Any reason to avoid 64gb+ flash drives?

[dashDustin]

Looking to transfer a large amount of data from one computer to another. Initially just figured I’d get an external HD, but it doesn’t really make sense to have 500gb of storage that won’t be used. Flash drive/ thumb drives always seemed kinda like a novelty to me. But I see now that they’ve got a rather large capacity and a super low cost.

Is there any reason for me to opt for an external HD/ SSD over a little tiny flash/ thumb drive?

Other than it might get washed in a pocket.

[Peter Polack]

If you're not using an external HD as an automatic backup of your PC, you could buy the external drive for your transfer, then put it to use as an automatic backup drive. I don't know what Windows has for a program, but my Mac uses Time Machine. I'm sure Windows has an equivalent.

[j44ke]

Just get a flash drive that is compatible with whatever the fastest protocol is - USB 3.0 or whatever - so copy speeds are reasonable. Of course, the drive has to be compatible with both machines, but most USB devices are backwards compatible so if the newer machine is USB 3.0 and the older is 2.0, then get a 3.0 flash drive (as long as the physical connection to the computer is the same.) You might also double check formatting of the flash drive to make sure you have the optimal format for transferring files. And instead of deleting files on the drive after transfer, I would reformat the flash drive. Then you don’t have deletion issues.

[SteveP]

It is remarkable the development of storage...
There are now camera SD cards that will take 256 gig ( I thk ).
personally I cant get my head around 30-40,000 photos on an sd card but, hey.
why not?
crazy the info you can stick on one of these things.

No reason not to use them... simple, fast, cheap... just be careful

[Matthew Strongin]

It is remarkable the development of storage...
There are now camera SD cards that will take 256 gig ( I thk ).
personally I cant get my head around 30-40,000 photos on an sd card but, hey.
why not?
crazy the info you can stick on one of these things.

No reason not to use them... simple, fast, cheap... just be careful

Yep. The biggest issue most users will face is that it's a whole lot easier to lose a tiny flash drive or SD Card than an external SSD.

[false_aesthetic]

SSD + Flash drives are the way to go. They're so much more stable over the long haul.

That said, when I taught photo, I had a lot of students accidentally wash their flash drives in their pants or just lose them. Sometimes they could still pull data off of the drive post-cleaning. Sometimes they couldn't. Additionally, I've seen more than a few people break flash drives off in their computer's USB port.

Consider potential hardware compatibility. My work machine only uses USB-C now so all of my older USB devices require an adapter/hub. It's not a big deal but it is a PITA when you remember the drive but not the adapter.

Finally, don't buy Amazon branded (or budget brand) drives. I don't understand why but the likelihood of corrupt data is higher. I've seen it over and over again with students and co-workers.

[dashDustin]

so the reality of this is that my wife is leaving her job and has years of accumulated documents, photos, and music that we want to remove from her work computer and put on our home computer. given the cost of these thumb drives, i'll likely get one of those, and a 500g SSD. the little one to transfer, the large one to backup our home computer.

gracias for the comments...

[j44ke]

I bought several LaCie "keys" a while ago. They are surprisingly durable. They go on a key ring clipped into the key fob in my pack. Biggest is 32GB. I don't think they are made any more, but they are kind of perfect.



For managing photos on trips, I carry this around and transfer photos from SD cards to this drive. Then when I get home I can edit and sort directly to my photo hard drive. Keeps the laptop tidier. It is about the same weight as an flash drive and only about as big as a credit card (though thicker.) Seems a lot faster than a flash drive also.

[happycampyer]

It is remarkable the development of storage...
There are now camera SD cards that will take 256 gig ( I thk ).
personally I cant get my head around 30-40,000 photos on an sd card but, hey.
why not?
crazy the info you can stick on one of these things.

No reason not to use them... simple, fast, cheap... just be careful

For photographers who save photos in RAW format (or RAW + jpeg), the storage fills up quickly. Ditto for video.

[mmoore]

For photographers who save photos in RAW format (or RAW + jpeg), the storage fills up quickly. Ditto for video.

I would imagine that is especially true for people with some of the higher end gear that's into the 50mp+ range. (im jealous)

[rec head]

OT but for travel I built a little Raspberry Pi that will automatically back up memory cards to a flash drive. It is about the size of two decks of cards stacked on top of each other. No screen, no computer needed. It is slow but works great. If anyone is interested I'll dig up the links.

[Drew]

I use a 512gb SD card for my backups. Works great, very compact.

[Bob Ross]

if the newer machine is USB 3.0 and the older is 2.0, then get a 3.0 flash drive

This may work for 3.0 & 2.0 machines, but it doesn't work for 2.0 & 1.0 machines; in those cases your flash drive needs to be USB 1.0 or the older machine won't even recognize it

(...says the guy who's still getting a lot of use out of a ~15-year-old Mac G4, albeit with incredible difficulty when trying to transfer files from newer machines)

[j44ke]

This may work for 3.0 & 2.0 machines, but it doesn't work for 2.0 & 1.0 machines; in those cases your flash drive needs to be USB 1.0 or the older machine won't even recognize it

(...says the guy who's still getting a lot of use out of a ~15-year-old Mac G4, albeit with incredible difficulty when trying to transfer files from newer machines)

Didn't know that. My 12 year old iMac is USB 2.0.