Recommend to me the BEST USB stick to get

[superboyac]

superboyac: how fast is the pico-c, though? speed is quite an important thing for me wrt. flash memory devices - throughput as well as random access time.

You know, I'm not sure exactly how fast it is.  You can find many benchmarks for it on various website reviews.  I've never really understood what kind of speed issues people have with USB drives.  All USB drives seem slow to me because I'm comparing them to hard drive speeds.  Tell you what, instead of going by benchmarks, why don't you give me a specific task you are looking for and I'll try it on my drive and tell you the result?  Do you want me to transfer a 100 MB file and tell you how long it takes?  Let me know.

[bluesear]

No threads about the usb stick. However, it's so useful for members, thanks!

[MilesAhead]

OCZ DIESEL 16GB

I'm looking at this since I need to buy one at least 16 GB.  Can you tell me what type of write speed you get with it?  My largest so far is A-Data 8 GB but it writes at less than 5 MB/sec.  Kinda' slow for copying movies on.  Fortunately it reads well enough to play them.

[MilesAhead]

While trawling the net looking at SSDs I happened across this flash drive:  OCZ Throttle eSATA Flash Drive

For eSATA:
90MB/s - Read
30MB/s - Write

And a USB interface if the host PC doesn't have an eSATA port.

The 16GB version is available at Newegg for $52.

Now we're getting to some realistic speeds  

But what are the speeds if you have to plug into USB?  I'm just asking because I got a WD HD player.
The usb key is convenient but the largest I have is A-Data 8GB and @4.x MB/sec. write speed it's slow slogging copying a movie on.
I don't want to spend top dollar but something reliable and a bit faster would be cool.

I have an external USB 250 GB drive that writes at about 24 MB/sec but moving the drive from the computer room to the TV room and hooking the wires will get old fast.  It's too much hassle to set up a network at this point.

[tomos]

many of the recommendations here are capless - has anyone had problems with that ? (visions of fluff or grit getting jammed in there if you dont check/clean it thoroughly before use...)

[superboyac]

many of the recommendations here are capless - has anyone had problems with that ? (visions of fluff or grit getting jammed in there if you dont check/clean it thoroughly before use...)

Let me repeat:  I have had ZERO problems with the Super Talent Pico-C.  It's tiny, capless, and indestructible.  I love this thing so much.  I keep it on my keychain in my pocket all day long, nothing happens.  I've never cleaned it, I've never had any issues at all.  In fact, I dropped it in my parents' driveway and it was there for three days before I found it.  Not a thing wrong with it.  It's a brilliantly designed USB drive.

[MilesAhead]

many of the recommendations here are capless - has anyone had problems with that ? (visions of fluff or grit getting jammed in there if you dont check/clean it thoroughly before use...)

Let me repeat:  I have had ZERO problems with the Super Talent Pico-C.  It's tiny, capless, and indestructible.  I love this thing so much.  I keep it on my keychain in my pocket all day long, nothing happens.  I've never cleaned it, I've never had any issues at all.  In fact, I dropped it in my parents' driveway and it was there for three days before I found it.  Not a thing wrong with it.  It's a brilliantly designed USB drive.

Can you post a link?  I've been looking at a number of these, esp. the ones that scored high on large file write tests, but I keep seeing conflicting stuff in user reviews about not being able to plug the Pico-C into some ports.

Also I would be interested if you could give a ballpark benchmark writing a 100 MB or larger file onto it.

It's tough to know who to believe on these.  I read a benchmark test on a site claiming the Patriot Exporter XT was one of the high scorers on write tests.  But then on the store site a user review claimed it only wrote at about 9 MB/sec. when copying on large files.  Not all that fast when paying a speed premium.

[superboyac]

Can you post a link?  I've been looking at a number of these, esp. the ones that scored high on large file write tests, but I keep seeing conflicting stuff in user reviews about not being able to plug the Pico-C into some ports.

Also I would be interested if you could give a ballpark benchmark writing a 100 MB or larger file onto it.

It's tough to know who to believe on these.  I read a benchmark test on a site claiming the Patriot Exporter XT was one of the high scorers on write tests.  But then on the store site a user review claimed it only wrote at about 9 MB/sec. when copying on large files.  Not all that fast when paying a speed premium.

Regarding the speed, I can't help you there.  I don't know enough of that stuff to make heads or tails out of those benchmarks that I always see.  I just look at those graphs and usually gloss over it or say, "hmm...interesting" and move on.  Personally, I don't care too much about the speed of USB drives.  That is, unless it's annoyingly slow for some reason, but I've never run into that situation.  I've never noticed speed differences among usb drives.  Frankly, I don't know what you guys are looking for.  It's just a usb drive.  If I need performance, I look elsewhere.  All I care about is capacity and the physical features.  Anyway, sorry, I have no idea about that stuff.
As for the Pico-c, even though I don't know what they are talking about, most of the reviews said that the pico-c was among the faster ones.  Whatever.

I just transferred a 100 MB file to my pico-c.  It took 1:06.  But I had a bunch of other things going on in my computer.  So I don't know what that means.

Also, about the tight fit of the pico-c...I have had no problems with it and I've plugged it into over 10 computers by now.  yes, some were pretty tight.  but nothing happened.  You have to understand that some people just are obsessed with certain things and just harp on them forever when it's really not that big a deal.  So what if it's tight?  Big deal.  Nothing gets damaged so whatever.  And so what if benchmarks differ?  It's a usb drive, there are a lot of factors that affect how fast it is on any given day.  And in either case, it's way slower than other media like a hard drive.  To me, 90% of my choice is about the physical characteristics of the usb drive, 9% is the capacity, and 1% on things like read/write speed.

[MilesAhead]

I was considering using the USB stick for playing videos but it turns out the WD player box I got supports USB docking stations.  For the price of a 16GB USB stick I ordered a 2nd one identical to the model I have on one of my PCs.  I already tried it and it plays the videos flawlessly.  Should cut down on video conversions quite a bit.

Eventually I'll probably get a 16GB stick because 8GB really is kind of small these days.  I'll wait a bit and see if the prices fall.

Thanks for the info.

[MilesAhead]

I got this Verbatim 16GB since it was reported to have good write speed and I saw it for $35.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41sUHo5cDFL._SL500_AA280_.jpg

I copied a 1.4GB file onto it.  It wrote at a steady 10 MB/sec.  Only thing is it's the type with the plastic slide and feels really flimsy.  I'll just have to wait and see how well it holds up to plugging and unplugging.  The A-Data rubber coated jobs feel very solid and seem to be rugged, but they only write at half the speed of this one.

edit: I formatted it to NTFS.  Crystal Disk Mark shows about 11.14 MB/sec sequential write.  More than twice as fast as my A-Data rubber coated ones.  I just hope it holds up.

You can't tell.  I read some customer reivews of the A-Data rubber coated ones that said they fell apart after a couple of uses.  The rubber gives it weight, cushions shock, and gives it a solid feel.  But, if the glue gives out, it gives out.



Edit:  I notice good prices on this USB here and there.  But, even though the write speed and cost are both reasonable, I don't really like it and wouldn't buy another one.  Plugging and pulling from the USB connector is tight, which makes it a struggle.  You have to jam your thumb against the little stop on top of the slide to plug in. Then when you pull it out, that stop is pulled by the slot in the plastic housing.  I know this thing won't stand up.  There's no way the innards can have that stress put on it and the thing last.  They should have put the electronics in a unit with no moving parts. So far that's USBs with sliding bodies purchased, 2, USBs with sliding bodies that I liked after I got 'em, 0.

[tinjaw]

PortableApps.com just released version 1.6 of their platform today and I am thinking about building a fresh new portable drive. I was wondering if anybody knows of a recent speed test out there. I am thinking about getting a super fast (R & W) 16GB thumb drive.

[ayryq]

Also, about the tight fit of the pico-c...I have had no problems with it and I've plugged it into over 10 computers by now.  yes, some were pretty tight.  but nothing happened.  You have to understand that some people just are obsessed with certain things and just harp on them forever when it's really not that big a deal.  So what if it's tight?  Big deal.  Nothing gets damaged so whatever.

It comes with a little chain for putting on your keyring. I broke the chain multiple times while removing it from USB ports. Further, I now have an intermittent USB port on my laptop which I blame on damage caused by the PICO-C bending the "tongue" inside the USB socket. I don't think this was a small problem, though it may be a rare problem. Other than that I loved the thing. However, I've moved on; I bought a mini-attaché and it's doing the job for now.

/obsessive harping
Eric

[superboyac]

Also, about the tight fit of the pico-c...I have had no problems with it and I've plugged it into over 10 computers by now.  yes, some were pretty tight.  but nothing happened.  You have to understand that some people just are obsessed with certain things and just harp on them forever when it's really not that big a deal.  So what if it's tight?  Big deal.  Nothing gets damaged so whatever.

It comes with a little chain for putting on your keyring. I broke the chain multiple times while removing it from USB ports. Further, I now have an intermittent USB port on my laptop which I blame on damage caused by the PICO-C bending the "tongue" inside the USB socket. I don't think this was a small problem, though it may be a rare problem. Other than that I loved the thing. However, I've moved on; I bought a mini-attaché and it's doing the job for now.

/obsessive harping
Eric

Sorry Eric, I didn't mean to criticize you.  I was trying to keep all the pros and cons of the drive in context, and I didn't want people to be scared of the product because of that one issue.  You know how it is with these online reviews, sometimes one particular feature gets talked about a lot, and people lose sight of the overall product.  I've done the same...I totally get obsessed with certain little things here and there.

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about your experience, but I would also agree that it is rare.  I didn't like the idea of yanking that chain to remove the drive also, especially since the fit is tight.  So I make sure to grab the drive itself when i remove it, just to be safe.  It's similar to what my dad used to get on my case about when I was a kid: he'd tell me to not yank cords out of the electrical socket, and always make sure to grab it by the head.

[ayryq]

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about your experience, but I would also agree that it is rare.  I didn't like the idea of yanking that chain to remove the drive also, especially since the fit is tight.  So I make sure to grab the drive itself when i remove it, just to be safe.  It's similar to what my dad used to get on my case about when I was a kid: he'd tell me to not yank cords out of the electrical socket, and always make sure to grab it by the head.

That's the trouble. The thing is so ridiculously small, there's hardly anything to grip if it's in there tight. And I'd rather break the chain (again) than grab my leatherman and pull it out with pliers. If I get another one some day, first thing I'll do is buy one of these - though I'm not sure if the smaller end would fit through the hole!

Eric

[superboyac]

I have one of those!  They are really nifty and cool.
Sounds like your usb jack is REALLy tight.  I've never run into that tight of a situation.  The tightest was on my mom's laptop (dell) where I had to make sure my fingers were completely dry before tugging the drive out.  But that was the only one.

[MilesAhead]

USB port on my WD HDTV player is the same as well as 2 different PCs.  Sounds like the common denominator is the USB stick.  I just don't want to mess with moving parts.  I've only purchased a few of these things but so far my ideal would be A-Data rubberized but slim and with fast write speed.  My first was a Sandisk which I bought because I read all these reviews about how bullet proof the thing was.  I think I used it a dozen times before it died.  Same thing, slide inside a body.  Moving parts.  No go no mo' for me dude.