next batch of flash drives?

[taltamir]

some years ago I bought a corsair voyager 1GB drive... it was fast, it was 30$...
The day I got an out of space error I bought a 2GB cosair voyager GT 2GB for 30$... much much faster...
I lost it since and bought another one for the same price... it has been over a year and I now got an out of space error... never fear, 4GB is here.. or so I thought...

Currently the 3 worlds fastest USB flash drive are ... in this order:
1. OCZ rally 2 turbo/ATV turbo (non rugged/super rugged)
2. Corsair flash voyager GT/survivor GT (rugged/super rugged)
3. Lexar lightening...

The minimum prices I found online are:
1. 92$/92$
2. 130$/70$
3. 52$
I think.. i closed all the windows in disgust already... the flash voyager GT was 52$ on newegg for the 4GB version a year ago... and the 8GB was 80... what the heck happened?
Even the 2GB now costs 40$ on the egg... it went up in price 10$ in the past year since it was released...

Not only are they all extremely expensive right now, they are also all extremely RARE... I found only one or two websites selling some of the models I looked at, and some where available nowhere...
Corsair's website no longer lists the GTs... on the forum a moderator explained that they have stopped production and are updating the website with a new GTVT or or some such which is about to debut, and will be even faster...

Basically it seems like all those companies are setting to refresh the 2007 line (from which the above were taken) with a 2008 lineup of even better stuff... but when? there are only a few websites who sell any of those, they are weird and unfamiliar with clunky system and way overpriced products.

Anyone knows anything about prospective release dates for the 2008 generation of USB drives?

 

[n7]

I recently bought a Patriot Xporter XT Boost High Speed 16GB for use at work, & it really does fly.

Noticeably faster than any USB drive i've owned, & i think i have nearly 10 kicking around here.

They advertise it as 150X, & it really does work at 22.5 MBs/read & 15 MBs/write.

I've watched its speed in Vista many times, & it often reaches over those rated speeds.

I still am amazed at the speed compared to my previous drives, which were usually at best half those speeds.

The price? $100 less $30 MIR 🙂

 

[taltamir]

some low performing drives have been getting as low as 1 mb/s 😛
The drives i listed all get ~35read, and 25-30 write...
And I am talking in reviewer's tests, not in a manufacturer's claim.

But those are some solid speeds for a drive that sells you 16GB at this price... very nice.

I was hoping to learn when the next gen parts are expected, since it seems the major players have stopped production of the current best from 07 and are gearing up for their next iterations... Anyone knows the expected dates? any insider information?

 

[taltamir]

interesting. It seems corsair has swapped its high performing GT components for a lower performing memory tech... they say its because the new ones is a little slower, the faster tech is 2-3 times more expensive.
They did however keep the existing names. so all the GT parts produced after a certain date (and probably the parts I could expect to find in the store, IF I can find any) would be slower... the faster tech also had a size limit, so all the 8GB models are the slower tech. (24/20 speeds on slower tech).

Anyways, no clues as to when the next batch is coming? no rumers or info?