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Hi-speed USB2 Flash Drive Round-Up
An anonymous reader writes "Ars Technica has a USB
2.0 Flash drive review featuring 8 drives from different manufacturers. What's so interesting about the review is that not all Flash
drives are created equal. Some have very unique features while some are clearly
better than others. They also took a detailed look
inside one of the drives as well as put two
drives in a RAID-0 array (a la Mac OS X). Now that's cool!"
not always, in my office we share usb drives to save time, so far they're the handiest things i've found so far... but if you really need biomectrically locked drive that looks like an inkpen, go right ahead
It's geeky to want to have redundancy and retain data?
No, but that's not what RAID-0 is all about. I think you must be confusing the different RAID standards. RAID-1 is redundancy, RAID-0 is speed.
Write boring code, not shiny code!
You're thinking raid-1, mirroring. This is raid-0, striping.
One drive goes (or even connect them incorrectly...), you lose everything without hope for recovery.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
The issue of durability and/or reliability wasn't addressed in the review but I have to say that I was impressed as hell when my Cruzer-mini went through both my washer and dryer with no apparent effect. That was several months ago and it still works great.
To ensure perfect aim, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target
Low Speed (1.5Mbps)
Full Speed (12Mbps)
Hi-Speed (480Mbps)
You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
No it doesn't.
The "R" in "RAID" stands for "Redundant". RAID level 0 is called that because there is no redundancy.
You could say RAID 0 so it isn't even really a RAID level. It is more like AID.
Conclusion
When we started this review, we only had an inkling of what we might come up with. By the time we finished, our perception that USB drives were a commodity was completely erased. While every USB Flash drive is essentially the same in that they carry data, they are all slightly different and not every drive will meet everyone's needs.
Drive summaries
PNY Attache: As drives go, this one was stylish and sturdy. It comes with a full assortment of accessories, including the USB extension cable and a neck strap. Aside from that, the drive itself is a rather lackluster offering. While much faster than any USB 1.1 device, the read and write speeds are rather slow for Hi-speed USB. The other unfortunate thing about this drive is the lack of extra software outside of the Windows 98 drivers. While it may be possible to find this drive for as little as US$15 to US$20 (after Mail-in-Rebate), it typically goes for US$30+. That is too expensive for such a mediocre drive. --- Score = 5/10
SanDisk Cruzer Mini: Of all the drives in this review, this drive is the thinnest. Some might even call it sexy, but we would not go that far. Unlike most other drives, it does not block dual-stacked USB ports in the slightest. Other positive things include the excellent LED visibility, good read/write scores, and it even works in unpowered USB hubs. Even the CruzerLock encryption software was solid and pretty easy to use. Some complaints would be the lack of a write-protect switch and that the plastic loop for the lanyard is rather weak. (It's fine for hanging around your neck, but it certainly is not load bearing in the least.) That said, the prices found for the 128, 256, and 512MB models make this a good deal. --- Score = 8/10
Mushkin Flashkin: We had mixed feelings about this drive. On one hand it offered a full complement of accessories and features, such as the standard neck strap, USB extension cable, write-protect switch, security software and it even worked in unpowered USB hubs. Yet despite this, everything about the drive felt like it was cheaply made and the security software felt like it was coded as an afterthought. The plastic body was very bulky and felt extremely hollow. On top of this, the slow read/write performance was troubling and the one-year warranty made us wonder how long this drive would last. Overall, the drive is not that bad, but what really lowered the score is that the price for the drive is more expensive than most of the other drives (which are notably better equipped.) --- Score = 6/10
SimpleTech Bonzai Xpress: This drive has the best physical design of the bunch. It is both strong and sturdy, yet still compact and a comfortable to carry. While it does not come with a USB extension, it does have a write-protect switch and some very helpful file synchronization software. What makes this USB drive especially nice is the strong read/write speeds, the solid two-year warranty, and the very nice price (considering how much is included.) --- Score = 9/10
Fujifilm USB Drive 2.0: Two words: speed demon. Without a doubt, this drive is fast! With top read speeds reaching 8.5MB/sec and write performance that destroyed the competition, this drive is perfect for anybody who is impatient or never seems to have enough time. Unfortunately, this drive has its drawbacks. The drive is the largest of the bunch, has no accessories included, no write-protect switch, no low-power support, and a higher price than most. Fortunately, it does come with decent security software and a lifetime warranty. --- Score = 8/10
Verbatim Store 'n' Go: In a nutshell, this drive was consistently above average. Never spectacular, but never terrible either. Read/Write performance is definitely strong, but nothing amazing. It comes equipped with neck strap, USB extension
Anonymous, 'cause I ain't no karma whore.
How about fixing USB 1.1 support in Linux first?
USB must be the crappiest kernel subsystem in existence: I can crash 2.4 in a number of ways just by plugging in and removing USB devices. Bug reports are being ignored, sometimes people sugggest moving to 2.6.
Well, 2.6 freezes dead hard when I plug in my USB audio device.
USB is the primary reason for the short (several days) uptime on my laptop.
mushkin-inside
you can see a dirty fingerprint on the chip
"If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts." -Albert Einstein
Karma? There's a serial modder out there.
If the cap/lid comes off, there goes your USB Flash HDD! SanDisk and others are smart to put on the Flash drive, not the cap/lid! My 512 GB PNY brand (not the same one in the article) has it on the cap! I don't bother to wear it on my neck anymore since I can lose it easily.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
FWIW: I have a MUVO NX (128MB, USB 1.1) and it rocks! The sound quality is great, I get at least 20 hours of play time on a single rechargable AAA battery, it's small, and durable. My only complaint is the headphones seem to be designed to tangle their wires as quickly as possible.
The MUVO TX was announced about a week after I bought my NX. Such is life with technology. Grrr....
You'd think this place was run by /. editors or sumptin.
Have you ever picked one of these up? I have the Kingston version (Same as Fuji packaging) and the cap is fine, the drive isn't coming off unless you swing it by hand really hard at the end of a neck strap.
Actually, we didn't ignore it. The article was focused strictly on Hi-speed USB 2.0 Flash drives. I don't know if you're aware of how many USB devices there are on the market, but there are a ton. If we had included the Muvo TX, then we would have had to include like a hundred other devices.
Anyway, we are planning a follow-up article which will feature more exotic USB devices such as the one you mentioned.
Cheers!
I keep my flash drive on my keychain, but the loop is on the drive, and for a while it didn't seem like a good idea. Then I thought of using a keychain separator (I found this after a quick seach to show what they look like, you can find one at home depot). Now it works great and I don't have to worry about loosing everything but the cap.
The grass is only greener, if you don't take care of your own lawn.
Actually, you're thinking of OSR 2.5 that comes with USB and AGP support.
Win95b (OSR 2.0) only added FAT32 and other minor improvements. It does not support USB without a patch.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
We didn't review it for a few reasons.
1) We wanted to focus on USB 2.0 Hi-speed devices (the link you have is for the slower "full speed" - a.k.a USB 1.1)
2) We wanted embedded memory drives only. Upgradable models would have made the article more confusing.
But don't worry, we have a follow-up article in the works that will feature more exotic devices.
They probably don't know about mount -o ro,remount.
I love my MuVo. It's small and works great with Linux. You can store any file on it, but only MP3 or WMA files show up in the song list. The MuVo NX and the MuVo TX look good too if you need more storage capacity.
The official Swiss Army Knife company has come out with a USB flash drive enabled Knife. If I didnt already own a SanDisk this would be the one I'd get. They seem to be decently priced for Victorinox at $70 for 64 megs. http://www.victorinox.com/newsite/en/news/news_swi ssmemory.htm
-val1s