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SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB

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Re: SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB

#11

Post by omnimus »

ZeroConcerns wrote: post #7

I've pretty much stopped using 'stick' type storage for anything >256MB, as regardless of brand and series, my experience is that these thingies overheat under anything but light write usage, and either slow to a crawl or drop off the USB bus entirely before my copy is finished. 'Credit card' sized SSDs are not that much more inconvenient to carry and store, and don't exhibit any of these issues for me. And the therm…

Even smaller and faster are nvme enclosures over thunderbolt. Easily can be boot drive.

Re: SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB

#12

Post by kawsper »

ZeroConcerns wrote: post #7

I've pretty much stopped using 'stick' type storage for anything >256MB, as regardless of brand and series, my experience is that these thingies overheat under anything but light write usage, and either slow to a crawl or drop off the USB bus entirely before my copy is finished. 'Credit card' sized SSDs are not that much more inconvenient to carry and store, and don't exhibit any of these issues for me. And the therm…

The most irritating thing about the credit-card sized ones, are how they aren’t attached if you move around.

I like to be mobile, so I put some velcro ultra-mate on the back of my laptop, and also on my disk, then the disk can be attached and plugged in while I move around.

I also got a 90-degree USB-C cable for a more direct cable route.

Re: SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB

#13

Post by ssl-3 »

3eb7988a1663 wrote: post #6

How hot do these things get? I have a few "bar" type USB sticks that get quite warm after even moderate amounts of data transfer.

How hot is "quite warm"? And how hot is too hot?

From my own observation: Anything over 40C or so feels quite warm to my own touch, but 40C is generally rather insignificant to a solid-state IC.

Re: SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB

#14

Post by ssl-3 »

kawsper wrote: post #12
ZeroConcerns wrote: post #7

I've pretty much stopped using 'stick' type storage for anything >256MB, as regardless of brand and series, my experience is that these thingies overheat under anything but light write usage, and either slow to a crawl or drop off the USB bus entirely before my copy is finished. 'Credit card' sized SSDs are not that much more inconvenient to carry and store, and don't exhibit any of these issues for me. And the therm…

The most irritating thing about the credit-card sized ones, are how they aren’t attached if you move around. I like to be mobile, so I put some velcro ultra-mate on the back of my laptop, and also on my disk, then the disk can be attached and plugged in while I move around. I also got a 90-degree USB-C cable for a more direct cable route.

Is this what we get when we stop making laptops with upgradeable internal storage?

Re: SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB

#15

Post by ZeroConcerns »

ssl-3 wrote: post #14
kawsper wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most irritating thing about the credit-card sized ones, are how they aren’t attached if you move around. I like to be mobile, so I put some velcro ultra-mate on the back of my laptop, and also on my disk, then the disk can be attached and plugged in while I move around. I also got a 90-degree USB-C cable for a more direct cable route.

Is this what we get when we stop making laptops with upgradeable internal storage?

I just upgraded the internal storage of my Lenovo T14 (AMD, Gen6) to 4TB, and that took all of 5 minutes. And that laptop was definitely made in 2025, although I agree that consumer sentiment overwhelmingly favors models that are less convenient in that respect.

Re: SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB

#16

Post by Yokolos »

ZeroConcerns wrote: post #7

I've pretty much stopped using 'stick' type storage for anything >256MB, as regardless of brand and series, my experience is that these thingies overheat under anything but light write usage, and either slow to a crawl or drop off the USB bus entirely before my copy is finished. 'Credit card' sized SSDs are not that much more inconvenient to carry and store, and don't exhibit any of these issues for me. And the therm…

I have two SSK USB sticks that give me write speeds of up to 1GB/s (as long as they're not filled to the brim). I've copied things like 80GB games in something like 2-3 minutes. A real SSD will always be best, but I'm pretty happy with these USB sticks.

Re: SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB

#17

Post by jack_tripper »

Yokolos wrote: post #16
ZeroConcerns wrote: post #7

I've pretty much stopped using 'stick' type storage for anything >256MB, as regardless of brand and series, my experience is that these thingies overheat under anything but light write usage, and either slow to a crawl or drop off the USB bus entirely before my copy is finished. 'Credit card' sized SSDs are not that much more inconvenient to carry and store, and don't exhibit any of these issues for me. And the therm…

I have two SSK USB sticks that give me write speeds of up to 1GB/s (as long as they're not filled to the brim). I've copied things like 80GB games in something like 2-3 minutes. A real SSD will always be best, but I'm pretty happy with these USB sticks.

The USB sticks you talk about are basically USB SSDs, not what we know as traditional thumb drives.

I have a similar one too from HP(PNY), and it's crazy fast for its size, but the issue is its controller (ASMedia IIRC) reports it to the OS as a UAS (USB Attached SCSI), similar to an external HDD, instead of Removable Mass Storage as most thumb drives do, so you can't hot -plug/-unplug it, and that controller seems to be backlisted by the Linux kernel for some reason, so it's not recognized on linux unless I fiddle with the "options usb-storage quirks" kernel parameters, but even so my BIOS can't detect it to boot from it. From what I understand the issue causing all this is that it's a native 4K-block device causing issues with booting on it as typically 512-byte block native devices are required for EFI boot, or at least that have 512-byte emulation support which this controller does not.

I am so disappointed because I bought a fast USB SSD to install and dual boot Linux on it as a second drive for my Windows laptop. If only I knew that there's such a big difference in the types of USB drives out there and that they're not all remotely the same.

So do your due diligence on linux compatibility, if you ever want to buy these USB SSDs.

Re: SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB

#18

Post by jack_tripper »

ssl-3 wrote: post #14
kawsper wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most irritating thing about the credit-card sized ones, are how they aren’t attached if you move around. I like to be mobile, so I put some velcro ultra-mate on the back of my laptop, and also on my disk, then the disk can be attached and plugged in while I move around. I also got a 90-degree USB-C cable for a more direct cable route.

Is this what we get when we stop making laptops with upgradeable internal storage?

Not really an issue outside the Apple ecosystem and a few fringe tablet hybrids like from Microsoft. Vast majority of laptops sold today have standard SSDs you can upgrade.

Re: SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB

#19

Post by zamadatix »

ssl-3 wrote: post #14
kawsper wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most irritating thing about the credit-card sized ones, are how they aren’t attached if you move around. I like to be mobile, so I put some velcro ultra-mate on the back of my laptop, and also on my disk, then the disk can be attached and plugged in while I move around. I also got a 90-degree USB-C cable for a more direct cable route.

Is this what we get when we stop making laptops with upgradeable internal storage?

I still utilize large external drives on my laptop with upgradeable storage, so we get it either way.
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