Price Watch: USB Pen Drives

 

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 10 Dec 2004 at 14:30

The humble USB pen drive would be no one's idea of a stocking filler, but the modern gadget-filled high-technology Christmas is certainly a time for sharing content, so the new-floppy - PC and Mac-compatible - has its place.

In the past, 16MB would have been the starting point, but with falling prices you are unlikely to find this capacity around anymore, so 32MB is where we begin. PriceWatch highlights PriceStorm for an £8.88 Integral drive. It also refers to Amazon for a 32MB Disgo, costing £13.54, but this is really not good value when you consider Dabs is selling a 'Dabs Value' 128MB drive for £14.99, but we are getting ahead of ourselves...

For a 64MB capacity, ePCBuyer has its own-brand £9.34 drive, while for comparison, Dabs.com's cheapest offer is a Freecom Databar 64MB USB2 Stick for £17.98.

When it comes to a 128MB drive, the choice increases. As always there's an element of how much you want to pay for brand recognition, but the bottom line is that Kelkoo is highlighting an Integral 128MB USB 2.0 Flash Drive Pen Disk, sold by Pixel Flash, for £12.97. PriceWatch is flagging Transcend's JetFlash 128MB model for £13. A Dabs Value stick will set you back £15.

Moving up to 256MB, the SanDisk Cruzer Mini is the cheapest we found, at £21.09 from RL supplies.

A Lexar JumpDrive Sport can also be had for £22.49 from Photo Scotland and, for abit more, from Pixmania and Pixel Flash.

For what would once have been considered a seriously large key fob capacity - with a matching price - the 512MB now seems more mid-range. A SanDisk Cruzer Micro can be had for £34.08 from eMartBuy, according to PriceWatch.co.uk, while Kelkoo flags the ADATA JOGR drive for £38.77 from eMartBuy. A Kingston 512MB Data Traveller II could be had for £48.98.

Hitting the once-significant 1GB mark, PriceWatch flags the SanDisk Cruzer Mini, available for £57.58 from eMartBuy, while Dabs.com's best offer seems to be a Lexar Media 1GB JumpDrive Secure, for £66.98.

For 2GB - and you are now starting to push the envelope for what is currently available, with prices to match - you can choose a Sony Micro Vault Pro, available for £120.96 from MoreComputers.com (Simply seems out of stock for its £115 offer), or a Lexar JumpDrive PRO, available for £147.99 from Photo Scotland (or for £150.72 from ePCBuyer). A 2GB Disgo, for those who like the originating brand, has an RRP of 239 euros (approximately £165).

Finally, for the geek who has everything, PriceWatch flags a Transcend 4 GB model (pictured) is on sale at the knockdown price of £900, from printers-inc.com...

Don't forget that there are other features available with these key-fob devices beyond raw capacity. For example security features such as enforcing password access to stored data, or even encrypting the contents of a drive. These will add to the price of drives, of course, making certain models lose out on a straight comparison. The Amacom MiniStor, for example, will set you back £45.39 from Savastore.com for its 64MB, but those bytes will be secured in cases of theft of these easily pocketable drives.

All prices include VAT, but don't forget to factor in delivery costs specific to the supplier.

This run through of drives, is not meant to be exhaustive, so please leave a comment for additional good or bad deals that you have came across.