Kingston Unveils $1000 USB Flash Drive 119
Barence writes "Kingston has unveiled the 'world's first' 256GB flash drive, raising flash drive storage to the kind of capacity you normally associate with laptop hard disks. Kingston claims the drive is 'ideal for netbook users who want to extend the limited capacity of their machines,' although given that the device costs about twice as much as a netbook, buyers could probably get more storage by purchasing two of the cheap ultraportables. The device is made on a build-to-order basis, with a suggested UK retail price of £650.52 including VAT — that's an astonishing $1074.69 at current exchange rates. Not exactly cheap and cheerful."
But how damage-resistant is it? (Score:5, Insightful)
If I'm spending that kind of cash, I wanna be able to drop it off a building and have it survive - after it's been run over by a tank. Otherwise, there's no point in using it on a regular basis as additional storage for something you're carrying around all the time.
Not even competitive for notebooks (Score:3, Insightful)
Pricewatch has 64GB usb sticks at $150 at cheapest (happens to be a kingston now too):
http://www.pricewatch.com/browse/flash_card_memory/usb_64gb [pricewatch.com]
and that's not even the sweetspot of GB/$$ because the 32GB usb sticks are around $60, much less than half that despite being only half the capacity.
Also, a 2.5" 256 SSD drive that can be put into most notebooks starts at $608:
http://www.pricewatch.com/browse/hard_removable_drives/ssd_256gb [pricewatch.com]
So why would anyone buy a more expensive USB stick to "extend their notebook" when they can do so internal to the notebook, for cheaper, and have all the benefits of a SSD drive?
Re:Not even competitive for notebooks (Score:3, Insightful)
Agreed. You have to move to SATA-based SSDs for flash to be a speed win. USB just doesn't cut it for serious storage, both in terms of CPU overhead and in terms of maximum throughput. Of course, if you're moving stuff back and forth between two machines, the alternative is probably a USB external drive that has all the same performance problems. FireWire is much better in both respects. And, of course, eSATA is better still, but is relatively rare.
Re:US Military (Score:3, Insightful)
The US military has already placed an order for 500,000 of these.
Each one will be used to store just one file: a 500 kilobyte PDF file that contains a soldier's manual for shining shoes.
And of course all military computers have usb locked out anyway, so you couldn't use it in any military sense anyway.
Just another day in the uses for the tax dollar.
Re:$1000 USB is still USB... (Score:2, Insightful)
I like it... (Score:3, Insightful)
If the last decade has shown us anything, this means that in a couple years I'll have a terabyte flash drive I can carry in my pocket that runs me about $300.
Re:Small foot print USB HDD's (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, it's only what, 5-6 times bigger?
The whole point of this thing is that it is a USB stick with 256gb of flash. If you drop this USB stick, it should not be harmed unless it falls from very, very high. Drop your Passport Essential off a table and chances are it is toast.
They are used for different purposes, they cannot be compared directly. I personally would never buy one, and being custom order I don't think Kingston believes there is a big market for them either. However, someone will find a use for them, and will buy them, and that's great for them.