Super Talent intros 8GB USB 3.0 flash drive for $14

[Jos]

Even though major tech companies such as Intel and Apple have been slow to embrace USB 3.0, motherboard makers and device manufacturers are doing their part in helping bring this technology to mainstream ground. The latest salvo comes from Super Talent, which is expanding its offerings with a new line of budget-friendly USB 3.0 flash drives called the Express Duo. They come in both 8GB and 16GB capacities and will sell for a mere $14 and $29, respectively.

The new drives can reportedly hit data transfer speeds of 67MB/s. While that might not be quite up there with the faster USB 3.0 flash drives, it still exceeds the maximum read speed of USB 2.0 units by a significant margin. The USB 2.0 specification has a theoretical maximum data transfer rate of 480Mbps (60MB/s) but real speeds tend to run between 13MB/s and 34MB/s when protocol overhead is figured in.

Needless to say, the new Express Duo drives are backwards compatible with USB 2.0, so you'll be able to use them at lower speeds when USB 3.0 is not available. As Super Talent puts it, “there's simply really no reason to buy a USB 2.0 flash drive anymore.” The company is already shipping samples and will begin taking orders later this month.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/40954-super-talent-intros-8gb-usb-30-flash-drive-for-14.html

 

[buttus]

Just, WOW. It simply astonishes me how cheap flash drives have become. I remember paying $100 for a 512mb drive some years ago. Now an 8Gb USB3 for $14?

 

[Neojt]

now thats cheep even the 16go at 29$ is a bargain its the same pricing (in the 8g) as usb 2

Bring it on

 

[ruzveh]

8gb @15 is really good deal i say. But if its usb3 then i would like to see 100gb sticks selling at below $20. Remember its a world of 3TB hDD.. lol

 

[T3x]

Cool, I was thinking about getting a new flash drive anyways.

 

[taea00]

This sounds like a great deal. Even if you're just going to use it as a 2.0 drive, it's still competitively priced. There must not have been a great deal of difference in the manufacturing process if 3.0 devices are coming in at the same price point as 2.0 devices.

 

[Ahmed90]

great since the HDD and storage is the most slow part in the computers this is great its getting cheaper and cheaper

 

[Guest]

T3x, Its Hot !
taea00, This might be just a promotional price, y'know not permanent.
Ahmed90, No, Ahmed90 is the slowest part on ANY computer.
ruzveh, I would like to see 200Gb sticks for $10, I would also like to see Heidi Klum making me breakfast.

Excellent, Higher, Faster, Cheaper

 

[dmoore44]

I just paid $30 for an 8GB USB 2.0 flash drive... granted it has a secure partition using AES-256, but it's not hardware level encryption, so I can't say that the extra $16 is worth it...

 

[cardriverx]

I was just looking for flash drive, looks like imma wait. $30 for 16GB? Thats great for a usb 2 drive haha.

 

[treeski]

Is there a catch at all?
There's just something wrong about new technology at old tech's price

 

[gwailo247]

Depending on how much extra they have to pay for the 3.0 hardware, it may not be that much of a change in the manufacturing process. That being said, I don't see to many situations where you need to transfer a lot of data very quickly onto a USB drive unless you're stealing the NOC list from Langley or something.

 

[Archean]

Well my good old Corsair 8 & 16GB USB flash drives are serving me perfectly well; so I am in no rush to buy this baby ...... and, I paid lots of money to buy them upon their respective launch

 

[Cryptopsy]

Waw, pretty cheap, I'll be buying one for sure, and I'll suggest to my friends

 

[zogo]

can't wait to get my hands on this. perfect, just what I need it and almost for free

 

[ingalonzo]

cooll!! i want one of does

 

[Demons]

That's a really good deal! I need to get a good PCI-E USB 3.0 card for my computer. I hope USB 3.0 does well this coming year. We need some more support for the standard.

 

[AbsolutGaloot]

Makes me wish I'd held out a little longer on building my computer to get a USB 3.0 motherboard.

 

[frodough]

it's a very good sign for company like this to step up w/ lower price, consumers win everywhere!

 

[TwiztidSef]

I did not expect this out so soon. Can't wait till more hard drive enclosures and other technology start embracing it.

 

[RebelFlag]

I will be buying one of these as soon as they become available.

 

[uttaradhaka]

This is so cheap!! 14 bucks for a 8 GB drive, that too being USB 3? Can't miss this. Even if you don't have a USB 3 compatible motherboard right now, your going to have it sometime in the future and until then, you can just use it just like a regular USB drive.

 

[Compnut]

Somethings just keep getting better, too bad bluray is still so expensive. That really needs to drop more for it to become ubiquitous.

 

[poertner_1274]

They are most likely trying to build market awareness and get people talking about their company, as well as the USB3 technology. Just like Google TV is giving away set top boxes to 'developers'. It got lots of people/websites talking about free Google TV.

It's all about market awareness and branding. Express Duo is now a company people will look in to for USB3, as well as other products they offer.

Have you ever heard of a loss leader? It's a classic Black Friday example. Sell one item at a loss to get people in the store, then they will hopefully purchase something else while there, or come back for something else at a later date. By them purchasing something else, they will recover the costs of the loss item.

 

[JMMD]

Wow, amazingly cheap. Good to see more USB 3.0 hardware being released.