USB mini "thumb" drives...

pscatespscates
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Cool or what?



I'm thinking about getting one. Anyone here have one? Anything I should know about? Do they, as advertised, truly work with Macs AND PCs, no software, no drivers, etc. needed?



I'm always at a buddy's house (most of them on PCs) and I'll download an update or shareware or whatever because they'll have a nice, speedy connection. Then I waste an entire CD to hold just 20-50MB for the trip back home.



Short of lugging a Zip drive around (no fun), this seems like the next best thing and a total no-brainer.



What's the good word on these things? Reliable? Durable? Work like they're supposed to?



Thanks!



Oh yeah: any brands or models to look at, or - conversely - avoid at all costs?
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    they're great, work wonderfully.



    that said, i lost mine within two weeks. it was so small it fell off my keychain and i never saw it again. really nice while it lasted though.
  • Reply 2 of 24
    mrmistermrmister Posts: 1,095member
    I love mine--i use a DiskOnKey, and it works like a dream. At 128 megs of storage it has saved my bacon far more times than I like to admit...sometimes the best solution when you don't feel like parsing out why the network isn't working is to just sneakernet something off my Book and onto somebody else's PC.



    Hint: don't reformat the disk to HFS or HFS+, as you'll lose the cross-platform capabilities in return for only nominally better transfer rates on Macs. Leave it FAT32 or MS/DOS and it simply works.
  • Reply 3 of 24
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    My wife has one. The first one went bad but the company sent a new one. I think the name was Trek. (not the bike). So ... maybe stay away from that brand?
  • Reply 4 of 24
    vandewaalsvandewaals Posts: 450member
    I have 2 from BusLink...a 32 and a 128 MB. They both work like a charm normally, however last night I was at a friend's house and I tried using one to print my resume on his PC. When i tried to transfer the file onto the thumb drive it hung the Finder, which I relaunched. The computer then promptly kernel paniced. I think this may have more to do with general USB problems I have heard about for 10.2.5. This was the first I ever had a problem tho, and they have worked fine since.



    There's so many brands to choose from. I picked BusLink because it was at Best Buy and they were cheap ($29.99 for the 32 MB, $69.99 for the 128 MB). And they go up to 1 GB too (for like $400 ).



    Many of them also have some cool password security too...unfortunately the software for that is PC only (sigh). But yes, as long as you keep it formatted as a PC disk it will work with both. Disk Utility can format it just like a regular disk.
  • Reply 5 of 24
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Thanks, guys! Probably going to snag one here in the next several days then. I found a very cool one online that's right up my alley, appearance-wise.







    And check out that price!







    It's calling my name...



    Most things I'm shuttling back and forth are simple downloads and updates from Apple and Adobe and maybe some 5-8MB shareware app or whatever. In all this time, I don't think I've ever burned (okay, wasted) a CD with more than 40-50MB of stuff on it. I'm thinking 64MB would do me fine.



    The color and price of that particular model just seals the deal.



  • Reply 6 of 24
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    I have an Iomega one (128MB) And use it all the time. If you use it on WIN 95 and some early versions of 98, you will need to install a universal USB driver, and Mac OS 8.6 needs a "USB Mass storage support" extension. (A copy from a OS 9 extensions folder works fine)
  • Reply 7 of 24
    mcqmcq Posts: 1,543member
    Yeah pscates, I saw that one a week or so ago when I was looking around to buy one, but TigerDirect charges $10 for shipping (at least, to Fla anyway). The Lexar 64MB jumpdrive will be $39.99 at Officemax starting Sunday, and there's two mail-in-rebates, one for $20, the other for $10, so it still ends up at $9.99. I'm currently using a 128MB version, and I just transferred 40MB or so of data from a PC to a Mac, no problems.



    Link:

    http://www.officemax.com/max/solutio...kOID=537048532



    Note: The rebates don't start until May 4 (tomorrow), so you can't get it today. It should be available in-store tomorrow, as it's printed in the ad that will begin circulating tomorrow, or is online now if you look here:



    http://images.officemax.com/images/s...M_P02_4C01.jpg



    That's the ad for Orlando, but it should be the same nationwide.
  • Reply 8 of 24
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MCQ

    That's the ad for Orlando, but it should be the same nationwide.



    Is is in California too! 8)
  • Reply 9 of 24
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    i'm sure the min USB drives will be nicer but why not use a CD-RW then you wouldn't be wasting CD's (they are very nice specially with little information to burn so it doesn't matter that u can't re-burn fast
  • Reply 10 of 24
    scottscott Posts: 7,431member
    The good thing about my wife's is that it's small small.





  • Reply 11 of 24
    mcqmcq Posts: 1,543member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    i'm sure the min USB drives will be nicer but why not use a CD-RW then you wouldn't be wasting CD's (they are very nice specially with little information to burn so it doesn't matter that u can't re-burn fast



    Much more portable... I can stick a usb thumb drive in my pocket, or on my keychain. I can't stick a CD in my pocket. If I have to transer larger amts of info, then I use the CD burner. They're beginning to get much cheaper for a reasonable amount of storage, so it's a nice addition to have.
  • Reply 12 of 24
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    i'm sure the min USB drives will be nicer but why not use a CD-RW then you wouldn't be wasting CD's (they are very nice specially with little information to burn so it doesn't matter that u can't re-burn fast



    You do mention the USB drives are nicer, so I won't try to tell you that they are...that just wouldn't make sense.



    What was my point?



    uh..

    uh..



    Oh yeah! Don't you have to erase the whole cd and then re-ad stuff everytime you use a CD-RW ?
  • Reply 13 of 24
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MCQ

    Much more portable... I can stick a usb thumb drive in my pocket, or on my keychain. I can't stick a CD in my pocket. If I have to transer larger amts of info, then I use the CD burner. They're beginning to get much cheaper for a reasonable amount of storage, so it's a nice addition to have.



    again i did say USB drives are nicer but he made it sound like there wasn't any other option besides wasting a CD or using a zip drive







    Quote:

    Originally posted by progmac

    You do mention the USB drives are nicer, so I won't try to tell you that they are...that just wouldn't make sense.



    What was my point?



    uh..

    uh..



    Oh yeah! Don't you have to erase the whole cd and then re-ad stuff everytime you use a CD-RW ?



    no...well not with toast if you do a burn session and not burn disc, but yes it is annoying...but he doesn't seem to be that he is doing it often



    oh and progmac, thanks for noticing i DID say it was better unlike MCQ



    oh and MCQ, i still luv ya
  • Reply 14 of 24
    mcqmcq Posts: 1,543member
    Haha, thanks ast3r3x... yeah I was kind of confused by the whole "usb drives are likely better yet CDRW is very very nice" thing, so I figured I'd make the post anyway.



    Anyways, yeah it's what you want to use, there's a place for both, and they both have their reasons for use. I just find that I'm beginning to burn CDs much less, now that I have a usb memory key and an iPod.
  • Reply 15 of 24
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MCQ

    Haha, thanks ast3r3x... yeah I was kind of confused by the whole "usb drives are likely better yet CDRW is very very nice" thing, so I figured I'd make the post anyway.



    Anyways, yeah it's what you want to use, there's a place for both, and they both have their reasons for use. I just find that I'm beginning to burn CDs much less, now that I have a usb memory key and an iPod.



    yeah, definatly would use CD's less if i had a USB memory keychain and iPod
  • Reply 16 of 24
    spartspart Posts: 2,060member
    PowerUser seems to have the cheapest ones (256 for under 100 bucks.) And they look the part.



    I like Sony's drives...but they cost twice as much. Uggh.



    I think I'm going to buy a 128MB one. Seems the perfect solution for school (with a lot of Macs, most with USB ports. Other option is a floppy.)



    I'm assuming these things mount in OS 9 with the USBMassStorage or whatever extension enabled?
  • Reply 17 of 24
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    i'm sure the min USB drives will be nicer but why not use a CD-RW then you wouldn't be wasting CD's (they are very nice specially with little information to burn so it doesn't matter that u can't re-burn fast



    What MCQ said, pretty much



    Here's the thing too: a couple of the friends I visit don't have CD-R drives on their computers, so...



    I can download the stuff but can't really take it with me unless I lugged my Zip.



    This little device, like you mentioned in your final post below, is SO much more convenient. I can use it on any computer (all my friends use Macs, Windows ME, 2000 or XP), regardless of whatever optical drive they may - or may not - have.



    And yeah, for 12MB or whatever, it's a pain to burn a CD-RW. I thought about that. For me, this is a cooler, easier and quicker solution.



    Plus, look at the size! It's completely convenient and tiny!



  • Reply 18 of 24
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    well i did say it was better
  • Reply 19 of 24
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Say it with feeling



    j/k



    You asked about the CD-RW thing, so I just felt as though I should answer, that's all. Yeah, this is a better solution, isn't it?



    I remember saying to a co-worker, probably about 5 or so years ago (we'd just gotten a SCSI Zip drive at work) that "this is so cool! It's like a Syquest but even more space...and it's smaller!"



    Years later, this is kinda like that: my trusty old USB 100MB Zip Drive - cool and useful as it is and has been - has become like a Syquest drive and these cool little flash drives are the "oh wow...cool!" thing.
  • Reply 20 of 24
    fred_ljfred_lj Posts: 607member
    How did these little handy things get coined "drives?" It's just flash memory, right -- like a direct-interface CF card? Is it just because (like CF cards) they behave like a media source (HDD/Zip/CD), or was somebody being overly cute?



    The price on flash memory is truly getting cheap, though --- 1GB is a really nice option for backup (and for publication-worthy digital picture shoots).
Sign In or Register to comment.