Can't get high-speed transfers from USB 2.0 pen drive?

[DaveH]

I have Dell Dimension 4550 and 4600 machines that have current USB 2.0 drivers installed, and a Sandisk Cruzer Mini 128 meg USB 2.0 pen drive connected to it.

Moving data to that drive never SEEMS to exceed USB 1.0 speeds.

Are any of you getting anything like USB 2.0 rated throughput to your pen drives?

And any suggestions as to how I might boost my throughput?

TIA, Dave

 

[stevewm]

Does it exceed USB 1.1 speeds when reading data?


You only mentioned writing data..... Flash memory is typically slower at writing then at reading. How much of difference there is depends on the flash memory module.

 

[AndyHui]

I have a USB 2.0 Pen device, and my write speeds are about 1.1MB/s, but read speeds are about 5.5MB/s.

 

[bacillus]

asus p4c800 & my sony microvault work well together!

 

[Peter]

So is it a "High Speed" rated device at all? Most "USB 2.0" gadgets out there are just Full Speed, which is exactly what USB 1.x was capable of.

Then, Flash drives ARE slow, particularly the cheap ones.

 

[DaveH]

Thanks for the replies, much obliged

stevewm and AndyHui, I just tested its READ speeds, and sure enough it took only a couple of seconds to copy a 13 meg Quicken file from it to my hard drive...so read speeds are indeed much better.

Peter, I belive this is rated "high speed"--it's the new product into from Sandisk that staples had at such a great price this last week.

Were there other flash products just as quick, I'd be tempted to try those--but I wonder if any are much faster at writing, given what other respondents have suggested.

Is there a pen drive FAQ anywhere, BTW? I checked Googled a few times with minimal luck.

 

[Jeff7]

I have an Apacer 256MB USB 2.0 pen drive (not the greatest in terms of physical design, nor is it bootable, but it was cheap). I just did this:
Copy file from it, format the drive, copy file back to it.
Got the following:
226,608,188 bytes

Read speed: 38.00s
Write speed: 53.22s

5.69MB/sec read speed, 4.06MB/sec write. Not exactly USB 2.0 speeds (60MB/sec) but definitely not USB 1.1 (1.5MB/sec).

 

[Peter]

Writing usually is substantially slower than reading. That's because a write must always be preceded by an erase cycle, and these tend to take a while.

 

[DaveH]

Jeff7, I didn't realize bootability was a function of the pen drive...I thought it had to do with the bios...?

Am I wrong about this?

 

[Peter]

BIOS must support it, and the drive must comply exactly to the "USB Mass Storage Device" standard.

 

[PrincessGuard]

All of the flash memory chips I've seen have a max write speed of only a few MB/sec. It's probably a limitation of the current technology.

 

[DaveH]

Thanks Peter,

Does anyone know of a list of devices that meet this compatibility standard? I'd think most of the newer ones would, don't see a mention of this on the Sandisk website.

 

[Peter]

From Sandisk as a pioneer of these things, I'd expect nothing but compliant devices.

 

[sillymofo]

All this diss-cussion and no links? WTH, I'm looing for a good deal and can't find it any where. If any one has a good link, please post. (NO Tigerdirect pls)

 

[Peter]

www.usb.org

 

[Mday]

flash memory is slow. it is slow, it is slow. no matter what you have. it is slow.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Mday
flash memory is slow. it is slow, it is slow. no matter what you have. it is slow.

Until someone invents Flash Memory 2.0.

 

[LED]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Mday
flash memory is slow. it is slow, it is slow. no matter what you have. it is slow.

Until someone invents Flash Memory 2.0.

Even @ it's pace today, I'd take it over my Floppy anytime

 

[Lorne]

Flash memeory is veryslow
What they need to do is make a DDR or QDR flashmemory setup.
But that will rack up the $$ again, Pen drives are already overpriced.