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Are Usb flash drives worth it?

T

Thetech

Senior member

I do realize that USB flash drives are "solid-state" technology but, I was wondering if they were worth the trouble of using or are they to unreliable in general to use?

The reason I ask is because I saw this drive OCZ RALLY 2GB OCZ Rally 2
And this one:CORSAIR Flash Voyager 2GB Flash Drive
Both decent prices and available from Newegg. I also have a flashcard reader but only in my laptop, I don't have one on my desktop.

 
I have Lexar JumpDrive 128MB usb flash I used rarely to move data between my PC and laptop. I don't see why I need large flash memory.
 
They're just convenient to move stuff among various USB enabled devices(such as PCs). Depends on how much capacity you need to move.
 
I have about 4 floating around now. 1 2gb Corsair Voyager I use for flashing BIOS, etc (it's the older version which actually has software to go with it--damn Corsair and their new Voyagers with no software). 1 OCZ 2gb that I use for docs and the like. 1 128mb I use for backing up game saves on my PS2. One 1gb Voyager that I gave to my wife. Then there is my Western Digital 120gb Passport that I use for backing up and maintaining another copy of documents.

Overall, they are incredibly useful, and I haven't had any problems with them (aside from losing one once).

Of the two you listed in the OP, definitely get the OCZ one. I'm much happier with it than the Voyager.
 
I have several and so far so good, no issues:

128 mb
128 mb
1 gb
1 gb
2 gb

OTOH, I have a couple of 256 mb SD cards that I use in my digicam and one of them evidently has issues and sometimes the camera appears to function fine but there's nothing on the card. I've managed to work around it (a reformat one time, copying JPG's to it another time restored functionality) but I wouldn't take the camera anywhere without both cards.

The cost of flash drives has steadily dropped. If you ever need to copy or transfer files from one system to another, they are great for that. What did they used to use?

Floppy disks - notorious for failing

Zip disks - unbelievable issues with those things

CDs and DVDs - the hassle of buying and burning and then storing media or throwing it away

Transfering files over a network - you need a working network connection, and you have all those issues.

Flash drives are fast and simple, and they are tiny. Right now, the biggest I've seen are 4 GB. I'd like a USB 2.0 external HD system for transferring large amounts of data, but I haven't been needing it, frankly.

If you are patient, you can get better deals than the ones in the OP.
 
Originally posted by: Muse
I have several and so far so good, no issues:

128 mb
128 mb
1 gb
1 gb
2 gb

OTOH, I have a couple of 256 mb SD cards that I use in my digicam and one of them evidently has issues and sometimes the camera appears to function fine but there's nothing on the card. I've managed to work around it (a reformat one time, copying JPG's to it another time restored functionality) but I wouldn't take the camera anywhere without both cards.

The cost of flash drives has steadily dropped. If you ever need to copy or transfer files from one system to another, they are great for that. What did they used to use?

Floppy disks - notorious for failing

Zip disks - unbelievable issues with those things

CDs and DVDs - the hassle of buying and burning and then storing media or throwing it away

Transfering files over a network - you need a working network connection, and you have all those issues.

Flash drives are fast and simple, and they are tiny. Right now, the biggest I've seen are 4 GB. I'd like a USB 2.0 external HD system for transferring large amounts of data, but I haven't been needing it, frankly.

If you are patient, you can get better deals than the ones in the OP.
Click to expand...

What do you mean? waiting on price drops?

 
i use mine for transferring stuff to and from home / laptop / work.

also run several portable apps including firefox, vlc, slingbox media player, and irfanview

oh, and to answer the question -- yes, i feel they're worth it for the size and convenience.
 
Originally posted by: Thetech
Originally posted by: Muse
I have several and so far so good, no issues:

128 mb
128 mb
1 gb
1 gb
2 gb

OTOH, I have a couple of 256 mb SD cards that I use in my digicam and one of them evidently has issues and sometimes the camera appears to function fine but there's nothing on the card. I've managed to work around it (a reformat one time, copying JPG's to it another time restored functionality) but I wouldn't take the camera anywhere without both cards.

The cost of flash drives has steadily dropped. If you ever need to copy or transfer files from one system to another, they are great for that. What did they used to use?

Floppy disks - notorious for failing

Zip disks - unbelievable issues with those things

CDs and DVDs - the hassle of buying and burning and then storing media or throwing it away

Transfering files over a network - you need a working network connection, and you have all those issues.

Flash drives are fast and simple, and they are tiny. Right now, the biggest I've seen are 4 GB. I'd like a USB 2.0 external HD system for transferring large amounts of data, but I haven't been needing it, frankly.

If you are patient, you can get better deals than the ones in the OP.
Click to expand...

What do you mean? waiting on price drops?
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. I've been noticing the ads. There's been a deluge of deals on flash drives almost ever since they emerged, seems to me. The prices have continued to come down as the sizes available have increased. Yesterday's maximum size is today's great deal. All of mine I picked up because I was the lucky winner at user groups meetings of door prizes... all except for the 2 GB, which I got for < $11 after MIR through Buy.com. It was an after Google Checkout deal which included a MIR and I bought on 12/21/2006. I have to think that with some patience it's possible to get a 2 GB flash drive for well under $20 these days. Granted, I haven't received my $20 MIR yet, but expect I will.
 
I got a 4GB drive from work and it has been surprisingly handy. I don't know about reliability, but I don't store anything on it that I don't have elsewhere.
 
Originally posted by: thirtythree
I got a 4GB drive from work and it has been surprisingly handy. I don't know about reliability, but I don't store anything on it that I don't have elsewhere.
Click to expand...

I don't know of any medium I'd trust with vital data. Always back up if it would mess up your day to lose it.
 
I fix computers for a living and my flash drive is a god send, I have it bootable with UBCD on it so I can troubleshoot systems, also tossed the contents of my XP cd on it, good to have for people who've lost their recovery CD that came with their system and need a few files from it, or a repair. I couldn't live without it.
 
Originally posted by: QueBert
I fix computers for a living and my flash drive is a god send, I have it bootable with UBCD on it so I can troubleshoot systems, also tossed the contents of my XP cd on it, good to have for people who've lost their recovery CD that came with their system and need a few files from it, or a repair. I couldn't live without it.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on that one. I also carry a bunch of tools on it as well (spyware, anti-virus, etc). It comes in handy in a pinch. I'm going to try to get it bootable in case a client's OS/HD crashes and they need to get data off of it.

Oh btw, all of the OCZ rally 2 drives have a lifetime warranty as well. That's what I have.
 
I have had several 128meggers fail on me, but that still wont stop me from crowning flash drives as the storage medium of choice for light portable use. Reliability-wise, I think they are just every bit as good as other popular media - CD/DVD are very scratch prone, and HDDs fail more often than I would like 🙁
 
For some occupations and or activities a flash drive is invaluable! If you are in computer technology field I cannot imagine not having one. If you are in school, I cannot imagine not having one. If you are in any occupation where information is stored on a computer, I cannot imagine not having one.

The prices are so low for even a 1G flash drive that you are not going to feel put off if the thing lays on a shelf gathering dust.
 
Originally posted by: Frintin
For some occupations and or activities a flash drive is invaluable! If you are in computer technology field I cannot imagine not having one. If you are in school, I cannot imagine not having one. If you are in any occupation where information is stored on a computer, I cannot imagine not having one.

The prices are so low for even a 1G flash drive that you are not going to feel put off if the thing lays on a shelf gathering dust.
Click to expand...

I'd put it on my keychain. You never know when it'll be useful. Small and light enough to carry everywhere. Even my dad and sister carry theirs (my old 512s and 1gb) around with them.

2x64mb
2x512mb Sandisk Mini and Micro
1x1gb Sandisk Micro
1x4gb OCZ Rally2
 
I do all of my school work on a flash drive so I can take it with me. When I plug I plug it into my main computer, it gets automatically synced with a folder on my computer's harddrive just in case the flash drive fails.
 
Originally posted by: yosuke188
I wish I had one of those 8GB flash drives. Then I could move movies to places without carrying DVDs and whatnot.
Click to expand...

The transfer times will make you cry. Transferring a 2GB file onto my flash drive takes about 12-15 minutes.
 
It shouldn't be that bad if you have a fast flash drive that can do 15-20MB/s. It should take about the same time as it does to burn an actual 8GB DVD
 
Originally posted by: Leros
I do all of my school work on a flash drive so I can take it with me. When I plug I plug it into my main computer, it gets automatically synced with a folder on my computer's harddrive just in case the flash drive fails.
Click to expand...
How do you have that set up?
 
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