The best and the cheapest 256GB pendrive

[Cetek16]

I'm looking for the best and the cheapest 256GB pendrive. There's not much info about that, it would seem people still prefer 128/64gb these days.

 

[kanewolf]

Prices are prohibitive and the possibility of that much data loss probably limits the market for such a device.

 

[Cetek16]

But pendrives like that exists, i'm not sure which one is the best. I'd rather pay +-120 dollars once and have safe data storage than buy cloud drive where everyone can hack me.

 

[kanewolf]

A thumb drive is only secure if you encrypt it. Same goes for cloud storage.

 

[Cetek16]

But pendrive can be accessed by the best hackers. Cloud drive is far easier to hack, and far more expensive. Or you can just create 5 mega.nz accounts, but it's not very practical.

 

[ArtPog]

Cetek:
No one - no one! - can tell you with any degree of certainty which USB flash drive model is the "best" one. The "best" YOU can do is do a Google search on "reviews of usb flash drives" and make up your own mind after reading the reviews.

Just understand one thing...it's a crapshoot pure & simple. A USB flash drive - ANY flash drive - can become defective at any time. You should NEVER consider a USB flash drive as PERMANENT media for backup purposes when the data to be saved on that tool is important or critical and the flash drive is functioning as the SOLE recipient of such data.

By & large your backed-up data should be saved to a HDD or DVD or some other type of recipient of data. And when the data is especially important to you, multiple backups on separate media should be made.

 

[USAFRet]

But pendrives like that exists, i'm not sure which one is the best. I'd rather pay +-120 dollars once and have safe data storage than buy cloud drive where everyone can hack me.

Pen drives of any size are not "safe data storage".
At best, they are temporary data movement devices.

 

[Cetek16]

I'm aware that pendrive can be defective, but HDD can fail too. So at this point it would seem that there's no good data storage. But i have an idea.

Since my internet is too slow to use cloud storage i want pendrive (256GB is more than enough, 128GB is not enough). But if i will have it already i could upload critical files to mega.nz. It's encrypted and safe enough. If my hardware or pendrive will be broken, i can download it from mega at any time.

For now i will look for something on google, but i have already made it before posting this. I will give links if someone in my situation will find this topic.

 

[USAFRet]

A pen drive, from one of the major manufacturers, ....they are all the same "reliability".
Sandisk, Samsung, Kingston...All the same.

 

[ArtPog]

I'm aware that pendrive can be defective, but HDD can fail too. So at this point it would seem that there's no good data storage. But i have an idea.

Since my internet is too slow to use cloud storage i want pendrive (256GB is more than enough, 128GB is not enough). But if i will have it already i could upload critical files to mega.nz. It's encrypted and safe enough. If my hardware or pendrive will be broken, i can download it from mega at any time.

For now i will look for something on google, but i have already made it before posting this. I will give links if someone in my situation will find this topic.

As long as you have a reasonably safe backup repository along the lines you have indicated there's certainly no impediment to your also utilizing a USB flash drive for backup purposes.

You've indicated that you require a flash drive with a capacity of not less than 256 GB. I've worked only with one that had this capacity, the Corsair 256GB Voyager GTX model. I had occasion to work with it for only a few months in 2016 and the item performed fine with high-speed transfer of data. (There's also a 500 GB model available but I've not had any experience with that model.)

One of the members of my computer club has been working with the SanDisk Extreme Pro 3.1 256 GB flash drive and apparently is quite satisfied with that component. (Don't be misled by the "3.1" designation. It's a Gen 1 spec and for all practical purposes it's a USB 3.0 component.)

 

[Cetek16]

I'm aware that pendrive can be defective, but HDD can fail too. So at this point it would seem that there's no good data storage. But i have an idea.

Since my internet is too slow to use cloud storage i want pendrive (256GB is more than enough, 128GB is not enough). But if i will have it already i could upload critical files to mega.nz. It's encrypted and safe enough. If my hardware or pendrive will be broken, i can download it from mega at any time.

For now i will look for something on google, but i have already made it before posting this. I will give links if someone in my situation will find this topic.

As long as you have a reasonably safe backup repository along the lines you have indicated there's certainly no impediment to your also utilizing a USB flash drive for backup purposes.

You've indicated that you require a flash drive with a capacity of not less than 256 GB. I've worked only with one that had this capacity, the Corsair 256GB Voyager GTX model. I had occasion to work with it for only a few months in 2016 and the item performed fine with high-speed transfer of data. (There's also a 500 GB model available but I've not had any experience with that model.)

One of the members of my computer club has been working with the SanDisk Extreme Pro 3.1 256 GB flash drive and apparently is quite satisfied with that component. (Don't be misled by the "3.1" designation. It's a Gen 1 spec and for all practical purposes it's a USB 3.0 component.)

They are probably the most expensive from all available (180-200 dollars). I know these for +-80 are probably trash, but i believe that i can get something for +-140 dollars.

 

[USAFRet]

$200, $80....does not matter if it goes through the washer and dryer in your pants pocket.

 

[Cetek16]

$200, $80....does not matter if it goes through the washer and dryer in your pants pocket.

Not if it's Corsair Survivor Stealth 256GB. I don't need water proof pendrives anyway, but it's quite cheap, and it looks good. Sandisk Ultra and Patriot Supersonic XT Boost looks good too.

 

[RetiredChief]

Why not just use a 256 gig SSD, either use a sata -> USB3 cable or a 2 1/2 in USB 3 enclosure. Granted not as small as a pendrive/thumbdrive, but still fits in the pocket. 256 Gig SSD $120 +/- 20 bucks + $10->$20 for cable/enclosure. PS SSDs as well as Thumb drives require refreshing, just not sure of duration.

 

[Cetek16]

Why not just use a 256 gig SSD, either use a sata -> USB3 cable or a 2 1/2 in USB 3 enclosure. Granted not as small as a pendrive/thumbdrive, but still fits in the pocket. 256 Gig SSD $120 +/- 20 bucks + $10->$20 for cable/enclosure. PS SSDs as well as Thumb drives require refreshing, just not sure of duration.

I'm almost sure it needs power source, which means using it as external drive is problematic, and connecting to smartphone and tablet is impossible.

 

[JaredDM]

SSDs require very little power when compared with a HDD. They can be powered right off the USB using an enclosure such as this: https://www.amazon.com/Tool-free-Inateck-External-Enclosure-FE2004/dp/B00JQTO8TU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1504716473&sr=8-5&keywords=2.5%22+enclosure

Most tablets and phones don't supply power on the USB (they draw it instead) so you'd have to use a powered USB hub to connect any type of storage to them including a thumb drive. There is virtually no difference between a thumb drive and an SSD other than capacity, speed, and connection type. They are essentially the same tech.

 

[Cetek16]

SSDs require very little power when compared with a HDD. They can be powered right off the USB using an enclosure such as this: https://www.amazon.com/Tool-free-Inateck-External-Enclosure-FE2004/dp/B00JQTO8TU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1504716473&sr=8-5&keywords=2.5%22+enclosure

Most tablets and phones don't supply power on the USB (they draw it instead) so you'd have to use a powered USB hub to connect any type of storage to them including a thumb drive. There is virtually no difference between a thumb drive and an SSD other than capacity, speed, and connection type. They are essentially the same tech.

I have to get sure that it will work with tablet/smartphone. And it's not very convenient, it may be too heavy to hang from smartphone/tablet. Pendrive works here perfectly (currently i'm using mach xtreme 64gb, but as i said i need more space).