The cheap Flash Drives (USB "Pen Drives") thread.

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
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Well, might as well start a thread for Flash drives. Here's a deal to start with.

ADATA UV320 96GB (32GB x 3) USB Flash Drive, 3-pack Model AUV320-32G-3BWB $12.99


So, that works out to $4.33 per 32GB USB3.0 Adata slider thumb drive.

It says limit 20 per customer, but when I tried to order 20, it limited and changed my qty. to 19 3-packs. Whatever.

I do love me some flash drive multi-packs. Thankfully, these are all the USB3.0 (OK, 3.2 Gen1???) variety. They make identical-looking slider models in USB2.0 as well, be careful when comparing prices out there.

Some people are kind of hit or miss with Adata quality, some of their other (UV128 model, looking at you) models have questionable QC, and some are DOA out of the package. Other times, they are just flakey with their particular PC.

On the whole, I've had pretty good results with them, I buy them in "bulk alternator-sized qtys", and generally use them for boot drives, and don't re-write them too many times (20x maybe, at most? generally only 1x-2x, before I lose them).

If you want a "durable" flash drive, I would look towards a bit more expensive SanDisk, they have nearly always been VERY reliable for actual day-to-day usage and re-writing for me.

PNY always seemed to have issues with overheating controller chips, during long read/write passes. (I used to use flash drives for "backup", which is not really a good application for them.)

Plus, one reason for buying these in qty, is I do recovery+re-format jobs for people with Windows sometimes, so generally most people's "stuff" fits onto a 32GB USB flash drive.

---

Also, for the purposes of this thread:
1) Please don't post USB flash drive "deals" from ebay or alibaba, unless they are from Adorama Camera, Newegg, or BestBuy on ebay. Those are the ONLY authorized sellers of USB flash drives on ebay, to my knowledge, that sell LEGIT drives. (Let me know if I left anyone out. Maybe iMicros, Platinum Micro, ANTOnline, and aaawavecom?)
Don't post links to drives that are "obvious fakes", like "2T USB3.0 for $3.99", or somesuch non-sense. Flash memory is a commodity, with commodity pricing, and generally, USB flash drives are similarly-price to SATA SSDs of similar capacity, cheaper at the lower-end, and more expensive at the higher-end.

2) The default drive interface configuration is presumed to be USB3.0-spec (or compatible, Aka USB3.1 Gen1, or USB 3.2 Gen1), and "Type-A" (the rectangular connector that only goes in one way).
Please note in your post if the drive is a USB2.0, or faster somehow than USB3.0 (3.1/3.2 Gen2), or Type-C or Lightning connector or USB OTG.
Also note if the drive has hardware encryption, a write-protect-switch, or any unique hardware features.

3) More "rules" TBD. All normal "Hot Deals Forum" rules still apply in this thread as well.
 
Last edited:

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,389
10,072
126
Here's another time-limited one, Adata USB128 32GB black/blue slider drives, 5-pack combo, for $22.49.

That works out to be $4.50 per drive. Limit 100 combos per customer. (500 drives! That's more than even I can use / lose. :p )

 
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