Help Choosing USB Stick

**Master Razor** · 29.12.12, 00:28

I would like to buy a 16GB usb stick. I have no idea what to choose.
Just when I think I have found what I'm looking for, I end up on a site that has 30% of all their reviews start with the word "DIED". Starts like "it died in the first week" ... But there are many of them.
Best example: cmfvy3s-16gb
It is also expensive and I have no guarantees. I wanted to buy it but the case is all rubber. The PCB and chip is sustained in it. Thus when I squeeze it in my hand... Bye Bye Baby ...

Every cheap stick has embarrassing speeds and when I transfer a large amount of small files I usually spend about 30 minutes at least to copy them. It's unreal!

The stick will be used for:

booting images (iso/img ..)
installing OS and applications
executing portable applications
moving/copying/editing small files (several bytes)

What do you recommend?
Please focus on reliability and speeds.

**anon** · 29.12.12, 01:47

Amazon.com: Kingston Digital 16 GB USB 2.0 Hi-speed Datatraveler Flash Drive DT102/16GBZ, White: Electronics

I've had the blue 8 gig model for over two years now, and performance under the conditions you mention is good. This is also cheaper and has good reviews...

**SealLion** · 29.12.12, 01:55

I've used Kingston before. They are not that bad.
One other brand that I've used goes be the brand name "Relay"

Just out of curiosity, which other specific brand names did you find in which you read the reviews you mentioned (other than the one you provided above) ??

EDIT: Corsair is widely known to be fairly cheap. And I don't mean cost-wise either. I avoid that brand name for all my electronic needs.

**Master Razor** · 29.12.12, 02:35

Just out of curiosity, which other specific brand names did you find...

Kingston DTSE9H/16GB

This is what I;ve been using so far: DTI/1GB
I used it everyday for 6 years. Never failed and did many formats on it (secure erase, + others..).
Speed is awful for many small files but relatively good for large files.

I can't really tell if the technical specs 10Mb read/5Mb write is really that or more/less.
And the people that write comments that appear to be reviews has virtually no knowledge whatsoever. Half of them are always arguing about the size factor (16GB -> 14.88GB real). The other half doesn't know how to properly measure speed.
With these being said, how to know for sure?

What do you guys think about this one DataTraveler I Gen 3 16GB?

@anon I would get that DTI/16GB but can't find it anymore. It is a larger version of what I have.

**SealLion** · 29.12.12, 03:27

Originally Posted by Master Razor

Half of them are always arguing about the size factor (16GB -> 14.88GB real). ......

That might very well be correct. I read someplace that size advertisements from manufacturers are neither always true nor correct. It's kind of part of their advertising claims which may or may not always be correct. I'd bet from what I read elsewhere a few months ago that those sizes mentioned or advertised aren't necessarily always as advertised.

**yoco** · 29.12.12, 11:39

I have this one for over 2 years now. So far never failed me! :)
Newegg.com - Patriot Xporter XT Boost 16GB Flash Drive (USB 2.0 Portable) Model PEF16GUSB

**SealLion** · 29.12.12, 14:11

Originally Posted by yoco

I have this one for over 2 years now. So far never failed me! :)
Newegg.com - Patriot Xporter XT Boost 16GB Flash Drive (USB 2.0 Portable) Model PEF16GUSB

I like the speed classification on this one. Better than some of the one's I'm using now.

**yoco** · 29.12.12, 16:32

The speed is really amazing on W7. When I copy a large number of files on my sister's laptop I'm always surprised at how fast it's all done. Even on my old PC with XP it's by far the fastest one. Too bad it's only USB 2.0. Can't imagine how fast it would be with USB 3.0

**cheatos** · 30.12.12, 06:23

Originally Posted by yoco

I have this one for over 2 years now. So far never failed me! :)
Newegg.com - Patriot Xporter XT Boost 16GB Flash Drive (USB 2.0 Portable) Model PEF16GUSB

I second Patriot USB flash drives,
I have a 4GB one and it's great (speed wise, I have not measured, but transferring a ~3GB Windosw 7 iso to it took about 8 minutes iirc, whereas on a 4GB Kingston, it took 15 minutes)

I've also had an 8GB Kingston one like this:

http://di1-4.shoppingshadow.com/imag...+usb+key+f.jpg

It failed from the first week, my friend also experienced similar issues with a 4GB DT101 G2 when he sent it to me to recover his files, I'd suggest staying away from Kingston (or at least the 101 G2 series), they manufacture shitty flahes now.

Patriot are more expensive thought.

**anon** · 30.12.12, 17:33

Using the exFAT file system for your removable drives might also be worth considering if you never work with systems that don't support it (i.e. any pre-Vista Windows). It's better than FAT32 and NTFS performance-wise.

**Master Razor** · 30.12.12, 20:14

Originally Posted by anon

Using the exFAT file system for your removable drives might also be worth considering if you never work with systems that don't support it (i.e. any pre-Vista Windows). It's better than FAT32 and NTFS performance-wise.

You know what the smallest filesystem is (to my knowledge, of course)? UDF. In comparison to NTFS or FAT32 it takes up way less space and probably the overhead is drastically reduced. It's incredible.
Anyone willing to make a small test with crystaldiskmark?

**hellman** · 31.12.12, 18:16

Originally Posted by anon

Amazon.com: Kingston Digital 16 GB USB 2.0 Hi-speed Datatraveler Flash Drive DT102/16GBZ, White: Electronics

I've had the blue 8 gig model for over two years now, and performance under the conditions you mention is good. This is also cheaper and has good reviews...

well i would'nt buy that.... there's a huge no. of chinsese copies of kingston flooding into market,,

these r the exact copies ... very hard to differentiate

**takomania** · 20.01.13, 14:49

i've never touched any brand since i began using transcend jetflash sticks - write speeds of around 30mbps usb 2? wipes the floor with most other brands - and amazon sell them for great prices!

**SomeGuy** · 22.01.13, 21:31

I recommend Sandisk. I have two that are 7 years old, and until now they work very very well. As good as new (albeit the capacity is smaller than nowadays stuff).

**roberto1972** · 23.01.13, 09:53

Originally Posted by SealLion

I've used Kingston before. They are not that bad.
One other brand that I've used goes be the brand name "Relay"

Just out of curiosity, which other specific brand names did you find in which you read the reviews you mentioned (other than the one you provided above) ??

EDIT: Corsair is widely known to be fairly cheap. And I don't mean cost-wise either. I avoid that brand name for all my electronic needs.

You gave very good example and not expensive. USB 3.0 is very important thing. I have Kingston with USB 3.0 and its write speed is more then 100MB/s