The USB Flash Drive Thread

I thought I'd start a thread for users to post their experiences with different USB flash drives. I know for the most part it's a disposable commodity, but many of us still want high capacity and high speed at an affordable price.

Index:

Listing Sequential Read / Write

HP:
HP V702W 128GB 192/83

Kingston:
Kingston Data Traveler Mini DTM30 117/20

Mushkin:
Mushkin Ventura Pro 64 GB 125/85

PNY:
PNY Turbo 128GB USB 3.0 138/74

Sandisk:
SanDisk 64GB Cruzer Extreme USB 3.0 Flash Drive 262/181
SanDisk Ultra Fit™ CZ43 64GB 146/40

GENERIC:
MyMemory 128GB 28/24

 

I bought a 128GB PNY Turbo 128GB USB 3.0 Flash drive to take with me on vacation and load up with movies for me and the kids. This thing is a lot faster than any of my other flash drives I've owned. Sustained 100MB/sec write transfers, unbelievable. Loaded up over 60GB of video files in under 12 minutes.

The drive has sliding sleeve to lock it close and it's high friction so it's unlikely to slide open on its own and no cap to lose. There is a wide slot for a lanyard so fairly easy to run the lanyard in it. There is a visible red flashing light to indicate drive active, and it's diffused through casing, so it won't blink like Christmas lights and draw attention.

Cost: $35 from Amazon (Nov 25 2014)

Here's results of CrystalDiskMark (50MB size only didn't want to kill the drive - but seems in line with what I've seen others test with 100MB or 1000MB size):

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 138.426 MB/s
Sequential Write : 73.670 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 125.369 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 57.054 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 9.918 MB/s [ 2421.4 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 1.253 MB/s [ 305.8 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 9.664 MB/s [ 2359.4 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 1.518 MB/s [ 370.6 IOPS]

Test : 50 MB [E: 1.1% (1.3/116.9 GB)] (x2)
Date : 2014/12/06 10:09:31
OS : Windows 8.1 [6.3 Build 9600] (x64)
PNY Turbo 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

 

SanDisk 64GB Cruzer Extreme USB 3.0 Flash Drive



-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 261.664 MB/s
Sequential Write : 180.967 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 197.779 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 25.621 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 11.206 MB/s [ 2735.7 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 11.399 MB/s [ 2782.8 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 11.118 MB/s [ 2714.3 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 11.995 MB/s [ 2928.5 IOPS]

Test : 50 MB [H: 30.3% (17.7/58.4 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2014/12/06 19:31:55
OS : Windows 8.1 Enterprise [6.3 Build 9600] (x64)

Extreme USB Flash Drive by SanDisk

Copying 11GB movie file into the drive at 145MB/s, moving it from the drive at 240MB/s.

 

HP V702W 128GB

$30 from Tiger Direct ($35 now - I got it during a sale).

 

SanDisk Ultra Fit™ CZ43 64GB

$25 from Amazon during Black Friday, currently $33.

 

Yeah; this drive would give me ultra fits too...


Even at that price.

 

I also have two of the Cruzer Fit (a 16GB model and a 64), which is a tiiiiiny bit smaller but older so only USB 2.0.

It seems like the really small form factor drives suffer a bit on the performance side, but I love that I can leave them in the USB ports and still fit my laptop in my bag, which is already a snug fit.

 

I have a varity of USB flash drives but I wouldn't call any of them disposable. I have a few cheap ones that I use to copy files and data from other since they keep their system malware up-to-date. My faster larger USB 3.0 I never give to anyone, since the last time I did I got it back with no data on it. Luckily, Partition Tool was able to recover it. That time.

I also like the PQI mini, which I leave in my laptop all the time for misc storage that I might need to quickly remove and/or copy. I have two of those. One 8 GB and another 64 GB. Incredible that you can now get these things up to a TB.

Right now 64 GB is the largest I have. A Kinston Hyper X. When I bought it shortly after release it was $130. Now the 128 GB version is just a bit over $100!

But the only reason I limit myself to that is their propensity to get lost/stolen. I also learned to lock all my drives since you stand a much better chance of getting them back if no one else can use them. At this point, these locks should be built-in. And I'm referring to all portable drives. Not just USB.

 

Mushkin Ventura Pro 64 GB

 

Good idea for a thread. :thumbsup:

However, is the above a typo? The only product I see on the SanDisk site is:
Extreme USB Flash Drive by SanDisk

... of which I have the 16 Gb and 64 Gb variants. Very fast and reliable Flash drives. Nothing with the "Cruzer" in product name, though.

Also the 128 Gb Extreme Pro was released earlier this year:
SanDisk 128GB Extreme PRO USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Eventually, I'll get round to purchasing one.

 

Good eyes, I didn't notice anything special Either I copy+pasted it from somewhere or just typed it and never noticed.

 

A couple from my collection (I only did the sequential read / write tests):

A cheap USB 3.0 drive. Plenty of capacity and a reasonable write speed.



The Kingston Data Traveller Mini DTM30. Nice and compact and decent read speed.



John

 

Yes, and finally with built-in encryption and password protection (its about time). Now that's a drive I can get used to.

Now if we can just figure out a way to not leave it in the port when you depart. If no one else can use it its almost certain to be turned in, but I'd just as soon remember to take it with me in the first place. I have my personal solution, but its not the most streamline idea ever to come down the pike,.

UPDATE:

Hyper X

 

Disposable is usually good enough, certainly. Bootable flash/recovery/maintenance stuff, for instance. Or simple file exchange. Neither of which will see frequent reads/writes, so reliability is not much of an issue. Will fetch whatever free marketing/propaganda thing's available for that and get another from the pile when these have failed.

However, also deploy USB drive as an office-on-the-go:

• 7-Zip································•·OOo (OpenOffice)································
• Becky! (email client, synchronizes)··•·Opera (browser, cache on USB, synchronizes)·····
• ClamWin (anti-virus)·················•·Restoration (data recovery)·····················
• HWiNFO (duh)·························•·Waterfox (64-bit Firefox, >1GB memory stuff)····
• InfraRecorder························•·Winamp··········································
• MPC-HC·······························•·XnView··········································

Office and browser especially entail many read/write cycles and that's where an SLC-type drive is useful. Data security is one aspect, but worse is having to set up every program again. Could make weekly backups, but it's more comforting to have a drive that lasts 10x longer (at 10x the cost, mind).

Sharkoon Flexi-Drive Extreme Duo 32GB:



Unfortunately, Sharkoon doesn't make slc sticks anymore, nor anyone else it seems. One exception is IronKey, but wth ... $600 for 32GB ?!!!

 

I think the high price tag is probably due to the encryption crap more than anything!

 

I don't know if this is the right thread but I know there are many geniuses there. I have a PNY 128gb 3.0. I formatted it and used as a recovery media. After creating a recovery media, I noticed that my USB capacity is only 31.9 gb. I tried formatting it again but no luck, still 31.9 gb. Please help. Thanks a lot.

 

Use a partition tool to resize it.

 

I was wondering if anyone had recommendation for a USB drive that is small with a metal handle (so it could sustain repeated yanking off a retractable belt clip) and reliable
Bonus would be encryption, I don't really need anything more than 32 Gb (I have had a patriot USB 3.0 small alu. ? material drive that was great till the plastic ring at one end broke and then in order to continue using it I eventually kept bringing it to work in my wallet and sitting on it didn't help its structural integrity)

 

I have few Kingston DTSE9 drives. Only USB2 but the one in my home keys has been working for years now.

 

I want to buy 2 USB sticks, one for recovery of my system and one for data transfer, and I have absolutely no experience with USB sticks.

Can I i. e. boot from a USB 3.0 stick with my Alienware M17rX4? I think I can, because there was some sort of BIOS option referring to USB 3.0 support, need to look that up, but maybe someone can confirm .

For System recovery, I thought of this stick:

http://www.amazon.de/dp/B007YXA5S8/...7bbe|10/25/2015/08/52/37|258|chip_shopping-21

It got very good ratings from several sites, and it also got praised for the high speed.

For data-transfer, I thought of this stick, which is also from Sandisk:

http://www.amazon.de/SanDisk-Ultra-...213&sr=1-3&keywords=sandisk+extreme+pro+128gb

It's not the fastest stick on the market, but transfer-rates are ok, and the price seems to be absolutely unbeatable. I'd maybe even take the 256 GB version, it's below 100€!!!

There is also a newer model from SanDisk, which is ultra-ugly, but it's also very cheap for its size, and it looks amazingly small, it's basically only the usb plug connector: http://www.amazon.de/SanDisk-Ultra-USB-Flash-Laufwerk-128GB-130 MB/dp/B00YFI1EBC/ref=sr_1_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1445763964&sr=1-1&keywords=sandisk+128+gb+usb+stick .

I'm very interested in what you think about these choices, and if you maybe have even better ones . The price / performance ratio is very important for me.

[EDIT]

This USB-stick seems even more interesting than the SanDisk, because it's ultimately small, and even rugged, while not being more expensive: http://www.amazon.de/PQI-I-MINI-SIL...=UTF8&qid=1445765217&sr=1-1&keywords=pqi+mini !

[EDIT]

The PQI stick has very good read-rates (130 mb / s) but is awefully slow on writing (10 mb / s) . Might still be interesting though, because it's rugged, bootable and as I want to use it for system-recovery, it's possible that I only have to write the necessary data on it once or very seldomly. Still, 10 mb / s is really meh :/ .

[EDIT]

Faster than fast: Benchmarks, 360 MB / s read and 170 MB / s write. http://www.amazon.de/Lexar-128GB-Ju...768347&sr=8-2&keywords=lexar+jumpdrive+128+gb

 

Some interesting links:

http://www.amazon.de/PQI-i-Tiff-sil...UTF8&qid=1445772023&sr=1-1&keywords=pqi+tiffy <-- well priced offer for PQI Tiffy with 32 GB. Can be different in america, but in europe, it doesn't make sense to buy smaller versions, because they cost only 1-2€ less.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/5439/pqi-tiffany-32gb-usb-3-0-flash-drive-review/index.html <-- Test for PQI Tiffy showing also read and write rates, which are uncommoly good for a stick that's so tiny.

http://www.amazon.de/PQI-i-Mini-USB...F8&qid=1445774273&sr=8-2&keywords=pqi+mini+ii <-- version 2 of the PQI mini stick, one of two sticks that are even smaller than the PQI Tiffy. Need to look up a review about it.

http://www.amazon.de/SanDisk-Ultra-USB-Flash-Laufwerk-16GB-130 MB/dp/B00LLEN5FQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1445771319&sr=1-4&keywords=sandisk+ultra+fit <-- The new ultrasmall stick from SanDisk. Performs better than the PQI sticks, but is not rugged. The price however is amazing.

http://usb.userbenchmark.com/SanDisk-Ultra-Fit-USB-30-16GB/Rating/2694 <-- Benchmark for the SanDisk stick.

[EDIT]

Unbelievable, there is no review / benchmark of the PQI Mini 2. Should somebody find one, plz post it here, as I'm very interested in this USB flash drive, because it's the smallest in the whole world, it get's praised for its compatibility and because it's rugged too. If the read- / write rates are acceptable, this ist the ultimate USB-stick for mobile use.

 

With the exception of an SSD USB stick that my Joggler runs from, all I use are Sandisk Cruzer fit sticks. Only USB 2 so the speed is far from amazing but the tiny form factor is the key selling point for me. Most of my systems have one plugged into a USB socket at all times to keep files backed up. The Macbook air has a bootable clone of OS X on a 64GB Cruzer Fit. The last time something went wrong with the OS it was possible to boot from the stick and finish the work the needed doing (Far from ideal but I time was constrained). I then cloned the OS from the stick back onto the internal SSD to avoid having to run the OS from USB.

 

@ bennni: The PQI mini ii is also capable of all that, and it uses Samsung NAND memory. Afaik, the Cruzer's are very large, if you look at the PQI mini ii again, that's the smallest USB-stick of the whole world, it's as big as 1 penny!

I've btw. asked Amazon to ask the firm that sells the 16 and 32GB version currently when a 64GB version will be available in Europe.

 

I took a look and it looks to be (as near as makes no difference) about the same size as the Cruzer fit sticks - but on the other hand, USB 3 would be welcome so I'll try the PQI Mini when I next have to buy a stick. Thanks for the tip!

 

I did look at those, but kingston (for me atleast) does not bode confidence, any other recommendation, thanks mate

 

There is a USB 3 version of the cruzer, but it's a tiiiny bit larger in my comparison.

 

I decided for a 16 GB SanDisk extreme for the moment, because I only want to use it for OS-install and recovery, and in both cases, I want to have a good speed, while the size of the flash-drive basically doesn't matter at all, because I don't carry it around.

'til now, no answer for the 64 GB version of the i-mini ii yet btw.