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Good USB Flash Drive to get?

A

amycishere

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 1, 2007
328
6
I would like some type of storage device to store all my school documents, some ppt/keynote presentations for a backup. Should I go with 4 GB? Still have about a year of college left. All these reviews I'm reading...I don't know which brand is best and whatnot! Have a macbook. Sorry I'm new at this.

Something that goes in and out of the plug fairly easy, I'm disabled.

Thanks!!
 
What I've found is that the cheaper own-brand ones tend to be substantially slower than some of the branded ones... if you're moving big files about, that can be a little frustrating.
 
I have used a SanDisk Cruzer for a few years and it has never let me down.

One thing to look out for is that annoying U3 software that does not work with Macs anyway. I removed it using a took I found online and have never regretted it.
 
Avoid the Sony MicroVault at ALL COSTS!!! I've got one of the 2GB models and it's barely faster than USB1.1. I've heard good things about the Sandisk Cruzer line of drives. That's what I'm checking into next. Anybody else have some recommendations?
 
I have an old 256MB Sandisk Cruizer mini that I love. Fast and never had a problem with it.

Needing more space I bought a 2GB Kingston DataTraveler for like $5. It is sooo much slower than the Sandisk and takes forever to mount. While you can get them for dirt cheap I don't recommend it because it is so slow.

Sandisk, in my (limited) experience is a very good brand of flash drives.
 
amycishere said:
Found this:
It doesn't seem to have U3. Is this the right thing and a fair price?
http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruze.../ref=de_a_smtd?ie=UTF8&qid=1197048343&sr=8-44
Click to expand...


That drive looks pretty good. The Sandisk stuff is hella fast. I'm looking at one of two drives myself, as I've got to replace this god awful Sony. The Cruzer Titanium (http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruze...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1197061677&sr=1-1) is fast and supposedly pretty rugged. It'd also quite small, which is nice. The Cruzer Countour (http://www.amazon.com/4GB-Cruzer-Co...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1197061728&sr=1-4) is a little bit larger but a little bit sexier, too. The design reminds me of the newer Western Digital Passport USB HDs. Sleek, minimal and sexy. They're both U3 enabled with a nice list of programs, too. Add that to the fact that they're also less than the one you listed and I'd say youv'e got two good options. :
 
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wsteineker said:
That drive looks pretty good. The Sandisk stuff is hella fast. I'm looking at one of two drives myself, as I've got to replace this god awful Sony. The Cruzer Titanium (http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruze...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1197061677&sr=1-1) is fast and supposedly pretty rugged. It'd also quite small, which is nice. The Cruzer Countour (http://www.amazon.com/4GB-Cruzer-Co...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1197061728&sr=1-4) is a little bit larger but a little bit sexier, too. The design reminds me of the newer Western Digital Passport USB HDs. Sleek, minimal and sexy. They're both U3 enabled with a nice list of programs, too. Add that to the fact that they're also less than the one you listed and I'd say youv'e got two good options. :
Click to expand...

But I thought someone said U3 causes problems or doesn't work with macs?
 
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I have the Sandisk Cruzer Mini as well and I must say it has not given me any troubles. I'll remove it from the USB port without ejecting, I carry it in my pocket without the lid on it, I've dropped it, I've thrown it, I have all but washed it in the washing machine and it's never given me any trouble.
 
wsteineker said:
That drive looks pretty good. The Sandisk stuff is hella fast. I'm looking at one of two drives myself, as I've got to replace this god awful Sony. The Cruzer Titanium (http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruze...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1197061677&sr=1-1) is fast and supposedly pretty rugged. It'd also quite small, which is nice. The Cruzer Countour (http://www.amazon.com/4GB-Cruzer-Co...4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1197061728&sr=1-4) is a little bit larger but a little bit sexier, too. The design reminds me of the newer Western Digital Passport USB HDs. Sleek, minimal and sexy. They're both U3 enabled with a nice list of programs, too. Add that to the fact that they're also less than the one you listed and I'd say youv'e got two good options. :
Click to expand...

I will add in Scandisk are great. It is what both my flash drives are. They also have taken on hell of a beating living my car keys.

As for U3 I think it is crap and very quickly disable it.
 
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sandisk can bite me =]

Could one of you guys explain why you're all content to jabber on about the Sandisk Cruzer? It's uglier and more expensive than the Corsair... So, yeah... Enlighten my unenlightened mind, if you would...
 
I have been using a Memorex 1Gb Traveldrive that has worked well. But I just got a new Kingston 4Gb DataTraveler due to a need for greater capacity. It seems to work fine also. I prefer the 'snugness' of the cap on the Memorex. But the 4Gb is nice too. Its size allowed me to go into OSX Disk Utilities and reformat it into two partitions. A large one is DOS (readable by both OSX and Windows). The other is a much smaller HFS+ partition that PC's typically can't see. Then using Disk Utilities I made an encrypted Disk Image folder in the HFS partition to secure certain files in case I lose my flash drive. So far my tests between different Mac's and PC's show it working like I want it to. The PC's do not see the HFS partition. My eMac (OS10.3) and MacBook (OS10.4) allow me to see the HFS partition and open the encrypted folder.
 
I love my SanDisk Titanium. 2GB. I got rid of the U3 thing and all was better... the easiest way is a borrowed PC.
 
wsteineker said:
Avoid the Sony MicroVault at ALL COSTS!!! I've got one of the 2GB models and it's barely faster than USB1.1. I've heard good things about the Sandisk Cruzer line of drives. That's what I'm checking into next. Anybody else have some recommendations?
Click to expand...

mankar4 said:
i am a huge fan of the sony micro vault tiny drives because i can carry them in my wallet. There are 2gb and 4gb models, and they're thinner than 2 credit cards and about the length of a finger segment.

http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1&fsoo=1
Click to expand...


Guys I need help. I LOVE the way the micro vault tiny looks. I'm looking into getting the 4gb. I read the reviews on Amazon and some of them hate it because it's slow (like the first poster I am quoting) and some love it and say that the people complaining must have gotten a bad batch. Can anyone else tell me their experience with this USB drive. I am a Mac user so I have to go for the style!!! I love how tiny this is and the way it looks, but I'm just a little worried that it might be slow. I work in a lab and will be putting on a gig or two of images on it a day. But my most important feature is the style!
Please help. Thanks
 
I have both a Sandisk Cruzer 1gb and a 2gb Titanium. I love both of them, but I use the 2 gb daily with ChronoSync. They're both very fast! I also have had a Lexar that eventually died after two years. I'd go with Sandisk.
 
I have the Sandisk Cruzer Micro Skin in 4GB. It was £10 from Play.com. It is tiny and works great despite being so cheap. Also, it does not come with any annoying preinstalled software.
 
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USB Flash Drive

Anyone use a firewire flash drive? I know of a couple companies that make them but have never seen one so far. If you have used one is it faster then the USB ones? Thanks.

Glennsan
 
oclor said:
Guys I need help. I LOVE the way the micro vault tiny looks. I'm looking into getting the 4gb. I read the reviews on Amazon and some of them hate it because it's slow (like the first poster I am quoting) and some love it and say that the people complaining must have gotten a bad batch. Can anyone else tell me their experience with this USB drive. I am a Mac user so I have to go for the style!!! I love how tiny this is and the way it looks, but I'm just a little worried that it might be slow. I work in a lab and will be putting on a gig or two of images on it a day. But my most important feature is the style!
Please help. Thanks
Click to expand...

Anyone?
 
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