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    usb flash drive bying help please

    Discussion in 'Accessories' started by emcolimited, Jun 5, 2009.

  1. emcolimited

    emcolimited Notebook Enthusiast

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    HEllo,

    If been looking around to buy a USB flash drive on ebay. There seems to be a few nice looking, i think, 16gb flash drives for relatively cheap prices. What i dont know is speeds. What does it mean when it says 30x faster than floppy drive?

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-16GB-USB-...0|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:0|293:1|294:50

    who makes good flash drives? what do i look for? who should i not buy from?

    any help would be much appreciated.

    thank you
     
    emcolimited, Jun 5, 2009
    #1
  2. Evanescent

    Evanescent Notebook Deity

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    Transfer speed is what it means. I believe Transcend makes good flash drives. It would be best if you just buy from a store instead of ebay. It is possible the ebay sells fake flash drives.
     
    Evanescent, Jun 5, 2009
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  3. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Always take read and write speed with a pinch of salt, also you have things like your UB potentially limiting speed depending on the internal hub.

    The only thing you should maybe look at it getting a "known brand" - but there are many... Sony, Sandisk, Kingstone (or without the e at the end?) ...and and and...

    It may be an idea to go to your local staples or IT store, and to have a look, then go home and check Amazon - or maybe even Dell for good prices - make sure you use a reputable retailer - that's why I suggested Dell or Amazon, I'm sure there are others.
     
    DetlevCM, Jun 5, 2009
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  4. cat mom

    cat mom Notebook Evangelist

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    Try newegg.com. They have different ones on special all the time and you can check out the reviews as well. Much safer place to shop than ebay.
     
    cat mom, Jun 5, 2009
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  5. predatorramboxxx

    predatorramboxxx Notebook Deity

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    ebay has a lot of flashdrives that are from china and work for like half a month then die. also they take forever for you to get that its no worth even returning..
     
    predatorramboxxx, Jun 5, 2009
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  6. jello22

    jello22 Notebook Enthusiast

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    eBay can be a crapshoot, but I have had a lot of luck with the cheap products I have gotten from Hong Kong. I've never gotten anything that didn't work or died on me yet. [​IMG]
     
    jello22, Jun 5, 2009
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  7. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    DetlevCM, Jun 5, 2009
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  8. predatorramboxxx

    predatorramboxxx Notebook Deity

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    yeah its the generic cheap imported stuff you have to watch out for.. try tigerdirect.com or microcenter.
     
    predatorramboxxx, Jun 5, 2009
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  9. paper_wastage

    paper_wastage Beat this 7x7x7 Cube

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    a) never buy memory from ebay... just never

    create an account over at slickdeals.net

    people post deals... for eg, there was a 16GB sandisk cruzer micro for $25 shipped from buy.com... deal gone though, you need to wait for another deal
     
    paper_wastage, Jun 5, 2009
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  10. qhn

    qhn Notebook User

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    Going on 4 months and using 2 of these at the moment. Zero issue. All my notebooks recognize it at plugging in (Vista, XP and W7)

    Agreed that eBay items can be tricky, no matter where they come from. So use Paypal to protect yourself.

    cheers
     
    qhn, Jun 6, 2009
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  11. leaftye

    leaftye Notebook Consultant

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    leaftye, Jun 7, 2009
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  12. DetlevCM

    DetlevCM Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Well, I broke one flash drive on windows ME by just pulling it out of the slot...

    Afterwards I took it apart - physically it wouild be near imposible to detroy - you could have chucked it from a skyscraper...
     
    DetlevCM, Jun 8, 2009
    #12