Computer Hope

Hardware => Hardware => Topic started by: soybean on December 20, 2006, 04:17:01 PM

Title: Anybody up for a 64GB flash drive for $5K?
Post by: soybean on December 20, 2006, 04:17:01 PM
Whew!  I didn't know they came this big and this expensive.  http://www.buslinkbuy.com/products.asp?sku=BDP2%2D64G%2DU2
Title: Re: Anybody up for a 64GB flash drive for $5K?
Post by: homer on December 20, 2006, 04:23:05 PM
odd that they do not show you the actual size nor do they tell you its actual weight. it could be the size and weight of a brick!

however, im pretty sure there are going to be flash memory harddrives out soon, if they are not already out.
Title: Re: Anybody up for a 64GB flash drive for $5K?
Post by: soybean on December 20, 2006, 04:40:07 PM
Well, they do say it's "smaller than a pack of gum and virtually weightless!"

It'll be interesting to see how flash memory harddrives perform compared to conventional hard drives, and how they compare in terms of durability or longevity.
Title: Re: Anybody up for a 64GB flash drive for $5K?
Post by: homer on December 20, 2006, 04:49:03 PM
Quote
Well, they do say it's "smaller than a pack of gum and virtually weightless!"

oops :-[. didnt read that part. i was looking for an actual spec sheet with all of its peripherals.

i would think flash drives would last alot longer due to the lack of moving parts, as for their performance... i have not the slightest clue.
Title: Re: Anybody up for a 64GB flash drive for $5K?
Post by: WillyW on December 20, 2006, 05:20:50 PM
Quote
Quote
Well, they do say it's "smaller than a pack of gum and virtually weightless!"

oops :-[. didnt read that part. i was looking for an actual spec sheet with all of its peripherals.

i would think flash drives would last alot longer due to the lack of moving parts, as for their performance... i have not the slightest clue.

Recently I was reading something interesting about flash drives.   Sorry, I can't remember where...  maybe we could find it online.... but the condensed version is:
The number of times that flash drives may be written to is not infinite.
The typical user won't have problems with them 'wearing out' though, because the number of writes is quite high.
But - should the user do something like wild -  like find a way to load Windows on the flash drive and boot from it -  then they might eventually encounter problems, as that would cause an abnormally high number of writes in daily use.
Hard drives are apparently designed for this kind of use.

I'm sorry I can't point you to my source....  if I come across it again, I will.

It is interesting to think about though.



Title: Re: Anybody up for a 64GB flash drive for $5K?
Post by: WillyW on December 20, 2006, 05:34:29 PM
Fwiw, I found this -  >http://ask-leo.com/can_a_usb_thumbdrive_wear_out.html with Google.
It is not the exact same article I read, but the info is basically the same.
Thought you might like to read it.

Note:  "Never run disk-intensive applications directly against files stored on the thumb drive"

and

"The "problem" is that memory can be flashed only so many times. I'm finding numbers between 10,000 and 100,000 times - though as with anything, I'm sure that is increasing over time as well. Regardless, there is a limit. "



Then, of course,  there is always another site, that gives a different story.  
See:
http://www.crucial.com/kb/answer.asp?qid=4088
and note it says,
" flash memory CAN wear out over time, but you probably don't need to worry about it. Unlike a hard drive, flash cards and USB flash drives (UFDs) don't contain any moving parts, a key reason why flash memory lasts longer than a hard drive."

So, in the real world, ....  who knows ?