USB flash memory stick....reliable brand?
cark...@juno.com
I am going to buy an 8gb USB flash memory stick.
Price has fallen down to about $2 per gig.
I want a "stick" with _NO_ U3 or software.
In terms of reliability and longevity, are there brands to avoid?
Are there brands that "stand out" as being better than average?
What's the opinion on SANDISK brand?
Thanks, folks........ Lee in Denver CO
TKM
<cark...@juno.com> wrote in message
news:efeb6d9b-f900-4252...@w39g2000prb.googlegroups.com...
I've never had any problems with any brand of stick -- even the cheapies
given away at trade shows. I think simplicity = reliability in this case.
My first, a 512 MB Lexar, bought in 2004 is still in weekly use.
TKM
BigDog1
Buy the cheapest one you can find that meets your needs. There is no
difference in quality or reliability from one to the next. Brand
markings are irrelevant.
max
<efeb6d9b-f900-4252...@w39g2000prb.googlegroups.com>,
"cark...@juno.com" <cark...@juno.com> wrote:
just buy whatever. if you don't like whatever it comes with, erase it.
No biggie. Buy cheap; avoid big "names" like sony.
--
This signature can be appended to your outgoing mesages. Many people include in
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Jeff
> I am going to buy an 8gb USB flash memory stick.
>
> Price has fallen down to about $2 per gig.
>
> I want a "stick" with _NO_ U3 or software.
>
> In terms of reliability and longevity, are there brands to avoid?
>
> Are there brands that "stand out" as being better than average?
>
> What's the opinion on SANDISK brand?
I have little knowledge of USB sticks but have a lot of experience
with flash memory used in cameras.
Now, it may be that memory as a commodity has reached a high level of
development and brand X may be very good.
Flash memory has two properties you may be interested in. One is
"speed", and if you are transferring 8GB, that can take a while.
The other is wear, flash memory wears a bit with each use and in many
products there is wear leveling software so the same bits aren't written
to, rather the wear is spread out.
Sandisk is a major brand and was one of the first to stress
reliability and speed and even performance at temperature extremes. I
have had problems with some flash memory and found some way too slow,
but that was a couple years ago and things may be very different now.
If I were you, I'd buy the Sandisk for a slight premium over the X
Brand. Particularly in the largest size. YMMV.
Jeff
Daniel T.
> I am going to buy an 8gb USB flash memory stick.
>
> Price has fallen down to about $2 per gig.
>
> I want a "stick" with _NO_ U3 or software.
>
> In terms of reliability and longevity, are there brands to avoid?
>
> Are there brands that "stand out" as being better than average?
>
> What's the opinion on SANDISK brand?
I have had very good luck with Ativa sticks, which I think is Office
Depot's generic brand.
They are cheep and reliable, but they can't take a lot of abuse, so if
you are the sort of person who likes throwing your USB to a friend from
across the room (overhand,) you might want to check out some other brand.
sarge137
Nicely explained. All of the cards in my camera bag are Sandisk for
the very reasons you spelled out. Those files are one of a kind until
they get transferred to my hard drive.
Sticks are mainly used for non-critical purposes, like "sneaker
netting" files between computers where the originals still exist. I
have a couple of small capacity generic sticks (256 & 512) that are at
least three years old and get used constantly with no apparent loss of
speed or capacity. But I'd never have the only copy of any file on
either of them. I wouldn't pay even a small premium for a name brand
stick over a generic of the same capacity, if the choice is
available. On the other hand, the price difference is generally small
enough I wouldn't pass up a name brand stick if I needed one and it
was the only choice.
Regards,
Sarge
JR Weiss
>
> I am going to buy an 8gb USB flash memory stick.
> In terms of reliability and longevity, are there brands to avoid?
I haven't had any fail.
> Are there brands that "stand out" as being better than average?
My PNY is faster than my Memorex or Newegg generic, but they all work.
> What's the opinion on SANDISK brand?
Mainstream. I use their SD cards.
The Real Bev
> cark...@juno.com (cark...@juno.com) wrote:
>> I am going to buy an 8gb USB flash memory stick.
>> Price has fallen down to about $2 per gig.
>> I want a "stick" with _NO_ U3 or software.
>> In terms of reliability and longevity, are there brands to avoid?
>> Are there brands that "stand out" as being better than average?
>> What's the opinion on SANDISK brand?
>
> Sandisk is a very reputable brand, significant share of the market.
> A friend just bought an 8GB stick, pretty sure it was Sandisk. He's
> happy with it.
Last time I looked Lexar cards were faster than others, but also more
expensive.
I've been happy with all the flash memory (CF, SD, SDHC) I've used, and
some I bought just because it was cheap. The annoying thing is that
after 8 years my card readers have worn out (no idea what breaks, but it
does) and the one that came with the windows machine doesn't see
anything bigger than 2G. I just ordered a multi-reader from an ebay
PC-goodies store in Oregon for $5.38 and no shipping or tax. We'll see.
--
Cheers,
Bev
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