Is mini USB flash drive just as reliable as regular length USB flash drive?

Happy Hopping

Happy Hopping

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https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=mini+usb+flash+drive+reliable#ip=1

according to this link, samsung mini is the most reliable, who wrote this? where's the source? As Samsung is only 5 yr. warranty, whereas Verbatim is Lifetime warranty.

and are these mini just as reliable? because they are midget, if these tiny little thing works, won't the rest of the regular length USB all converts to mini USB? As I always thought the length of the stick is require as the chip itself needs space, as well as heat dissipation

Who makes the most reliable USB drives?



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The best USB flash drives you can buy today
  • Samsung Fit Plus (MUF-128AB) The best flash drive overall. ...
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I would like to know what the most reliable USB drives are as well. Bought the good the bad and the ugly and they all shit the bed for me. Exercising warranty isn't worth the cost of postage and effort IMO.
 
One thing I always recommend avoiding like the plague are the caseless (chassis-less?) minimalistic-looking shits:

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I firmly believe that with the right mix of retarded and strong, one can actually "find a way" to short something on the IO-panel side with those fucking things.

Also, zap! Zap! Almost always, for me.
I'm no doctor, but I kind of prefer that the large voltage potentials (that exist/develop between the person with the thumbdrive and the computer's IO panel) equalize through the outer metal shell of the thumbdrive and the back of the computer chassis, well away from connector pins.
 
michalrz said:
I firmly believe that with the right mix of retarded and strong, one can actually "find a way" to short something on the IO-panel side with those fucking things.
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While I don't want to argue or even change your general opinion, this is almost impossible.

The two power contacts are on the outside, and the data contacts in the middle are designed to be shorted (you do this when making a charger, it's in the usb spec), and they are also 5v tolerant, so touching either power contact to them does nothing catastrophic.

At the same time I just avoid usb drives as much as possible. I have a Samsung compact drive I use as a Linux boot drive on a Chromebook. It's been working fine for years. It replaced a lexar mini that burned up.
Heat seems to be the killer for these guys, but many are designed cheaply and cook themselves under heavy use.
 
travm said:
While I don't want to argue or even change your general opinion, this is almost impossible
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There's always the chance of finding a dumber idiot. I managed to break off the insert on the only usb port on my first good laptop after several years of trying to plug things in blind. I haven't managed to do that again, but also I haven't had anything else with just one usb-a device.
 
I have bought several 'mini' USBs from Samsung/Sandisk and Lexar.

They have all been used for in car systems or backup sticks for laptops that dont go anywhere. They are all still working just fine for what they are used for.
 
daglesj said:
I have bought several 'mini' USBs from Samsung/Sandisk and Lexar.

They have all been used for in car systems or backup sticks for laptops that dont go anywhere. They are all still working just fine for what they are used for.
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so I imagine you have some songs that store on those mini USB and plug it in your car player to play. Now, how many year do they last? As Lexar is 2 yr. warranty, Samsung is 5 yr., and I don't remember the warranty on Sandisk
 
Happy Hopping said:
so I imagine you have some songs that store on those mini USB and plug it in your car player to play. Now, how many year do they last? As Lexar is 2 yr. warranty, Samsung is 5 yr., and I don't remember the warranty on Sandisk
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Chap, this stuff costs pennies, why are you worrying about warranty?

The one in my car has lasted nearly 10 years so far. Exposed to cold, heat and vibration..no problem.
 
thank you. Go back to my original question: manufacturer does not waste material as they make millions of these. So if these mini USB is sufficient for storage, why is it that 90% of Flash drive is about 2 inch long? What chips are in those regular length Flash drive? why can't those manufacturer make the chip short to the mini USB size?
 
Happy Hopping said:
thank you. Go back to my original question: manufacturer does not waste material as they make millions of these. So if these mini USB is sufficient for storage, why is it that 90% of Flash drive is about 2 inch long? What chips are in those regular length Flash drive? why can't those manufacturer make the chip short to the mini USB size?
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Those mini plugs are too easy to lose. If I had a choice, I wouldn't use nano sims either. One wrong move and you're scanning the floor for several minutes.
 
Happy Hopping said:
thank you. Go back to my original question: manufacturer does not waste material as they make millions of these. So if these mini USB is sufficient for storage, why is it that 90% of Flash drive is about 2 inch long? What chips are in those regular length Flash drive? why can't those manufacturer make the chip short to the mini USB size?
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Don't forget engineering costs. The longer sticks are less costly to design and being able to spread out components without stacking or preparing fully integrated IC solutions (flash, controller, etc. on one chip) is often cheaper and less dense flash (also cheaper) can be used. Miniaturization has costs. microSD is a rare case where the form factor is so popular for phones that it receives the premier design and many full size SD cards are still micro parts inside.

As a big human, I like the bigger drives because they're easier to physically hold, but I bought a tiny one for my car since it rarely gets unplugged and I don't want it in the way.
 
Grebuloner said:
Don't forget engineering costs. The longer sticks are less costly to design and being able to spread out components without stacking or preparing fully integrated IC solutions (flash, controller, etc. on one chip) is often cheaper and less dense flash (also cheaper) can be used. Miniaturization has costs. microSD is a rare case where the form factor is so popular for phones that it receives the premier design and many full size SD cards are still micro parts inside.

As a big human, I like the bigger drives because they're easier to physically hold, but I bought a tiny one for my car since it rarely gets unplugged and I don't want it in the way.
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so w/ these midgets, do they last? daglesj said his one last 10 yr. I am more interested in heat dissipation or the lack of. When they jam everything in 1 little chip, would it get too hot?

Also, what's the deal w/ Sandisk vs. Samsung? the price of the Samsung 256GB is the same price as the Sandisk 512GB mini USB, both c/w 5 yr. warranty

the only thing that I caught was 1 user said the speed of the sandisk slows to 1 MB/sec after it gets hot

https://www.westerndigital.com/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-ultra-fit-usb-3-1#SDCZ430-512G-G46
 
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Happy Hopping said:
Also, what's the deal w/ Sandisk vs. Samsung? the price of the Samsung 256GB is the same price as the Sandisk 512GB mini USB, both c/w 5 yr. warranty

the only thing that I caught was 1 user said the speed of the sandisk slows to 1 MB/sec after it gets hot
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SanDisk died of heat in less than 1 year. Their warranty process is rediculous and basically a marketing gimmick. I got nothing.
Replaced with a Samsung (metal housing, dissipates heat way better) 3 years on its just ticking away.
 
After I wrote the above, I found the same kind of conclusion from a youtube video, so I wonder if that WAS always the quality of Sandisk USB before Western Digital takes over, or did they degrade after Western Digital takes over?
 
For the most part, flash drives are built to be cheap and basically disposable. The transfer rates are generally slow, the flash used is definitely not the latest, fastest, or tested for the highest endurance. There are professional, high quality drives that you can pay a lot for that buck this trend. Manufacturer quality goes up and down for all kinds of reasons. Sandisk was one of the first makers and did pretty well, then they didn't, and now they kind of do again.

The best USB drive you can get is to take a real m.2 SSD (2230 or 2280 size) and put it into a USB enclosure. This isn't much different from the Samsung T drives. But it'll cost you. Ultimately, a flash drive is just supposed to be good enough to take some files with you that you need now and again, here and there, or just between two non-networked machines, and that you have backed up elsewhere. As a rule, it is not a viable long term storage solution.
 
I had a tiny Sandisk one years back 32GB and 64GB, and I could barely use it cause it would always crap out, get dam hot to the touch and then disappear from the OS and not work for a while. Similar to one of these

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those amazon review is viewed by millions of people. Obviously those millions of people find the review useful. And so do I
 
I have lost more of the mini's that just fell out of my pocket than died in use. In any case, the more you try to pack into a smaller place the heat has to go somewhere. You can radiate a certain amount away but in general they run hotter than a larger unit (more an issue of physics than anything else) becasue the more surface area you have the better you can sink the heat away (all things being equal of course, keeping an apples to apples comparison with similar parts.)
 
excellent pt. That's what I really want to know. I thought it's just Sandisk. I am thinking of a mini USB because it goes to my USB port of my Oppo Player. I can use the regular USB, but it sticks out, and my Oppo Player is in my workout room, and that room is small, so w/ the regular USB sticks out, I have an appartus called the Vita Vibe that can easily hit that stick. Losing it, on the other hand, won't happen. It only goes from my Oppo Player back to my PC in the other room for songs re-load, I already have a key holder ready.
 
Just assume they all suck and you wont be disappointed.
I have had the best luck with the samsung bar models for regular read and writes.
The better micro ones are ok for read a lot write little. They do not stand up to writes well.
Use the right tool for the job.
Sandisk has gone downhill.
 
toast0 said:
There's always the chance of finding a dumber idiot.
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Just wanted to pop back in to mention probably my worst "can you fix PC?" case.

Intermittent shutdowns. No rhyme or reason seemingly.
Few hours later: by the grace of God I randomly noticed one of the USB port contact pins detach from the plastic keying.
Every now and again the pin would bend just enough to make contact with the port's metal housing.

The computer belonged to a young kiddo, had minecraft and everything.
Carry on, boys
 
Happy Hopping said:
so what happens to yours? Warranty replacement? Or just slow down to say a few MB/sec?
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They don't last long.
A lot of the time the warranty is a bigger pain than the cost to just buy a new one.
It depends on the size and $$.
I think a lot of it is that some are not smart enough to slow down and cook themselves.
I have had better luck using them for read a lot, write little tasks and using the bigger ones for anything involving a lot of writes.
If one is going to write to it daily, get a usb ssd with wear leveling.
 
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great, just great. I guess I have to go back to Kingston Hyper X w/ their 5 yr. warranty or Verbatim w/ their lifetime warranty

now, having said that, what's the reasonable write amt. (that doesn't cause over heat) for those mini USB? I need to do a 700MB x (1 to 3) set of data per night WRITE on those USB.

As to read, very little per sec. it's meant for a Oppo player to read 1 song at a time, for a duration of 12 hr. per session, every 3 night
 
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Happy Hopping said:
great, just great. I guess I have to go back to Kingston Hyper X w/ their 5 yr. warranty or Verbatim w/ their lifetime warranty

now, having said that, what's the reasonable write amt. (that doesn't cause over heat) for those mini USB? I need to do a 700MB x (1 to 3) set of data per night WRITE on those USB.

As to read, very little per sec. it's meant for a Oppo player to read 1 song at a time, for a duration of 12 hr. per session, every 3 night
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usb ssd drive if possible would be best for that amount of writes.
If not try the samsung bar plus or other more premium drive.

I haven't used this drive but its cheap for what it is and the brand is ok. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RMYGZ1L
better one
https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Portable-Photographers-MU-PE1T0S-AM/dp/B09VLK9W3S/
 
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stormy1 said:
usb ssd drive if possible would be best for that amount of writes.
If not try the samsung bar plus or other more premium drive.

I haven't used this drive but its cheap for what it is and the brand is ok. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RMYGZ1L
better one
https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Portable-Photographers-MU-PE1T0S-AM/dp/B09VLK9W3S/
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alright, I'll go w/ a regular USB then. If I go w/ a regular USB, I won't go w/ Samsung. Probably Verbatim regular or their professional line , thanks for the tip
 
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I found the mini’s to get super hot after lots of writes. I was not comfortable with that. So I ended up sticking with ones that have mass.
 
Read speeds often reaching over 200MB/S whereas write speeds are under 15MB/S it seems. Meh

I remember the Lexar ones from about 12 years ago. Solid piece of plastic with gold contacts. Absolutely water proof and compact. I bought many in 8GB sizes for OS installation media. I think I lost all but one or two. They were a purple color no different than a grape now and later.
 
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