On 08/19/2013 09:37 AM, Dick Steffens wrote: > Any horror stories related to flash drives? > > Those $20 Lenovo machines Kieth mentioned that are available at Eco > Binary don't have an optical media drive. So installing an OS would need > to be done with a flash drive (or some other way, but that's the one I'm > aware of). > > I'm looking at a SanDisk Cruzer 32 GB USB Flash Drive from Amazon. > > http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Flash-Drive-SDCZ36-032G-AFFP/dp/B007JR532M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1376928931&sr=8-3&keywords=flash+drive > > There are two reviews that are somewhat contradictory. The first one > says the thing is actually a 64 GB and he's happy with it. > > The second one says the transfer rate is slow, and it hangs on him. > > Any experience with these things (USB flash drives in general) for > installing an OS? > > Thanks. > > I use whatever I usually find in the bargain bin at Fry's Electronics (Beaverton OR). I use them for general "sneaker-netting" as well to boot Slackware.
Lately, I've been picking up 8GB+ SDHC mini-SD cards (along with the various size adapter cards). That way I just need to swap the card between readers (Note: older <=4GB SD/MMC readers wont read larger capacity SDHC cards >= 8GB so check specs.). Price $1-$15 on sale depending on capacity (sometimes a 2 pack!). Note: No distro boot media requires more than 4-8GB USB drive to hold the boot image. 16BG or greater is overkill. Brands I've used with no issues: Sandisk PNY Toshiba Duracell As for the SanDisk Cruzer reviews: 1. Check for true USB2.0 as opposed to USB 1.1 2. Writing is always slower that reading 3. I've found that Linux read/write speeds much faster than WinXP/7 4. Using the security function is SLOW. Not an issue in Linux (reformat). _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
