Looking for small, fast & stylish USB keyring flash drive

Misiowiec

Misiowiec

Misiowiec

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Can anyone recommend a USB flash drive that:

* is physically small enough not to be in the way, yet has plenty of capacity - minimum 8Gb
* has fast transfter rates, for both read and write. 20Mbps or more... filling 8Gb at 10Mbps = zzz.
* is stylish and minimalist. I'm so tired of all these drives that look like they are designed for (or by!) F1 drivers or 12 year olds.
* can be attached to a keyring and has a design where the cap won't get lost in a week (or is entirely capless).

I've really been struggling to find something suitable, so sorry if the frustration is apparent ;) Used to have a 4Gb SanDisk Cruzer Micro Skin drive, but these don't really have the transfer rate I want. I have a portable 2.5" drive for all my "big" trasfers, but I'd like something that's always with me too.

Eternal thanks to whoever can suggest something!
 
ghost101 said:
Supertalent pico C range. 31.3mm long and 8gb can be had for less than £20.

http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1499/super_talent_pico_c_8gb_flash_drive/index.html

I have one of these and it is brilliant. Great price as well.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's tiny! Great peice of kit, but the Tweaktown review does not include the write speed (how can you omit that in a review??) only the read which is great at around 30Mbps. There's another review at Madshrimps however which shows the average write is only 12Mbps. Darn, apart from the write this is a perfect drive.

The good thing is that "TweakTown is working on gathering as many USB thumb drives as possible for a massive round-up review that will put products from every major manufacturer in the ring with one another" over 30 days, so I'll probably hold out and see who the winner is. I assume they'll incude the write speed in the final write-up :)

Thanks for the suggestion!
 
TheRedZealot said:
The only 2 that i can see that look like they arent made by F1 Drivers or 12 Year Olds are the following:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FL-028-PN&groupid=701&catid=137&subcat=207&name=PNY%2016GB%20Attache%20Optima%20USB%202.0%20Memory%20Stick%20(P-FD16GBA2OPT-BX)
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...t=207&name=Freecom DataBar 16GB USB-2.0 Stick

The Freecom looks nice but the cap could easily be lost and im not sure about both of ther speed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion, but it's not what I'm looking for. The PNY is too slow at writing (10Mbps; though the read is good at 25Mbps) and the Freecom is slow in both directions (8Mbps read, 7Mbps write).
 
lynchy6789 said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...ally2 USB 2.0 Dual Channel Flash Memory Drive

Up to 32-35MB/s (read), 8-15MB/s (write)

Or (looks abit f1 though:p)

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...07&name=8GB OCZ ATV Turbo USB 2.0 Flash Drive

31mb/s or higher read speeds as well as write speeds right on target between 26-30mb/s
Click to expand...

Good suggestions, thanks! First drive is too slow at writing, and the second... well just look at it!! ;) I'm starting to think I have unreasonable demands here, maybe I should just accept the oh-so-cool F1 look. Failing that I could always spraypaint it... :D
 
bledd. said:
here's a handy review :) (has access times / read times / write times) for about 10 sticks :) (one is 25mb/s write)

http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=3&artpage=3535&articID=834

the best ones are Kingston DT HyperX and Corsair GT (this is the best)
Click to expand...

Thats the same one as linked above, but thanks!

rjkoneill said:
corsair flash voyager
rugged-reliable-quick and cheap
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I have to add UGLY to that list. Totally personal preference, but I'm a real minimalist...

lynchy6789 said:
+1 for spray painting it the speeds on the 8GB OCZ ATV Turbo are rather quick.;)
Click to expand...

Seem like it's the best way, yeah. Tbh I'm leaning towards the Super Talent Pico C, it's just so small and cheap. I use a flash drive so rarely that the Pico's average write speeds do not matter that much. And maybe I can work on my patience while it's writing 8Gb of data at 10Mbps, probably do me good! It's the journey not the destination as they say ;)
 
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