Any recommendations for affordable 64gb or 128gb usb3 thumb drives?

Looking to spend under $30, maybe a little more for the 128gb.

Any brands to avoid? Any brands to look for?

Thanks!

 

I like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O4VAL32/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

Hard to go wrong with Sandisk Cruzer:

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Frustration-Free-Packaging--SDCZ36-064G-AFFP/dp/B007JR5304/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1441081963&sr=1-1&keywords=sandisk 64gb flash drive&pebp=1441081938616&perid=19VSY8W336YZ5H3PC13E

$18 for 64Gb

Edit - they have a 128 for $30 as well

 

Kingston makes this neat USB drive:



It's 64 Gigs and USB 3.0!

There's some info about it here:

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=11_180_181&item_id=073826

 

There are counterfeit flash microSD and flash thumb drives out there. Be careful looking for good deals. The good deals may be counterfeits that don't function and don't have their advertised capacity. I wouldn't buy from eBay or the Amazon Marketplace or similar sellers.

Best Buy has some good prices on USB thumb drives. Better prices than Fry's and other retailers. I trust Best Buy not to have counterfeits. Buy a USB 3.0 thumb drive. The write and read speeds are much better. Writing 64GB or 128GB at USB 2.0 thumb drive speed is painfully slow. Really really really really slow. The USB 3.0 thumb drives are worth it, and don't cost that much more when they're on sale. Look at the Best Buy weekly ads for the deals. Best Buy will also price match.

 

Buy from a decent seller. I got both my 32 and 64gb micro SD cards from Amazon. Not a problem.

 

I bought a Transcend 128gb thumb drive last week for about $42, works well so far.

 

This is the one I wound up buying.

 

I found it at Best Buy.

 

Why not a portable hard drive?

 

Best Buy is still relevant.
The sale prices on USB thumb drives at Best Buy have been very good. I don't know if Best Buy is using USB thumb drives as loss leaders to get people to wander over to the computer section of the store or if they're being discounted heavily to get rid of inventory because there is better faster technology possibly due soon. The prices are crazy low compared to what they used to be.

I recently got a handfull of 32 GB SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 thumb drives from Best Buy. The price was too good to pass up. I like having multiple smaller drives rather than one large drive for what I use the thumb drives for. For music that means I can segregate drives for different file types. For example dedicating one for DSD, one for high res FLAC, one for ALAC, and one for CD res FLAC. I haven't tried them yet in a music server style DAC thingy that can read files from a USB thumb drive. They do work with Macs and PCs used for computer as source. Their main use will be for bringing music to meets and demos. At home I have my hard drive and NAS.

The USB 3.0 thumb drives still don't read or write at full USB 3.0 speed. But they're faster than USB 2.0 thumb drives (which are often slower than molasses, especially on write speeds).

 

I guess that you noticed that this one is USB 2.0.

 

I found a USB3 stick so I bought a different one. I was just thinking about the same Cruzer brand when I replied.

 

Oh good, I was worried I may have led you down a 2.0 path when, honestly, 3.0 is a quantum leap. My new motherboard has one 3.1c port on it, the one where orientation doesn't matter - that should be interesting to host a music library off of in the future!

 

I'm typically the first person who would want a high capacity thumb drive


Now?


I think I would prefer to just go with a trusty portable hdd if I needed the space.


About 2 years ago I purchased a 128gb usb 3.0 flash drive. It was not cheap. It was solid metal, seriously good build quality, had a "pro" designation... The thing screamed quality.



And then, after a few months of use? Nothing. The drive would not mount on any port, on any computer.

Of course this happened after I had loaded it up, with files I meant to store on it temporarily until I had purchased a new hard drive. Just to move things off my laptop.

This was a common issue with that model; they all eventually went bad and it had very bad reviews, drives just going completely inoperable after some time. I really wish I remembered the brand and model so I could warn against it.

Now I'm content with a smaller capacity, as anything I use it for is absolutely temporary.