Test and comparision: Seven high capacity memory sticks

Data guaranteed for 10 years!
Memory sticks have replaces floppy disks for a long time now. They are powered directly by the USB port on the device that you are connected to, they are resistant to dust and since 2008 every device that you buy will be USB 2.0. To remind you, the “dongle” contains flash memory or a small hard drive with the data theoretically being stored for a decade.



From 8000 to 16000 MP3 files on a single stick
The capacity of the memory sticks that you can currently purchase range from 1 to 64 GB. We only want to test those that were between 32 and 64GB as these benefit from an amount of storage space that starts to be quite interesting. As an example, on a 32 GB memory stick, you can save 13280 photos in 5 Mega pixels, 8000 in 8 Mega pixels, about 8000 MP3/WMA songs in 128 Kbps and 52 hours of MPEG 4 video (640 x 480 pixels). Simply, there is enough room to do anything.

Nothing offers more flexibility then a memory stick!
While a memory stick is offers everything, it is mainly the location where you may store personal documents. For others through, its uses are numerous. You can install a full operating system on it like Ubuntu, Mandriva, Knoppix, Damn Small Linux as well as Windows XP (see link) and Vista (see link), store audio and video content for swapping, increase the storage capacity of a cheap netbook, and extend the size of your television box which has a 40GB hard drive that is too small. But these are only some of the examples, as the dongle also has other options like connecting to your HiFi system, DVD player, car radio or portable cassette player or mini television!

Compatible with Windows, MAC OS and Linux
All memory sticks are compatible with the Windows, Linux and MAC OS operating systems. You will have to be careful when making the distinction between the Windows Vista compatible and Certified Vista ReadyBoost releases though, as the second one is used to speed up the operating systems start up speed. The read/write performance varies depending on the OS, but overall these devices run on average at 20 MB/s. The prices start at 90 dollars for a 32 GB model and go to 280 dollars for a 64GB memory stick.