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General discussion

1 GB thumb drive questions

May 27, 2006 7:02PM PDT

Which company makes the most reliable, long lasting thumb drive? Sandisk has one but while it has overall good ratings, the the bad ratings are making me leery of buying it and trusting my data on it for the long term.

Discussion is locked

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Now becoming a commodity item.
May 28, 2006 1:07AM PDT

With prices dropping below 30 bucks this device is now a commodity and while it will retain data for over 10 years you may be demanding a full report on the details. Sadly for the now commodity items you don't get that.

-> More telling is that you appear to think it's a backup device. While it's quite good, a backup system requires more than one copy.

Bob

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Long term storage...
May 28, 2006 2:44PM PDT

What would you suggest for good, long term storage? 10 years is a long time, enough time for another storage device/system to come out and transfer my data to.

To further explain, If I get one, I'll be using it for site bookmark's, a bit of music, text files, ETC. I'll use it often but not everyday. How soon would it wear out, when used often?

PS: Yes, I know a physical, non-electronic method would be best.

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Bottomline?
May 28, 2006 2:50PM PDT

More than one copy. Your posts so far appear to indicate it would be the only copy.

As to wear out, I've only seen a few fail. Very rare but not unheard of. One was an accident where they stepped on it while plugged in. Another just stopped working.

-> With DVD recordable media being less than a buck, keep a few extras of what you can't lose. There is a deep study about archival storage on such media if you need it from NIST.

Bob

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Your Choice
May 28, 2006 1:06PM PDT

Sandisk usually has good quality, but it is generally up to your preference as to which brands you prefer. Some people, for whatever reasons, enjoy going around and randomly posting bad ratings about products. So long as there are only a few bad ratings and the good ones outnumber them, feel confident about the item.

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(NT) (NT) Don't think Thumb drives are suitable for LONG TERM STORAGE
May 28, 2006 4:17PM PDT
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Why?[text inside]
May 28, 2006 6:02PM PDT

Please explain. You didn't explain WHY.

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(NT) (NT) Bet you can drum up at least 3-5 reasons....give it a try.
May 29, 2006 3:54AM PDT