug the drive in.

I've had some that won't give you the opportunity to format before they open and run. Solution?

yes, disable autorun. it requires a few simple registry tweaks but it will block the OS from searching the / drive for "autorun.inf" and executing whatever commands are in there...

disabling "autoplay" is a different item, but you should probably disable that too...

just google it for your windows version

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:48:58 AM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:

Quoted:
U3 is some software that SanDisk loads onto the flash drive.
I think it includes some portable apps (openoffice, keepass, firefox) but I am not certain. I unload it easily by reformatting the drive when I first plug the drive in.

I've had some that won't give you the opportunity to format before they open and run. Solution?

I haven't seen that. But U3 specifically also has a "Uninstall" option in the software. So you can get rid of it from the software itself. Once you do that then you should be able to delete anything on the drive and reformat.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:50:16 AM EDT

[#33]

Quoted:
yes, disable autorun. it requires a few simple registry tweaks but it will block the OS from searching the / drive for "autorun.inf" and executing whatever commands are in there...
disabling "autoplay" is a different item, but you should probably disable that too...
just google it for your windows version

I think MS has pushed out updates for XP, Vista, and 7 that disables autorun from USB permanently (due to Stuxnet.)

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:50:23 AM EDT

[#34]

If it's not already apparent that I know next to nothing about these little things, it will be now ...

Quoted:

Quoted:

What's the U3 stuff and why is it bad ?

U3 is some software that SanDisk loads onto the flash drive.
I think it includes some portable apps (openoffice, keepass, firefox) but I am not certain. I unload it easily by reformatting the drive when I first plug the drive in.

I was wondering if reformatting was possible with these things ... so ... how do you go about that ?

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:55:41 AM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:

If it's not already apparent that I know next to nothing about these little things, it will be now ...

Quoted:

Quoted:

What's the U3 stuff and why is it bad ?

U3 is some software that SanDisk loads onto the flash drive.
I think it includes some portable apps (openoffice, keepass, firefox) but I am not certain. I unload it easily by reformatting the drive when I first plug the drive in.

I was wondering if reformatting was possible with these things ... so ... how do you go about that ?

Insert the drive. Open "computer. Right click the drive. Click on "format" in the drop down.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:56:08 AM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:

If it's not already apparent that I know next to nothing about these little things, it will be now ...

Quoted:

Quoted:

What's the U3 stuff and why is it bad ?

U3 is some software that SanDisk loads onto the flash drive.
I think it includes some portable apps (openoffice, keepass, firefox) but I am not certain. I unload it easily by reformatting the drive when I first plug the drive in.

I was wondering if reformatting was possible with these things ... so ... how do you go about that ?

like you would any other drive, the easiest being, double click on "my computer", right click on the flash drive, and select "format"

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:57:16 AM EDT

[#37]

Quoted:
Insert the drive. Open "computer. Right click the drive. Click on "format" in the drop down.

Just make sure you format the correct drive.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:58:03 AM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:

Quoted:
yes, disable autorun. it requires a few simple registry tweaks but it will block the OS from searching the / drive for "autorun.inf" and executing whatever commands are in there...
disabling "autoplay" is a different item, but you should probably disable that too...
just google it for your windows version

I think MS has pushed out updates for XP, Vista, and 7 that disables autorun from USB permanently (due to Stuxnet.)

I'll check that out.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:58:16 AM EDT

[#39]

I use Sandisk ulta II SD and CF cards in my cameras

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:58:39 AM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

Quoted:
Insert the drive. Open "computer. Right click the drive. Click on "format" in the drop down.

Just make sure you format the correct drive.

Definitely!!!!!

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:59:21 AM EDT

[#41]

I buy whatever is rated highly on Newegg.

Posted: 4/29/2011 10:59:22 AM EDT

[#42]

Quoted:

Quoted:
yes, disable autorun. it requires a few simple registry tweaks but it will block the OS from searching the / drive for "autorun.inf" and executing whatever commands are in there...
disabling "autoplay" is a different item, but you should probably disable that too...
just google it for your windows version

I think MS has pushed out updates for XP, Vista, and 7 that disables autorun from USB permanently (due to Stuxnet.)

interesting, i guess they just do the "autoplay" now and give you the option to choose things like "open with media player, open with windows explorer, run xyz" etc?

do you have the hotfix # for that?

Posted: 4/29/2011 11:09:10 AM EDT

[#43]

Quoted:
interesting, i guess they just do the "autoplay" now and give you the option to choose things like "open with media player, open with windows explorer, run xyz" etc?
do you have the hotfix # for that?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971029

Posted: 4/29/2011 11:10:07 AM EDT

[#44]

Quoted:

Quoted:
interesting, i guess they just do the "autoplay" now and give you the option to choose things like "open with media player, open with windows explorer, run xyz" etc?
do you have the hotfix # for that?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971029

thanks

Posted: 4/29/2011 11:18:55 AM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:

like you would any other drive, the easiest being, double click on "my computer", right click on the flash drive, and select "format"

Quoted:

Quoted:

Insert the drive. Open "computer. Right click the drive. Click on "format" in the drop down.

Just make sure you format the correct drive.

Definitely!!!!!

Posted: 4/29/2011 3:39:03 PM EDT

[#46]

Quoted:

Quoted:

If it's not already apparent that I know next to nothing about these little things, it will be now ...

Quoted:

Quoted:

What's the U3 stuff and why is it bad ?

U3 is some software that SanDisk loads onto the flash drive.
I think it includes some portable apps (openoffice, keepass, firefox) but I am not certain. I unload it easily by reformatting the drive when I first plug the drive in.

I was wondering if reformatting was possible with these things ... so ... how do you go about that ?

like you would any other drive, the easiest being, double click on "my computer", right click on the flash drive, and select "format"

Formatting them does not get rid of U3.

You need to grab the U3 uninstaller from sandisk. http://mp3support.sandisk.com/downloads/launchpadremoval.exe