https://www.ebay.com/itm/512GB-USB-3-0-Metal-Flash-Drive-Memory-Storage-Stick-Pen-Keyc...IAAOSwyhVdw8oi
This one looks just like a 256 GB. Samsung model that I think had a 2 year warranty, which seems to be pretty rugged and reliable -- I've bought a few of them over time. They were usually seen at a price in the $45 to $57 range, when on sale.
& many others seen here
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311.R2.TR2.TRC0.A0.H...0&_sacat=58058
A few years back, someone I know was experimenting with importing some 1 TB. and even 2 TB. flash drives, when they had first appeared. At the time, he said that their quality and reliability very much remained an open question. I've not heard much more on the subject since then, and such models don't seem to be sold by major retailers in the U.S. Possibly something to do with the fact that major branded models in the 512 GB capacity have been sold here at prices in the $250 to $375 (?) range, so doubling that capacity or more might take it out of a viable consumer products category. Even the eBay prices on major-brand 512's exceed $100. (That said, I seem to recall that Costco had Sandisk 512 GB flashdrives at a very reasonable price, a year or two ago though only briefly. And I also recall hearing -- some years ago -- that there were only 3 or 4 actual manufacturers -- of the guts of these things -- in the world ?)
But those prices from the links above are just crazy / unbelievable. And I definitely follow the principles of Caveat Emptor, You Generally Get What You Pay For (except when the fix is in, when there are forced supply limitations, or in the case of ridiculous markup as with many designer-brand goods), and another that is Don't Buy Much of Chinese Manufacture, since so much of it has proven to be very sketchy in one way or another. Buying "from China" tagged items on eBay has also turned out to be a dubious choice, based on what I've seen.
Try StreamFab Downloader and download from Netflix, Amazon, Youtube! Or Try DVDFab and copy Blu-rays! or rip iTunes movies!
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 14 of 14
Thread
-
Last edited by Seeker47; 3rd Feb 2020 at 12:04.
When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ -- with over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this quintessentially American art form. -
I found a USB flash drive in our company parking lot. Careful inspection, using a "dirty" non-network computer, showed that the drive claimed terabyte capacity. Actual capacity was 8 GB. It held some interesting malware that tried to autorun, without success.
-
Those $5 drives are certainly fakes -- much smaller drives formatted to look like 1TB. The sellers know that nobody is going to bother asking for a refund -- returning the drive to China will cost you more than you paid for the drive.
-
++1
100% fake. The firmware is hacked to report a much larger size (common with SD cards too), but when you hit actual capacity of the drive, best case is it will just stop. Worse case, it will overwrite what's already there and if it's a video file, all is lost. Watch this video from Linus Tech Tips for what happens and how it's done. -
That explains it.
Then I guess the best hope is that Costco gets those 512 Sandisk ones again, at some point. Sorry I did not buy a couple when they were available. (Sandisk had its own fiasco some time ago with that proprietary "U3" business, but I gather they abandoned that.)
It usually only makes sense to buy from U.S. sellers anyway . . . although I did have a good experience buying some Wacom items direct from Japan. Unexpectedly quick, and with better customer service than is often found at home.When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ -- with over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this quintessentially American art form. -
Easier and cheaper just to make your own with a 512GB SD card
https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?N=4294966791+4294814674&Ntt=&pr...x=&Ntk=all&Nr=
In a sd to usb reader
https://www.microcenter.com/product/604190/iogear-compact-usb-30-sd-40-card-reader
... -
I use these adapters with micro SDXC cards: https://www.amazon.com/5Gbps-Super-Speed-Reader-Adapter/dp/B016W4M5BE/
There are even smaller ones where the micro SD card fits inside the USB connector. The trouble with those is that so little sticks out that they can be hard to remove. -
Keep in mind the physical lock on sd cards vs none on microsd cards.
If you're archiving photos, documents, etc, sd is better.
Unlock to write, then lock the card so it can't be erased. -
In regards to the "guts" of flash drive, it's true that there are only handful of manufacturers of NVRAM, but that's just the tip of the flash drive iceberg. Everything from the board the RAM is mounted to, circuitry, to the enclosure (cheap plastic vs heat dissipating metal) makes a huge difference.
If size isn't a major issue, I'd go with an SSD and a good quality third party USB enclosure. Just be sure to never disconnect from the drive end and always from the plug end to reduce wear and electrical shock to the port on the drive. While there may high end/high cost flash drives and SD cards that beat SSD transfer speeds, SSDs are still more reliable than flash drives and SD cards. -
-
https://www.ebay.com/itm/153740550140
OK, I volunteer to be a guinea pig. I ordered one of these, even though I've been scammed in the past by lower than advertised SD card capacity. We'll see. I guess I'm $5 worth of curious.
-
Note that some of these drives are marketed as "earthquake proof", which is always a comfort.
-
Love the quote on one advert from that outlet:
32G-2TB, the actual capacity is 32G, the actual capacity of 32G is about 29.5G, and only about 29.5GB can be stored, but it can display 2TB on the computer, and the detection is also 2TB.
Brian. -
What should we call that ? 'Honesty in Deception ?'
Meanwhile, I just saw this
https://www.frys.com/product/9977046
-- a brand I'd not previously heard of, though the sale price is more appropriate -- in the midst of Fry's apparent transitioning away from its former brick & mortar presence towards becoming an online-only entity. (See my other thread on that.)When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ -- with over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this quintessentially American art form.
Similar Threads
-
what do you call external usb drives that are not flash drives?
By oduodui in forum Newbie / General discussionsReplies: 7Last Post: 26th Apr 2019, 13:21 -
Are USB Flash drives (sticks) a reliabe storage media?
By Barrington in forum MediaReplies: 7Last Post: 19th Feb 2016, 02:35 -
Higher number of ReFrames = higher quality?
By ankutsa in forum Newbie / General discussionsReplies: 13Last Post: 8th Nov 2015, 18:08 -
Higher resolution or higher bits per pixel?
By pavlekocev25 in forum Video ConversionReplies: 9Last Post: 30th Aug 2015, 15:04 -
dvd shows 0 bytes capacity
By jalea148 in forum Newbie / General discussionsReplies: 4Last Post: 28th Jul 2015, 09:39