Those tiny USB removeable storage useful/reliable?

[QueHuong]

I'm thinking about one of those thumb-sized USB storage devices to replace my zip disk. Do you guys find them useful? More importantly, are they reliable? Like no data loss corruption, very fast, etc. And how are the lesser known brands in terms of reliability?

 

[Ionizer86]

It's flash, sure it's reliable (just don't get a Sandisk one, not that I'm sure if they have any).

Lexars are cheap, and they're quality too. No need to bother with other brands.

$19.99 - 10 rebate on a Lexar 64MB Jumpdrive this week from Office max.

We got our 128MB one for $10 after rebate about a month ago as well; good stuff.

 

[QueHuong]

Thanks. And Ionizer reminded the next question I should have asked:

What brands should I get?

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: MindStorm
Thanks. And Ionizer reminded the next question I should have asked:

What brands should I get?

any major brand and make sure it doesn't require a driver to work

 

[neutralizer]

They're fast, easy, and pretty reliable very useful for transferring things larger than a floppy but not worth the CD.

 

[Ionizer86]

CD's are free, but these are easier. I recommend Lexar, as our 128 was both cheap and very useful, so much infact that we got a 64MB for $10 this week, which will make a good gift for others

They work plug and play as USB mass storage in ME, 2k, XP, and 98SE I believe. I think you need a driver for USB Mass storage in 98 1st ed.

 

[neutralizer]

Anything will work, and WinXP and Win2K Pro both autodetect pendrives and autoinstalls them. Really easy, you only need drivers for Win98 which defeats the whole purpose of portable.

 

[spongebobfan]

I've taken the floppy drive out of all of my computers and put in front panel usb ports on the fronts of the comps that didn't already have them built into the case. I use 2 usb removable storage devices, a 64mb for the wife and a 128 for me, much faster an more reliable than floppy, and with more and more BOIS updates available through windows and with BOIS usb booting, I haven't used a floppy on my personal machines in about a year...

Sponge

 

[bacillus]

both win98fe & win98se need drivers for an usb memory key!

 

[joshg]

What about whenever, for instance, you have to install a SATA driver to install Windows on your SATA HD?

Is there a way to mount the USB device as "A:\" before going into the Windows installation that way you can use one of these devices for said driver installation?

 

[AndyHui]

It depends on the BIOS and the USB key drive itself. You can format the device as a floppy, in which case (if the BIOS cooperates), it can show up as A:\ if you disable the real floppy. Otherwise if you format it as a hard drive, it will show up as that.

These are great devices....much faster than burning a CD, especially if it's USB2.0 Fits in your pocket too.

 

[corkyg]

I have four of them - three Sonys and a Lexar. They are the de facto replacement for floppies. Perfect for downloads to be placed on multiple machines. Great for helping out friends with big downloads who do not have broadband.

 

[0roo0roo]

only truely pocketsized useful storage. floppies are just too slow and small. and usb is so widespread its a nonissue.

 

[wacki]

Cant live without mine!!!!!!

 

[draggoon01]

most are driverless but are most bootable?

 

[thraxes]

EDIT: Ooops

hit back button one too many times.

To make it worthwhile: I am thinking about getting one aswell for small stuff that I need ever so often.

 

[RaiderJ]

USB drives are bootable only if your mobo supports it. Those boards that support this feature are becoming more and more available too.

Pen drives are great, but get a USB 2.0 one for larger sizes. I've been really happy with mine, wouldn't trade it for anything.

 

[PowerEngineer]

Glad someone mentioned USB 2.0... I'd like to hear just how much better their performance really is. I've looked at a number of flash drives, including some Lexars, that do not say if they support USB 2.0 (in which case I've assumed they do not). What brands/models specifically support USB 2.0? And are these more expensive?

Thanks!

 

[AndyHui]

Mine is a 256MB Challenger/PQI Traveler Disk 2.0, USB 2.0.

As a test, I transfered a 240 MB (252,287,458 bytes) file to the device, which has been formatted as a hard drive with FAT16, through a front USB port on an ASUS P4C800 Deluxe.

Transfer time was 3m 41s 8.

Transfer rate is approximately 1,136,429 bytes per second, or just over 1MB per second. That's pretty quick for me.

Anyone want to offer any additional test results?

 

[Maelsturm]

heres MY question: =)

Can I buy one of those sexy 256 meg storage watches and load a small installation of linux on it? Then boot from the device?

 

[draggoon01]

Originally posted by: AndyHui
Mine is a 256MB Challenger/PQI Traveler Disk 2.0, USB 2.0.

As a test, I transfered a 240 MB (252,287,458 bytes) file to the device, which has been formatted as a hard drive with FAT16, through a front USB port on an ASUS P4C800 Deluxe.

Transfer time was 3m 41s 8.

Transfer rate is approximately 1,136,429 bytes per second, or just over 1MB per second. That's pretty quick for me.

Anyone want to offer any additional test results?

that seems more like usb 1.0 rates.




also, so any usb drive is bootable (given that motherboard supports it)? just like any floppy disk is bootable? i thought the usb drive had to also have some sort of built in support to be bootable.

 

[hdeck]

i got a usb keychain with my dell laptop and it's come in handy quite a few times.

 

[AndyHui]

Originally posted by: draggoon01

that seems more like usb 1.0 rates.

Sorry, that was write time.

Read time from the device for the same 240MB file was 48 seconds, or 5,255,988 bytes per second.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: RaiderJ
USB drives are bootable only if your mobo supports it. Those boards that support this feature are becoming more and more available too.

Pen drives are great, but get a USB 2.0 one for larger sizes. I've been really happy with mine, wouldn't trade it for anything.

yea, its not much of a worry anymore, even cheapo ecs boards have boot options

 

[mechBgon]

I have a Microtech Zio! that's still totally pocketable, and I can use it to haul data, or I can plug the CF card into my Canon A60 digital camera or any other CF device. A person owning a SmartMedia device could likewise pick up a SM Zio and do double duty that way. So if you have a device that uses memory cards, you might get double usage that way. Just a thought

The purple CF Zio's are a no-driver-needed item for Win2000 (I have the old black version). They have a USB 2.0 version as well as a USB 1 version.