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Fyre4ce · Nov 22, 2004, 11:44 PM

Who makes a good one? And what size makes sense?

Xeo · Nov 22, 2004, 11:49 PM

Friends of mine have a Kingston Data Traveler. If you get one, get the "hi-speed" version (ie, usb 2.0). Either 128 or 256 will probably do for most things, unless you're going to use it for large photoshop files or something. They really are just for moving files around so it's all about what you think you'll be moving most.

Krusty · Nov 22, 2004, 11:52 PM

There is one keychain drive that rules them all.
The Sandisk Cruzer Titanium
Made of titanium coated metal to withstand 2000 lbs
Retractable USB port ... so no cap to lose
Extremely fast transfer speed of any keychain drive (13-15MB/sec)

They only come in one size (512mb) and can now be had for $50-$60 (check Newegg. They were $150 6 months ago). Read the user reviews at Newegg and anywhere else you can find. This IS the ultimate keychain hard drive and solves the two biggest problems with most other ones (easy to crush/break and easy to lose the cap).

Fyre4ce · Nov 22, 2004, 11:53 PM

Thanks! Is one particular brand better than another? Are there features other than USB 2.0 to look for?

Kenneth · Nov 22, 2004, 11:57 PM

Have been using the Cruzer Mini 256mb for 4 months now.. no problem what-so-ever.

Fyre4ce · Nov 22, 2004, 11:59 PM

Originally posted by Krusty:
There is one keychain drive that rules them all.
The Sandisk Cruzer Titanium
Made of titanium coated metal to withstand 2000 lbs
Retractable USB port ... so no cap to lose
Fastest rated transfer speed of any keychain drive (13-15MB/sec)

They only come in one size (512mb) and can now be had for $50-$60 (check Newegg. They were $150 6 months ago. Read the user reviews at Newegg and anywhere else you can find. This IS the ultimate keychain hard drive and solves the two biggest problems with most other ones (easy to crush/break and easy to lose the cap).

Yeah, I saw that one. I was excited until I read "titanium-coated metal." That could mean anything. First of all, the "coating" could be less than one thousandth of an inch thick, in which case it would do nothing structurally. And the term "titanium" is thrown around a lot, but there are many types of titamium. Only a real engineering alloy like 6-4 would get me excited, but most commercial products use commercially pure titanium which is nothing special. If it said something like "structure made from billet 6AL-4V titanium" then I would start to drool.

On a side note, ever seen "titanium" golf balls? If you read the package carefully it says something like "high-performance titanium coating" - they put titanium dioxide (not even a metal) in the paint to make it whiter.

These are the things that piss mechanical engineers off. I would almost boycott it just for the deceptive advertizing, but other than the "titanium" issue it seems like it it's pretty good. And I think I'd be willing to pay the price for 512 MB.

Xeo · Nov 23, 2004, 12:05 AM

Originally posted by Fyre4ce:
Yeah, I saw that one. I was excited until I read "titanium-coated metal." That could mean anything. First of all, the "coating" could be less than one thousandth of an inch thick, in which case it would do nothing structurally. And the term "titanium" is thrown around a lot, but there are many types of titamium. Only a real engineering alloy like 6-4 would get me excited, but most commercial products use commercially pure titanium which is nothing special. If it said something like "structure made from billet 6AL-4V titanium" then I would start to drool.

On a side note, ever seen "titanium" golf balls? If you read the package carefully it says something like "high-performance titanium coating" - they put titanium dioxide (not even a metal) in the paint to make it whiter.

These are the things that piss mechanical engineers off. I would almost boycott it just for the deceptive advertizing, but other than the "titanium" issue it seems like it it's pretty good. And I think I'd be willing to pay the price for 512 MB.

Except it specifically says it's designed to handle 2000 pounds. That takes the "marketing term tossing" away, I think. That one looks way cooler than the one I suggested. I only suggested the one I had any knowledge of.

Krusty · Nov 23, 2004, 12:13 AM

Originally posted by Fyre4ce:
Yeah, I saw that one. I was excited until I read "titanium-coated metal." That could mean anything. First of all, the "coating" could be less than one thousandth of an inch thick, in which case it would do nothing structurally.

The titanium coating is probably a marketing gimmick more than a strength issue. However, they claim (and supposedly have independent confirmation of) the ability to withstand 2000 lbs of force. So .... I don't care if its made of Ti or Nerf, if it has that structural strength that is a big thing. Every other one I've seen is made out of some sort of hard plastic.

I've owned 2 keychain drives in my life. One eventually cracked, then the keychain loop broke after about a year. The other got lost because the keychain loop was stupidly attached to the cap rather than the body (it was a gift, I would never have bought that design). As a person who really carried one on my keychain for a coupla years (until recently), I can tell you that solving those two issues is probably the most important thing to look for. Other issues (speed, etc) are largely secondary, IMHO ... who really cares if one is 10% faster than another ? Speed isn't that huge a concern with the storage capacity involved. Of course, this is all IMHO

Scallywag · Nov 23, 2004, 12:17 AM

Originally posted by Fyre4ce:
Who makes a good one? And what size makes sense?

Ars Technica did extensive reviews on a bunch of drives.
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/flash.ars/1

Disgruntled Head of C-3PO · Nov 23, 2004, 12:51 AM

The sony ones look the smallest and the coolest.

TubaMuffins · Nov 23, 2004, 12:56 AM

this is what i have in 128mb, i like it a lot. comes in useful every now and then.
http://www.imation.com/en_US/product.jhtml?Id=IM_FAM600

tooki · Nov 23, 2004, 02:06 AM

I use a SanDisk Cruzer Micro 512MB. I can't recommend it enough. I got mine off of Amazon for around $45, no tax, free shipping.

SanDisk is one of the few thumb drive manufacturers smart enough to make the drive actually fit within the physical dimensions laid out by the USB specification. Lots of thumb drives are so big that they block the other USB ports, or don't fit at all thanks to nearby connectors. SanDisk's Cruzer Mini and Micro series are both the same girth as a USB plug. The Minis are just longer than a USB plug. The Micros are shorter than the Minis, barely longer than a USB plug.

Also, the Cruzer Micros are all low-power enough to run off a keyboard's USB port. Many thumb drives (including some Cruzer Mini units) can't do that.

So, if you want a list of features:
-USB 2
-small design that doesn't block ports
-low power consumption to allow use on keyboard ports
-keychain loop on the drive, not the cap
-write-protect switch, if you want to be able to make it read-only

tooki

CharlesS · Nov 23, 2004, 03:58 AM

A few months after purchasing my SanDisk Cruzer Mini, the damn thing got corrupted so that most of the files on it got scrambled, any new files getting copied onto it would get scrambled, and the thing would report an incorrect amount of free space on the drive. Running fsck_msdos would report many recurring errors and fix them, and while this would cause the free space to show up correctly, all the scrambled files would still be scrambled (and would report a very small file size). Okay, so I reformatted the drive. Worked fine after that... for a week or so. Then it started hosing my files again. Formatted it again, even zeroing it this time, same thing happened not too long after.

Later, I found that although the drive sort of worked in OS X, with the caveat of occasionally scrambling all the data on it, it would cause certain Windows XP machines to immediately crash and reboot when the drive was plugged in to the USB port (No, the thing didn't have a virus on it - I had this happen immediately after formatting the thing in OS X).

Later I met another person who had the reverse problem - his Cruzer Mini would work in XP, but would occasionally lock OS X up. Every open app would beachball, and if you SSHed into the machine and tried to kill the apps, they wouldn't go down, being seemingly immortal. Unplugging the flash drive would cause everything to snap back to life. I talked with some other people that have been working in the university computer lab longer than I have, and they told me they'd run across a few other people who'd had problems with the SanDisk drives. Then, I did a Google search and found several references to data loss problems with the Cruzer:

http://www.thegraphicsstore.com/r-49...S/Default.aspx

http://macworld.pricegrabber.com/rat...2392/id_type=M

All in all, I can't really recommend the SanDisk flash drives.

effgee · Nov 23, 2004, 04:30 AM

I got myself a Sony MicroVault (512MB - mostly because I frequently use it to transfer larger pre-press files to and from print shops) and after 4 months of using it I'm quite happy with the little sucker. Transfer speeds are very good, it's small (doesn't block adjacent USB ports on my PB), runs off my external keyboard and looks reasonably stylish.

Possible downside is the neck strap that's attached to the drive's cap - "phew, am I glad I only lost the drive and not the cap" - makes you wonder what moron came up with that particular idea. But since I don't use the neck strap - "look, I'm an alpha geek - I have 512MB of storage around my neck" - I don't care much about that.

Before buying one of those little suckers, make sure you take a peek at this ars technica review - if nothing else it's an interesting read.

Also, if physical size of the drive is not your primary concern take a peek at this drive (sorry for the German link, don't have an English one), it's got 20GB of storage for little more than the price of a USB stick - I have no info regarding speed, reliability, etc., though.

MilkmanDan · Nov 23, 2004, 06:09 AM

http://www.dealmac.com

Some really cheap ones with large capacity. I plan on picking one up when I get back to the states.

CharlesS · Nov 23, 2004, 12:33 PM

I think my next flash drive will be a Kingston - friends have said good things about them, and also they have a really good reputation for producing reliable RAM, so if their flash drives are of similar quality, they should work better than my POS SanDisk.

The Godfather · Nov 23, 2004, 01:15 PM

Why are they called keychain drives if they all come with a neck strap?

Kenneth · Nov 23, 2004, 02:46 PM

I'm kind of shock to hear those bad SanDisk news. My Cruzer Mini 256mb thumb drive is the first product made by SanDisk. I also used dealmac.com before making my purchase. Anyway, I haven't yet experienced any data lost issue. I use it at home (Mac) and work (PC).

tooki · Nov 23, 2004, 03:41 PM

Err... the Cruzer Mini was not SanDisk's first product. It was (as the name implies) a successor to the original Cruzer. SanDisk has been making flash memory products for years and years now, it's a company known for top-quality stuff.

I've got no qualms about SanDisk products and would buy one again.

A lot of the companies, like Kingston and Lexar, make top-quality devices as well, but suffer from designs that aren't as good (read: huge honking devices that run over other ports).

tooki

Kenneth · Nov 24, 2004, 12:26 AM

Originally posted by tooki:
Err... the Cruzer Mini was not SanDisk's first product. It was (as the name implies) a successor to the original Cruzer. SanDisk has been making flash memory products for years and years now, it's a company known for top-quality stuff.

I've got no qualms about SanDisk products and would buy one again.

A lot of the companies, like Kingston and Lexar, make top-quality devices as well, but suffer from designs that aren't as good (read: huge honking devices that run over other ports).

tooki

sorry.. bad wording here.. I meant I have never owned any SanDisk product before purchased the Cruzer Mini.

I know many people use Lexar thumb drives.