Needing a flash drive, I searched out the best bang for the buck -- maximum MB per dollar spent. The 2GB Memorex TravelDrive, a USB2.0 thin-profile flash drive, set me back just under $100 at Newegg.com, and I thought I'd post some thoughts about it.
PROS
First, the good stuff. It's cheap -- 2GB for under $100 is currently a pretty good deal, at least for flash drives (micro-HDD based USB drives are in a whole different class). It's also very thin, making it easy to fit into nearly any open USB slots, even if it's between two occupied slots. When plugged into a WinXP machine, it identifies itself as "TRAVELDRIVE" (much better than just getting an unnamed drive letter, which can be aggravating to find quickly). A blue LED indicates drive activity. And, it comes with a nifty lanyard (which attaches to the body of the drive, NOT the cap...an important feature) and quick-release clasp...a nice touch for a bargain drive.
CONS
Now, the downsides. One thing, and this may not be considered a negative by some, is that it comes with no software, so those trying to use this with Win98 or older operating systems that don't support FAT-based USB flash drives natively may need to download drivers from the Memorex website. The drive is also a little slower than I'd like -- my limited testing revealed the following mixed results in terms of write speeds:
• 54MB worth of data in 1,921 files and 71 directories (a real torture test) took almost four minutes (3'43" to be exact) to write to the drive (deleting took roughly 1 minute). For comparison, copying the same files to a high-speed 2GB Secure Digital card via a USB2.0 card reader took 12'35".
• 59MB of data in just 1 file copied to the root directory happened in 19 sec. For comparison, copying the same file to the same SD card as above took less than 8 seconds.
Conclusion: While I can't speak to the drive's long-term durability or compatibility across multiple OSes, so far I'm satisfied with the value this drive offers. The flash drive market is very competitive, but Memorex (now owned by Imation) seems to have a fairly compelling package at a very reasonable price in its TravelDrive.
I Recently purchased the Memorex 2GB flashdrive but when I connect it to my USB port (Windows XP service pack 1 O.S.) nothing happens. Yet when I connect to another computer with the windows XP service pack 2 O.S. it reads just fine. Any suggestions?.