$600 for a USB thumb drive????

[sidd finch]

From Gizmondo:

IYou’ll want to seriously consider a compact SSD flash drive. They boast sustained transfer speeds topping out at an impressive 433 MB/s, and are finally available in larger 480 GB capacities.

OWC’s Envoy Pro mini isn’t the smallest flash drive you can buy, but it’s still certainly pocket-friendly. And what you sacrifice in a compact size you can more than make up for with speed, speed, and more speed. The fastest flash drives available from companies like SanDisk currently top out at 260 MB/s, while the OWC Envoy Pro mini manages 433 MB/s from a USB 3.0 connection.

Just be prepared to pay a premium for that speed and capacity, at least until these tiny SSD drives aren’t bleeding edge technology. OWC’s new 480 GB model will set you back a hefty $600 when available in a couple of weeks.

Sidd

[Chuck Engels]

Not in my budget

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Can't recall where I read this but the pundit was saying that, in two years time in the mass market, spinning HDDs will be a dead technology as SSDs will have upped in capacity and dropped in price to become economically viable as HDD replacements.

[Peru]

spinning HDDs will be a dead technology as SSDs will have upped in capacity and dropped in price to become economically viable as HDD replacements.

Very probably true.
I was skeptical many years ago when I was told that darkrooms would be a thing of the past and that all photography would be digital.

[sidd finch]

The first gen is always a bit expensive but the price and the capacity should come down quickly as the format takes off. This is a great option for a vacation where you want to store your footage but not lug around so much gear.

Sidd

[Kent Frost]

The speed and the size are what are getting that price tag. And even then, that's still a bit high in my opinion. I remember back in 2001 when I last worked at a camera store, we were selling the CF Type II cards, which were the same as regular CF memory cards in size and shape, but instead of being flash memory, it was an actual tiny spinning hard drive that held 1GB. That sucker was priced at $400 back then. Nowadays you can't even FIND a 1GB flash memory card of any kind. I think the lowest I see these days is maybe 4 or more probably 8GB for around $8 at walmart. That's what 14 years does.

[Peru]

CF Type II cards, which were the same as regular CF memory cards in size and shape, but instead of being flash memory, it was an actual tiny spinning hard drive that held 1GB.

Wow. I didn't know that.

Nowadays you can't even FIND a 1GB flash memory card of any kind.

Actually...
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=c ... flash+card

[Bob]

Yeah, you can find them, you can even find 8" floppy disks, but they aren't being manufactured any more as far as I know. They aren't main stream. Kent's point is well taken.

[Peru]

They aren't main stream. Kent's point is well taken.

I agree.

[Kent Frost]

Ah, gotcha. I guess I just never felt the need to actually search for just 1GB of flash memory memory.

[Kent Frost]

Also, I need to correct myself. That's not what the Type II's are. Wow, my memories are a bit antiquated and thus distorted. I had to look it up. They were the CF Microdrives. Same size as CF card (actually just slightly thicker), but with a small HDD.

[sidd finch]

Moor's Law is alive and well and continuing to be true.

http://www.mooreslaw.org/

Sidd

[Ron Hunter]

I'm a little confused. A USB thumb drive uses flash memory. A SSD uses flash memory. So what's the big deal with the $600 SSD thumb drive?

Is this being offered by the same people who sell $600 HDMI cables??

[sidd finch]

USB 3.0 flash drives can read and write data at up to 124MB/s. SSDs are significantly faster than even the fastest USB flash drives, and usually transfer data quicker than even traditional platter-based hard drives. SSDs can transfer data at up to 360MB/s, whereas traditional drives usually cap out at rates between 120MB/s to 165MB/s. If you want to copy the contents of a 700MB file to a flash-memory drive, it would take you approximately 20 to 30 seconds with most USB drives and only less than 5 seconds in most cases with an SSD.

Sidd