USB Jump Drive

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » December 28, 2004, 1:25 pm

I'm looking to get one of these but I need a recommendation. I'd only like to spend about $50 at most, can go a tad higher, but not by much. What brand have ya'll had the best results with so far, and any good suggestions on where to look for one?

Fash · Post by **Fash** » December 28, 2004, 1:34 pm

I just bought one for myself for xmas... 1 gb, $99, lexar jumpdrive.. at Staples. works great and very fast.

everything was $10 more expensive at bestbuy...

if i had a choice, i would've gotten one with a hardware write-protect switch.

Tenuvil · Post by **Tenuvil** » December 28, 2004, 2:14 pm

I had a Lexar JumpDrive Secure (grey with rubberized sides) 256mb for about 18 months. Liked it well enough, it did its job well, never used the security software that came with it.

Just before Christmas I impulse shopped/treated myself to a new USB key, a Memorex 512mb one. It's noticeably faster in data transfers than the Lexar was. I don't think the Lexar drive I had was USB 2.0 compatible. The Memorex is. It does have a write protect switch recessed on the bottom of the key. Plus it was cheap at Fry's ($29.99). Newegg has the best prices I've seen for these type of things (big surprise).

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 28, 2004, 5:48 pm

USB 2 keychain drives are great. I've seen 2gb versions now. They'll be especially useful when they hit 4gb and you can fit an entire DVD on one. That would be useful for mods to XBox's and other things so you could play/transfer a game via "jump drive" or play an entire DVD movie in original format. Getting rid of the need for DVDs on portable players, etc would give the designers even more freedom to miniaturize...that along with the maturation of Microvision's virtual retinal displays where the image is scanned directly onto your retina negating the need for a physical display would put me first in line to buy it.

Sabek · Post by **Sabek** » December 29, 2004, 10:14 am

I have a Sandisk micro 256 and have had no problems with it.
Keep an eye on http://www.slickdeals.net there are always good deals on thumbdrives on there.

Deward · Post by **Deward** » December 30, 2004, 12:12 pm

My dad showed me his new 20 GB jump drive yesterday. It was about 2/3 the size of a normal PDA. Nice little item but I don't need it right now. Plus they are still a bit expensive for my tastes. When they come down to about the same cost as a equivalent sized hard drive then I will look at getting one. I just got a 140 GB normal hard drive for $40.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » December 30, 2004, 1:03 pm

right now... anything over 1-2gb is not a flash drive... it's an actual moving parts 4500rpm hard drive... i bought one and took it back the next day as it was unusable, couldn't copy a file bigger than 10mb to it without the drive crashing out. i would recommend staying far far away from those and sticking to an actual flash memory drive.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 30, 2004, 1:19 pm

Fash wrote:right now... anything over 1-2gb is not a flash drive... it's an actual moving parts 4500rpm hard drive... i bought one and took it back the next day as it was unusable, couldn't copy a file bigger than 10mb to it without the drive crashing out. i would recommend staying far far away from those and sticking to an actual flash memory drive.

What Fash said. Moving parts = bad. ~4gb-ish and under $300.00 is still my entry point into the jump drive world. I'd like an MP3 player with AM/FM digital tuner (AM makes the size a bit larger and I haven't seen one with AM yet) that has a USB2.0 jump drive port for easy adding of MP3s and extra capacity storage for MP3s. I'd want at least 1GB internal on top of that. If the damn talk shows would switch to FM, I'd be set but since 75% of what I listen to is AM, I haven't bought one and picked up an MP3 CD player with AM/FM to tide me over.

Soreali · Post by **Soreali** » December 30, 2004, 8:21 pm

Winnow wrote:USB 2 keychain drives are great. I've seen 2gb versions now. They'll be especially useful when they hit 4gb and you can fit an entire DVD on one. That would be useful for mods to XBox's and other things so you could play/transfer a game via "jump drive" or play an entire DVD movie in original format. Getting rid of the need for DVDs on portable players, etc would give the designers even more freedom to miniaturize...that along with the maturation of Microvision's virtual retinal displays where the image is scanned directly onto your retina negating the need for a physical display would put me first in line to buy it.

http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/S ... Sku=583019

We've sold a good amount of them.. Haven't had any returned yet.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » December 30, 2004, 8:43 pm

Soreali wrote:
http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/S ... Sku=583019

We've sold a good amount of them.. Haven't had any returned yet.

that's the piece of shit I bought and returned... and i returned it to a different staples, coincidentally.

take my word for it.. do not get a moving parts usb drive... its not a jump drive, its not a flash drive, its a junk drive. the staples link calls it a flash drive, which it's so fucking not.

1gb flash drive = $99
4gb moving parts = $179 (When I bought it, sale price $129!)

looks great in the math, but you know its priced that low to get you to make the jump.... thats exactly what I did, looking at $99 1gb... $129 4gb... which do you buy? the 4gb... but it's the wrong move, as you get all the way home and hopefully attempt to copy large files to it, so you'll know what garbage it is before the return period is over.

Soreali · Post by **Soreali** » December 31, 2004, 12:54 am

Glad I got someone that used it.. Me never using it personally couldn't say if it were good or bad but now that I know from someone who's used it I'll tell my customers not to get it.

Thanks Fash

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » December 31, 2004, 1:33 am

Soreali wrote:Glad I got someone that used it.. Me never using it personally couldn't say if it were good or bad but now that I know from someone who's used it I'll tell my customers not to get it.

Thanks Fash

Thanks for the suggestion Soreali but I also am looking to avoid any moving parts. I figure it will be another 6 months or so before what I want is available.

Soreali · Post by **Soreali** » December 31, 2004, 4:13 am

Yeah sorry Winnow. Hadn't really looked at it too much before reading about this.. Didn't really think of it as a moving parts flash drive.. Stick with the 1gig sticks for now.. They're safe..

Akaran to answer your original post, if you have a staples by you those things go on sale every week. Can normally get a 512 for less than $50.

Ones worth getting would either be Sony, PNY or Memorex..

I had a Sandisk that wouldn't even read on my computer (2 months old, isn't the cpu) and have seen a good amount of them come back.. The micro isn't bad its the Cruzer Mini that seems to be the pest.

Akaran_D · Post by **Akaran_D** » December 31, 2004, 11:35 am

No Stapes. I've got an office depot.. I think. Had an office max but they went out of buisness.

Thanks for the info all!

Syenye · Post by **Syenye** » December 31, 2004, 3:14 pm

Fash wrote:I just bought one for myself for xmas... 1 gb, $99, lexar jumpdrive.. at Staples. works great and very fast.

best buy and compusa have it for $60 after rebates. techbargains.com is your friend.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » December 31, 2004, 7:11 pm

Syenye wrote:best buy and compusa have it for $60 after rebates. techbargains.com is your friend.

I hate rebates... I'm part of that 20% they're expecting not to mail it in.

Syenye · Post by **Syenye** » December 31, 2004, 7:48 pm

Fash wrote:
Syenye wrote:best buy and compusa have it for $60 after rebates. techbargains.com is your friend.
I hate rebates... I'm part of that 20% they're expecting not to mail it in.

$80 before the rebate at best buy!

Fash · Post by **Fash** » December 31, 2004, 8:40 pm

Syenye wrote:$80 before the rebate at best buy!

everyone should jump on that... if i hadn't gotten mine already i would.

squirrelyelf? miss ya.

Soreali · Post by **Soreali** » December 31, 2004, 9:27 pm

Fash, staples has easy rebates now! http://www.stapleseasyrebates.com. No mailing needed. Takes like 2-4 weeks to get it back.

Staples, that was easy