Experiences with USB flash drives?

Question

There are some good threads on this forum regarding USB flash drives and Vista's ReadyBoost. Lately, there have been some very good deals on USB flash drives at Staples, Buy.com, etc. Other than checking whether a USB flash drive is compatible, has anyone noticed a difference between brands? Any differences in performance? Any brands to recommend? Any brands to avoid?   FYI: Staples has the 2GB Sony MicroVault on sale this week for $19.98. It comes with compression software which can be deleted from the drive--and should be, I would imagine, if the device will be used primarily for ReadyBoost. The packaging says that it is Vista Compatible. I'm wondering if this device will be a good performer or not. Thanks.

Ifti123 · Answer

Im still a bit confused about this ReadyBoost thing.   Is it useful if you dont have a lot of RAM, it then uses the USB drive as it would RAM?? Would I have any benefit in using it?

Chris Waters · Answer

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/readyboost.mspx
provides a good explanation of what ReadyBoost is and how it works. In particular:

"The flash memory device serves as an additional memory cache—that is, memory that the computer can access much more quickly than it can access data on the hard drive. Windows ReadyBoost relies on the intelligent memory management of Windows SuperFetch and can significantly improve system responsiveness."

Here is an excellent reference that answers many of the technical questions about ReadyBoost:
http://blogs.msdn.com/tomarcher/archive/2006/06/02/615199.aspx

Message Edited by Chris Waters on 05-01-2007 10:30 AM

Nir Nissim · Answer

I remeber seeing an article over at Toms Hardware guide which benchmarks the advantages this readyboost gives you , it also tests several USB sticks. basiclly the most advantage was seen for computer with 'only' 1gb memory , if you have 512mb it's better to upgrade RAM than using a USB stick , and for those with 2gb the performance increase seen was very little.   and don't confuse using a USB stick for readyboost with RAM expansion , these are two diffrent worlds , the above link gives a good explanation for how Readyboost works so i'll spare you my bad english :)

inspiron_wvhpe · Answer

Readyboost Decreases startup time. I'm using 1 gb stick and it improves my startup time quite a lot. Here is a little demonstration on Vista readboost. http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=5902090796342771727&q=Vista+Readyboost

BBraxton · Answer

The Staples in northern Virginia at that price has only the 512 MB and not 2 GB which is much more expensive.

Chris Waters · Answer

Was there a circular in your Sunday newspaper? I received one (Eastern PA). On the front page, it lists the following:   Sony MicroVault Classic 2GB USB flash drive Was $69.98. Now $59.98 - $40 instant savings = $19.98   The 1GB version is $9.98 and the 4GB version is $49.98.   The prices are valid through May 5, 2007.

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