So we have 1TB USB sticks now...

[exdeath]

For the past 4 years I don't even look at GB or TB anymore, I only care about MB/s or preferably GB/s.

I'm tired of waiting on computers while trillions of operations per second sit idle waiting on storage devices.

 

[exdeath]

I don't really see the point in this.

If you're storing that much data, I'd imagine you want something a bit more fool-proof (not easily dropped or sent through the washer). On the other hand, by the time 1TB thumb drives have dropped to a reasonable price (under $100 or so), cloud storage will be so common and easy that removable media will mostly be a thing of the past.

Doubt it. Not uploading classified data to another network or storage device, as one example.

You'd be surprised how many places require closed session CD ROMs still and don't even allow thumb drives.

 

[BoberFett]

a) cheap controller
b) cheap flash chips

you have to get above the commodity generic usb flash drive to get speeds that are any good.

what i'd like and have not found is a slim (same size as the usb port) usb stick with metal housing (including the loop for my keychain) and high speed. you can usually only get 2 of the 3.

I really like the Kingston DataTraveler SE9 line, but they're only USB 2.0.

 

[DownTheSky]

The name is fucking ridiculous lol "Kingston DataTraveler HyperX Predator"

Coming next month..... a new 2TB drive from kingston its the "Kingston InformationTimeTraveler HyperXtreme Beast Predatory X-Ultra Super drive" Itll have a picture of a tiger on it:

Buy this shit... feel like a predator too! Theres only one kind of predator that would be interested in a USB drive that size

Good call with the picture. I've heard if you insert it into a tiger's rectum it's eyes glow blue.

 

[mrjminer]

Corsair Survivor.

Almost anything else is foolish

 

[rudeguy]

I have this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power-...dp/B00A35WYBA/

Reviews say 30 read, 15 write. It's in the middle of the pack for me - not the fastest drive, but definitely not the slowest - zippy enough that it lives on my keychain. Sturdy metal housing too.

This is me:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That's the little fucker I keep losing.

 

[BoberFett]

Yep, that's the one I was talking about as well, I have a couple of the 16GB. The size and durability is great.

 

[BladeVenom]

It's on sale, "You Save: $1,330.01 "

 

[SKORPI0]

I remember paying almost $95 for a 1GB flash drive middle of 2004. :\

 

[mrrman]

it would suck when that craps out

 

[John Connor]

I remember paying 80 bucks for a 1 GB SSD card back in '05. Got a 32 GB card for the video camera for around 30 bucks last year.

 

[Red Squirrel]

it would suck when that craps out

That's the thing, being flash memory it has limited writes. No way would I pay that kind of money for a consumable.

Yeah hard drives crap out but you typically have a bunch of them in raid and don't lose anything and you RMA single drives and get a new one. You can have written billions of times to that drive before it failed.

I had a 32GB USB stick I used to watch movies on my TV before I built a HTPC. After quite a few movies the stick died due to reaching it's max write count. I was always copying 4-8GB files to it so I can plug in the TV then deleting them after they were watched. SSDs die that way too but they'll last longer as they have smarter handling such as spreading the writes over all flash, I don't think USB sticks typically do this. That's one of the reasons you don't defrag those, they're purposely fragmented to wear it evenly.

 

[MongGrel]

added to amazon list. looks nice, at least.

I've been needing a 32 that's decent might pop for one of those myself.

 

[mmntech]

I'm not sure who this is for. I guess maybe if you're handling something like a lot of uncompressed HD video in the field, and want something durable.

I remember paying 80 bucks for a 1 GB SSD card back in '05. Got a 32 GB card for the video camera for around 30 bucks last year.

I remember paying that for a 4GB card for my PSP back in 2007. Though even then, it was overpriced.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

itll be the year 3000 before that happens at the rate we are going

Really? Because the first thumb drives 15 years ago or so were 32 Megabytes.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

That's the thing, being flash memory it has limited writes. No way would I pay that kind of money for a consumable.

Yeah hard drives crap out but you typically have a bunch of them in raid and don't lose anything and you RMA single drives and get a new one. You can have written billions of times to that drive before it failed.

I had a 32GB USB stick I used to watch movies on my TV before I built a HTPC. After quite a few movies the stick died due to reaching it's max write count. I was always copying 4-8GB files to it so I can plug in the TV then deleting them after they were watched. SSDs die that way too but they'll last longer as they have smarter handling such as spreading the writes over all flash, I don't think USB sticks typically do this. That's one of the reasons you don't defrag those, they're purposely fragmented to wear it evenly.

1: We can totally RAID SSDs now, so the reliability thing is kinda moot.

2: EOL for HDDs is usually 3-5 years. So let's say it lasted four years. If you wrote to a 1TB HDDs 24/7/365 for four years at 100MB/sec, you'd have written ~12k TB to it. That's 12000 write cycles, not "billions."

And if were really being used that heavily, it would have failed well before then.

HDDs are every bit the "consumable" that Flash is.

 

[takeru]

Give it 5 or 6 years. It will happen.

Hell, I can remember when 128 MB USB flash drives were expensive... now they're basically worthless.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?EdpNo=1234978

i still have the 128mb, and the blue 256mb jumpdrive here.

 

[SagaLore]

I don't really see the point in this.

If you're storing that much data, I'd imagine you want something a bit more fool-proof (not easily dropped or sent through the washer). On the other hand, by the time 1TB thumb drives have dropped to a reasonable price (under $100 or so), cloud storage will be so common and easy that removable media will mostly be a thing of the past.

Could be nice during forensic investigations by booting from it and copying the entire hd to it.

 

[JManInPhoenix]

Corsair Survivor.

Almost anything else is foolish

+1 I have two 16GB of those and they work quite well & fast.

 

[rudeguy]

Really? Because the first thumb drives 15 years ago or so were 32 Megabytes.

I won a 64 meg one as a prize in 2001 or 2002. I was GEEKED! I used the shit out of that thing. I don't think I've used any of my new ones that much and it lasted forever.

 

[Kaido]

I won a 64 meg one as a prize in 2001 or 2002. I was GEEKED! I used the shit out of that thing. I don't think I've used any of my new ones that much and it lasted forever.

I remember when they came out & everyone was wearing them around their necks on lanyards. Geek bling

 

[rh71]

The name is fucking ridiculous lol "Kingston DataTraveler HyperX Predator"

Coming next month..... a new 2TB drive from kingston its the "Kingston InformationTimeTraveler HyperXtreme Beast Predatory X-Ultra Super drive" Itll have a picture of a tiger on it:

With everything coming out of Taiwan/China, I'm surprised they're not named something in broken English. Or one of those comical translations.

On another note, unless you're a student or have to transfer stuff for work all the time, why do people use thumb drives so much that they are a big deal? Do they replace external drives for backup now? As many have alluded to - easily lost.

 

[PliotronX]

it would suck when that craps out

Yup, and that's the sad reality of thumb drives. Working fine one minute then oh crap, raw volume non-recoverable. At least rust technology usually gives a heads-up before SHTF. I have yet to try the oscillator crystal swap but you can rest assured if I had a thousand dollar terabyte thumb drive I would try every single crystal on digikey.