Usb Flash Drives

thecraft · January 21, 2008

Alright, I know this is a truck forum, but this is the only forum I frequent and I know some of you guys have computer smarts.

Sometime between now and Spring I'm hoping to replace my Pioneer DEH-P4700MP head unit with something that has a USB input, most likely the new Pioneer DEH-P6000UB. I want to have my entire music collection at my fingertips, no more swapping CD-RWs. There are tons of flash drives out there, I'm just looking for one for a reasonable price and one that will be in it for the long haul. I'm looking for a flash drive that is:

- Compatible with Windows 98SE, I see a lot of manufacturers aren't even making drivers for this "ancient" OS.

- At least 8GB capacity, 16GB if possible.

- Comes with or can be formatted to FAT32.

- No more than $80 for 8GB, $140 at most for 16GB.

- Durable, it's going to be mostly in my glovebox/ashtray for probably the next three or four years.

- Somewhat fast, this one's not nearly as important, I don't need ReadyBoost speeds, but I don't need memories of floppy disks coming back either.

Any recommendations? What do you guys use? Right now, I'm looking at Corsair's Survivor at NewEgg, a bit pricey, but looks like it's built like a brick s***house. That's kind of hard to say when I know Corsair's Voyagers are known to snap in half...

Chestah · January 21, 2008

Just get a flash drive with plenty of space and a good warranty. They're cheap. What I would be worried about is finding a head unit that is compatibile with over 2 GB of flash memory.

Edit:

Also, have you considered mounting an external hard drive and running a usb cable? That is what I eventually want to do.

Zembonez · January 21, 2008

I have several Sandisk USB 2.0 Flash Drives that I use to swap large files to my home office from my actual office that is 55 miles away. They are 4 gig and I have left them in my truck on really hot days without any sign of failures. I don't leave them in there for days though... not sure what that will do to them long term. Everything I have right now runs XP Pro so I am not sure about the OS compatibility. Might be hard to find a Win 98 driver. I don't think Win 98 will even support USB 2.0 (but most flash drives will work on USB 1.1).

I'd look around on the Egg and read up on the manufacturer's sites to be sure.

omegafiler · January 22, 2008

Just about any USB flash drive will work, especially for MP3 playback. If it's a flash drive it'll last forever, very durable (ie. shock resistant), and they can take quite a bit of heat/cold. Just about all of them have a minimum operating temp of 32F and the Max can be anywhere from 95 to over 140 degrees. Just check out the specs on the manufactures website if you really want to know what it'll handle.

newegg, buy.com, and amazon are good places to start looking.

EDIT: Oh, and upgrade to XP. seriously.

Zembonez · January 22, 2008

EDIT: Oh, and upgrade to XP. seriously.

For sure. I think your biggest issue is going to be Win98. I don;t think many drivers are going to be available for Win98 and that OS is known for really limiting the size of data transfer. (Meaning a 2 gig drive might work but a 4 gig might not) You might have to camp out waiting for it to load your files.

thecraft · January 22, 2008

EDIT: Oh, and upgrade to XP. seriously.

For sure. I think your biggest issue is going to be Win98. I don;t think many drivers are going to be available for Win98 and that OS is known for really limiting the size of data transfer. (Meaning a 2 gig drive might work but a 4 gig might not) You might have to camp out waiting for it to load your files.

I knew that was coming. I'm planning on upgrading soon, it's just one of those things I really don't care about when it does get done.

Also, have you considered mounting an external hard drive and running a usb cable? That is what I eventually want to do.

That's what I was planning on doing first since it seems to be the best memory-to-dollar ratio. But I don't think a hard drive will survive as much abuse as a flash drive would. Plus, I don't know if my head unit would be able to power the hard drive either.

Chestah · January 22, 2008

I think it is possible to install drivers on Windows 98 to handle USB Flash memory. I found some instructions here.

-Devil- · January 22, 2008

most external drives have a seperate power source ... you can pick up one of the smaller ones that is made for notebooks (IE alittle higher on the abuse scale) ... and fix it someplace solid .. like inside glovebox or console with some padding around it... and it should be good to go ...

i have an old school ipod that stays in my truck 24/7 ... and hasn't had an issue yet .. (only once when new .. it is cursed with a loose connection inside the unit... nothing a good whack on the table didnt fix) ...

BigJayDogg3 · January 27, 2008

Hard drive units are more sensitive. I haven't done much research into the whole thing, but if you do get this, and your collection is anything like mine, I'd say bugger the cost and get the biggest flash drive you can find. If you think of it as never having to buy blank CDs again, the drive will pay for itself in a few years.

As it has been said, overcoming 98 will be your biggest problem. But I can't talk much I just upgraded from 95 myself this summer. But the old thing never got used until it was time to type a report or something, so I didn't care . . .much.

omegafiler · January 27, 2008

Yeah, avoid those notebook drives. They still have spinning/moving parts that fail ALL the time. Flash based is the way to go, especially if it'll be in a vehicle or moved around quite a bit. However... they do now have flash based notebook drives (solid state drives).