[clug] USB key recommendations
Alex Satrapa
grail at goldweb.com.au
Wed Nov 3 22:38:39 GMT 2004
On 4 Nov 2004, at 08:33, Dale Shaw wrote:
> I noticed yesterday that YeahDone (www.yeahdone.com.au) are flogging
> *4GB* USB keys for $548.90 (cheaper as a dealer). They're definitely
> getting cheaper.
Marginally on-topic, but while we're talking about large (capacity) and
expensive, can I mention the iPod?
For anyone who's curious, here is my list of iPod pros and cons as
compared to thumb drives:
+ It's got a decent storage capacity (20GB or 40GB, new model up to
60GB)
+ FireWire out of the box
+ USB 2.0 with optional cable
- No USB 1.1 support (either doesn't work or doesn't work well)
- needs cables to connect to Firewire or USB
+ Faster than Flash
- only rated for 70,000 hours, where most desktop drives are rated
at about 200,000 hours (or at least, that's how I read it) and
Flash is usually rated for 100,000 write cycles
- a lot bulkier than a thumb drive, so you can't store it on your
keyring
- requires charging for internal battery
+ draws power from Firewire
- can only draw power from 6 pin Firewire connection, not 4 pin
- can't be powered from USB 2.0
+ plays music (but then, so do some thumb drives)
+ has accessories such as card readers (for importing photos from
digital camera media only) and microphones
- no radio or line in (at least three brands of thumb drive MP3
players that I've seen, feature FM radios - none feature AM)
- more attractive to thieves
So if you've got Firewire or USB 2, this could make a nifty spot to
store your SSH keys (or whatever you'd keep on a thumb drive) and SSH
client software for a variety of platforms - but then you face the
issue of mounting the volume on the OS du jour.
There are some sites out there that deal with booting from the iPod,
but I wouldn't suggest that - hearing reports of people being "on their
fourth iPod" (in a year) after using it as an external drive put paid
to that experiment for me.
I've got my SSH keys and clients for a couple of operating systems
(Win32, Macintosh System 9, Mac OS X, Linux) on a CF card for my
digital camera. The camera needs battery power, as does the iPod, but
the camera is USB 1.x compatible. I don't have a dedicated thumb drive
- at present I just live with the inconvenience of connecting my camera
every time I log in (and remembering to keep the batteries fully
charged).
Regards
Alex
"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we
can solve them." --Isaac Asimov
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