USB Flash memory

[Rottie]

I hope I post to this right place. Last week my SanDisk 4GB USB Flash memory is not working it seems dead but it comes to alive on my roommate's powerful Apple Macbook Pro. I had it working fine since I bought it last December. I dont understand why it takes short live? SanDisk any good? Oh by the way it does have readyboost support. I also have 2GB from PNY but it is not as fast as SanDisk.

 

[alcoholbob]

Maybe your USB port took a dive, or maybe the flash drive needed a powered usb port and for some reason your port couldn't provide that power anymore.

 

[Rifter]

This is a fairly common problem with cheap USB drives, one of my buddys has a few cheap(one sandisk, 2 no name) 2GB drives that will not work on his mobo USB ports but will work when plugged into my powered USB hub. I own 4 USB drives but went with high quality(OCZ 4GB and 8GB Rally 2's, corsair 16GB and 32G) And they work fine in every computer i have tried them in which is more than 20, also my g/f has a 4GB sony stick that works fine in everything i tried it on. I think there is a power problem with some of the cheaper units, if it is still under warranty i would return it.

 

[Rottie]

I never knew SanDisk Cruzer U3 is so cheap I always thought PNY is too damn cheap brand but PNY is working fine for 2 years now SanDisk only last 6 months. I was told not to use USB powered hub for all USB flash memory?? And leaving USB flash memory on the USB port for prolong hours affects any damage? I dont think so because it comes with readyboost support I guess it is safe to leave it on forever right?

 

[Rifter]

as far as i know readyboost is ment to be used 24/7 but i dont think it even does anything if you have 2GB + of ram. Also one of my OCZ rally 2's has been in my powered hub for 3 months and it is fine.

 

[Rottie]

It is for my notebook I dont want to carry around with USB powered hub. But thanks I will test it to see if it works before taking it to SanDisk for replacement.

 

[VirtualLarry]

IMHO, Sandisk Cruiser Micro is better than PNY Attache. I have some PNY Attache 4GB that are fine, but I also have an 8GB, and when copying more than about 2GB worth of data from the flash drive to the computer (reading, not writing), the USB controller chips locks up, the copy fails, and I have to unplug and replug the USB flash drive to get it to be recognized again.

I don't know if it's just my drive, or if all PNY 8GB flash drives have this problem, but I'm avoiding them now.

All I know is that I picked up a Sandisk Cruiser Micro 16GB, removed the U3 feature, and have been using it sucessfully. No problems copying any amount of data off of the flash drive.

 

[Rottie]

PNY Attache 2GB has not caused any problem for me for 2 or 3 years I bought it for 20 on sale. I had to buy SanDisk Cruzer Micro because my friend lost my PNY until I found it in the car garage.