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SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB
- jqpabc123 1y agoPlug and stay Hopefully, this has been tested for durability and some MTBF specs are available to prove it. Otherwise, buyer beware. EDIT: I couldn't find any MBTF specs so I looked up the "limited warranty" for this product. There is no warranty of uninterrupted or error-free operation.
- jedberg 1y agoObviously the solution is to get two, one on each side of your laptop, and set them up as mirrors of each other. Then your laptop looks more balanced and you can survive a failure!
- bloomingeek 1y ago"Plug and stay" is a bad idea. A couple of laptops ago, when putting it into the laptop backpack, my hand slipped and the laptop dropped about eight inches into the pocket. It landed directly onto a mouse dongle still plugged into the USB slot. (I know, the dongle should have been "up", I was distracted!) The result was a broken slot, bummer.
- fph 1y ago"Plug and stay" is also a horrible idea at a time when laptops routinely come with only 2 USB ports.
- jbverschoor 1y agoI’d rather not have something like that poking out. Looks like it’ll ruin the port when for example it hooks behind something
- b3lvedere 1y agoI also wonder if the HDMI port in the stock photo is still easily accessible with this thing plugged in. I hate plug in devices that block other inputs/ports.
- amelius 1y agoThat's a more general problem with USB.
- lazide 1y agoThe problem I have with USB on windows is how windows insists on turning off/crashing drivers for anything attached to USB for long periods of time. It’s gotten to the point I just turn off my machine (instead of power saving) so that things actually work when I turn it on.
- anthk 1y agoIf you use Linux (dual boot for instance) you can disable it with this boot arg for the kernel in Grub (and LILO too, you Slackware users, or Refind/Syslinux). Just append: usb.autosuspend=-1 usbcore.autosuspend=-1 to the linux quiet=1 foo bar blah blah... line in your /etc/default/grub, /etc/lilo.conf or whatever bootloader you use. Then, run update-grub or similar. It will draw more power on laptops but not much.
- pndy 1y agoFrankly, this is more a visual gimmick rather than useful form factor. And probably that's why sandisk went with this design of pill/small candy - because how long you can do boring 4cm-7cm oblong thumb drives? This thing is too small to be handled or placed with confidence you won't drop it or knock if off the table.
- tmzt 1y agoI've used a similar drive on my Chromebooks for the last decade. I went looking for a USB-C version and was surprised not to find one. I would love to see one with SSD speeds if such a thing is possible.
- Copenjin 1y agoDurability is more important of capacity+size. Something flash drives are not known for in general.
- 3eb7988a1663 1y agoHow hot do these things get? I have a few "bar" type USB sticks that get quite warm after even moderate amounts of data transfer.
- ssl-3 1y agoHow 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.
- dotancohen 1y agoAt around 120C or so lead solder can become weaker, and this temperature is forbidden in devices that experience vibration or other perturbations. Unleaded solders can handle higher temperatures. All consumer products today are RoHS 6 and so do not have lead. It would not surprise me if a heavily written ss device in an unventilated environment, such a laptop on a bed with a blanket covering it, or left operating in a bag, could get close to such a temperature on the PCBA. It would also dissipate heat to the USB connector of the laptop, possibly weakening it as well.
- numpad0 1y agoLooks like there are some data and guidelines are in ISO 13732-1:2006. $250ish per download, as well as probably available in the company intranet/local city library for free access.
- vachina 1y agoWith how short the drive is, I think the USB port and the rest of your pc’s motherboard will act as a heatsink for the drive.
- ZeroConcerns 1y agoI'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 thermals on these things must be horrible, plus the label makes it look like a knock-off: Sandirk?
- omnimus 1y agoEven smaller and faster are nvme enclosures over thunderbolt. Easily can be boot drive.
- transpute 1y agoAny recommended enclosures that work reliably with Linux?
- nerdsniper 1y agoThese days most of them seem to work just fine on Linux, Windows, and Mac. I use several brands across all 3 and never had an issue. I like the DOCKCASE Visual Smart ($40) or Explorer Edition ($50). They have large capacitors to provide 10 seconds of power loss protection, support 10Gbps USB speeds, and have a second USB port just for power which makes it compatible with SSD's that draw a lot of power. I like the info on the little screens because I swap SSD's in/out frequently. There are cheaper ones that work fine too - the "SABRENT USB 3.2 Type-C Tool-Free Enclosure" ($30) is nice for, well, not needing a screwdriver to swap out the drive - but it might not deliver enough power for some overkill SSD like the (now Sandisk) WD Black SN8100 - but the DockCase will, as long as you also plug in an auxiliary power USB cable. A drive like the Patriot Memory P400 Lite is very low power, so it works with cheaper enclosures or USB ports that don't deliver as much power to the peripheral. It also generates less heat, which can help sustain performance depending on the enclosure and environment.
- KnuthIsGod 1y agoI was foolish enough to buy SanDisk. SanDisk flashdrives get extremely hot and die in months. The warranty process is time consuming and tedious. I stick to Samsung flashdrives now.
- b3lvedere 1y agoCan't say i have the same experiences. The only products to fail me where really really cheap AliExpress devices.
- lazide 1y agoSandisk in general I’ve had good luck with - but there are a ton of fakes out there. That said, I see no way this drive could dissipate any useful amount of heat at all, so suspicious it would be a problem under sustained write loads. Especially since most use cases likely would never have sustained write loads.
- bloomingeek 1y agoThe way to tell if it's genuine Sandisk is if you can't get the damn thing out of the package without cussing!
- lazide 1y agoI agree - I eventually (not just for this case) got some EMT shears, and oh boy. So much less blood hah.
- bjt12345 1y agoI prefer the SK Hynix Beetle (X31) and Tube (T31) to Samsung flash drives, because internally the are DRAM SSDs, I hope they come out with new models.
- rozab 1y agoSanDisks are very frequently fake, even in brick and mortar stores. Could it be you had a fake one?
- closetkantian 1y agoI had one of these break within a few days of purchase. It's a no for me.
- lloydatkinson 1y ago> Claims to be extreme fit > Shaped unlike any other USB memory stick and has awkward ill-fitting shape Genuis
- Tuna-Fish 1y agoBack when Macbook airs had tiny drives and sdcard slots, there were multiple vendors selling flush-mount sd cards. They work surprisingly well, they can sink heat well into the aluminum body. This product isn't quite there yet, but it's clearly aiming for the same market.
- vasco 1y agoI have a few of those still lying around, they were great!
- piskov 1y agoThere are still for any macbook pro with sd card slot. BaseQi or similar Nothing beats cheap storage like that and completely flush with the case
- deafpolygon 1y agoBut how reliable is it? I've heard stories about how unreliable it is, and it's got me concerned.
- pcdoodle 1y agorunning a parallels windows install off one, no issues. macos does unmount if battery gets really low but not really an issue after reboot or replug.
- Tuna-Fish 1y agoIt's a portable device, everything on it needs be backed up frequently in case of loss or theft anyway. I just wanted more storage for media for when I'm not connected to my home setup and/or into a fast internet pipe, and also didn't want to pay apple 1000% margin for 2 commodity flash chips.
- piskov 1y agoUse it for some throughaway big files stuff or backup with something like backblaze
- actionfromafar 1y agoWhen will they start offering flash drives which have a "rubbery" connection to itself (imagine a tenth of an inch of flex cable in silicon) so the port won't take a beating.
- mosselman 1y agoI had a USB-A from sandisk which was very solid and I used it for years. It wasn't flush with the body of the laptop, but was rounded and strong. This looks super flimsy and like it might break off easily and ruin your port.
- myself248 1y agoYeah, that's one thing we lost with USB-C. The USB-A port was big enough for a whole system (storage device, wireless chip, security processor) to fit inside. With type C we're back to dongles hanging out.
- system2 1y agoWhen I was studying at university, I had the highest-capacity USB drive of its time, which was 64mb. I was able to fit all my Word documents and some extras, and still felt huge. I can't find a reason for anyone to use a tiny flash drive and store 1tb info on it. It is too risky to store anything important without a backup. Versioning is also an issue and must be synced somewhere all the time. I thought we were over flash drives already. I only use flash drives for installing fresh distros on old computers. Can't find a reason to use them anymore. I used SanDisk Cruzer Fit https://amzn.to/47OqNXT https://amzn.to/47OqNXT for a very long time (USB 2.0) for ESXi server installations too. Never had a problem. But this "new" design looks terrible.
- lazide 1y agoMaybe they have a GoPro and want to be able to do some basic 4K video manipulation. Or want to download some warez or porn, or use it as a backup drive, etc. 1TB is enough space to be actually useful for some of this, and if you have a somewhat older laptop, it might only have 256GB or 512GB internal.
- myself248 1y agoBackup drive is my use-case. But that means a mountain of sustained write traffic, which means thermals are important, which is where this thing sucks. I had been using a regular external with a short cable, until I got a Framework and decided to try one of their "fits in the module slot" SSDs, which is perfect. I still pop it out after the backup and store it elsewhere, but it's lovely that during the backup job (which can take a while if it's doing a fresh copy), it's completely unobtrusive and can't break off if I set the lappy down wrong.
- BenjiWiebe 1y agoUsing ventoy and having multiple rescue/install images on one flash drive is super nice. I have a Windows 2 go installation on it too.
- piskov 1y agoJust buy microsd to sd adapter that sits completely flush in the case. Like this called BaseQi: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0822/8493/files/feature-1_b875ca02-efe5-4396-8e73-28cfbee5c3e9.jpg https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0822/8493/files/feature-1_...
- supermatt 1y agoAlso "just buy" a MacBook Pro to go with it?
- piskov 1y agoEach hole depth is different though I’ve seen versions for some windows laptops like yoga
- ThePowerOfFuet 1y agoSpeed and write durability are both going to be trash, alas.
- piskov 1y agoIts for storage not like dev drive
- jmpeax 1y ago"up to 1 TB capacity... starting launch price is $15.99" I have adblock, how did this SanDisk commercial make it through?
- InMice 1y agoGoes well with their affiliate links. And it's actually discounted to $14.99 at sandisk https://shop.sandisk.com/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-extreme-fit-usb-c https://shop.sandisk.com/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-e...
- prolyxis 1y agoNote that the $15.99 is for the 64 GB version. The 1 TB version sells for above $100.
- dawnerd 1y agoConsidering 1TB sandisk ssds (which have notoriously had high failure rates) were around 100 for 1TB for a while is pretty impressive they got it into that form factor. I wouldn't trust them for anything important though.
- DrammBA 1y agoIt follows the classic format of "Most expensive configuration [price ommited], Lowest price bracket [configuration ommited]"
- energy123 1y agoOne would hope the durability of this is keeping pace with the capacity. If not, what is the niche? The 1TB is an enticement to use this for more than shuffling files from place to place. But absent the durability I would not want to do that.
- Wowfunhappy 1y agoPersonally, I’ve long wanted a USB flash drive large enough to store my full movie collection. Traditional external hard drives are too cumbersome to use on e.g. public transit. By contrast, it’s possible to plug in a flash drive and still actually use my laptop on my lap. If the drive died, I wouldn’t care too much (beyond the cost of replacing the drive), because the master copy of my collection would still be at home. (And of course I have other backups besides.) The thing is, 1 TB is actually too small to make this work. I’d really need 4 TB.
- hk1337 1y ago> Error: Failed to load script: Fallback Failed That’s unfortunate, apparently the site requires some js, that is probably blocked by my firewall, to even load the page. https://shop.sandisk.com/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-extreme-fit-usb-c?sku=SDCZ530-256G-G46 https://shop.sandisk.com/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-e...
- Permik 1y agoThey could get rid of the overheating problems by slapping some Frore systems cooling chips on the dies and IO chips. No need to cook the mf out of the chips as we already have solutions to cool them.
- dspillett 1y agoTiny form factor USB drives have been around for ages¹ but only for USB-A ports, so I assume the news here is the USB-C connector (and the availability of capacity over 256Gb). This would be nice, I've been looking for something small that will go in a C port without an adaptor that stops it being so tiny any more, but the shape of these looks like it would irritate me, sitting “high” above the port and likely above the device it is plugged into. The closest I've found are minimal size dual-port things like https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B5S29JWY/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B5S29JWY/ but they could be half the length (when inserted) without the A connector at all. I have no portable devices without at least as many C ports as A's, non-portable devices with only A ports I can stick a C-in-A adaptor or two semi-permanently into. -------- [1] Examples: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HPX38XC/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HPX38XC/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YYMX5LQ/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07YYMX5LQ/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08772NT1L/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08772NT1L/
- mcdonje 1y agoI want one that is shaped like the USB-C port. Like it was extruded from the port. About as long as a key, maybe a shorter key, like a mailbox key. Has a rounded end with a hole to make a very sturdy keyring hole. Capacity is limited to what would be reliable and not overheat. <1g.
- craftkiller 1y agoIt sounds like you're describing the yubikey 5c form factor. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a flash drive matching that form factor in my years of searching. https://resources.yubico.com/53ZDUYE6/at/cm85k8947jm9g32znfs533j6/yubikey5c-hero.webp https://resources.yubico.com/53ZDUYE6/at/cm85k8947jm9g32znfs...
- mcdonje 1y agoClose! I'm thinking something like the Kingston DataTraveler, but usb-c. https://www.kingston.com/en/usb-flash-drives/datatraveler-dtse9g3-gold https://www.kingston.com/en/usb-flash-drives/datatraveler-dt...
- craftkiller 1y agoYeah, if that existed for usb type C then I'd buy 4 today. Such a perfect form factor, just stuck on the legacy connector.
- tlhunter 1y ago64 GB (curr. $14.99 instead of $15.99) 128 GB (curr. $19.99 instead of $21.99) 256 GB (curr. $27.99 instead of $29.99) 512 GB (curr. $54.99 instead of $59.99) 1 TB (curr. $109.99 instead of $117.99)
- bloomingeek 1y agoAmazon is a little higher priced, but you can get free shipping.
- Mistletoe 1y agoI think it looks cool, despite what the haters here say. And does no one use desktops anymore?
- craftkiller 1y agoSomeone please copy the yubikey 5c form factor but make it a flash drive. I've been looking for years for a small, durable, usb type-c flashdrive for my keychain but nothing comes close to the yubikey 5c. The 5c has the metal ring so it won't ever rip off my keychain, the hole is large enough to fit a solid metal ring through it, and it is small enough that I can keep it on my keychain and use it without stressing my usb type c ports. https://resources.yubico.com/53ZDUYE6/at/cm85k8947jm9g32znfs533j6/yubikey5c-hero.webp https://resources.yubico.com/53ZDUYE6/at/cm85k8947jm9g32znfs...
- max51 1y agoThe best I have found so far with good specs is the "sandisk SanDisk ultra dual drive go". The spinny thing is super annoying but you can glue it in place if you don't need the type-A. It's a bit bigger than the yubikey, but it's smaller than the other alternatives.
- craftkiller 1y agoThat's the one that I use now! I'm weary of the spinny kind because with other brands/models the outer spinner has ripped off the flash drive, but at least so far I haven't had that issue with the "SanDisk ultra dual drive go". The only modification I've had to do to it so far is lubricating the spinny bit because it was all grindy and rough.
- max51 1y agowhen I realised I never use the type-A, I glued it in place with epoxy. Now I don't have to worry about it breaking.
- hnuser123456 1y agoI got the ultra dual drive (non-go), no silly spinny bit, just a sliding mechanism that locks into place in either configuration as well as fully retracted on both sides.
- sidewndr46 1y ago
- HackerThemAll 1y agoIs it compatible with Linux? The official store page doesn't mention the "Linux" word at all.
- kube-system 1y agoUSB mass storage is compatible with Linux. SANDISK Memory Zone™ is not.
- theanonymousone 1y agoSince some time ago when "storage is cheap" was trendy, I have been thinking about the question of physical boundaries of data storage, i.e. how many Terabytes can be fit in a square (cubic?) centimetre? Do we know?
- xnx 1y agohttps://what-if.xkcd.com/31/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/31/
- theanonymousone 1y agoVery interesting, thanks a lot. If only we had the densities :/
- Dylan16807 1y agoIt's hard to get people to pay much more than $200 for a dense drive that will overheat with significant writes. So you can get this up to 1TB, and thumb drives at 2TB or maybe 4TB, but anything with more capacity stops being built keychain friendly even if technically the flash chips could be squeezed closer.
- dylan604 1y agoThat number is directly proportional to the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin.
- wkat4242 1y agoHmm these tiny things tend to get hella hot for me :( Better a bigger one.
- deathanatos 1y ago> The Extreme Fit has been formally announced, and this dongle-like USB Type-C flash drive is available with up to 1 TB capacity. Sandisk also notes that it delivers USB 3.2 Gen 1 performance, and the starting launch price is $15.99. What a weasel worded sentence. "1 TB … $16". Of course, it's $110, and yes, I see the qualifiers here. Allegedly journalistic sites should cut out the marketing sleeze before publishing. "Starting at 64 GB for $15 and ranging up to 1 TB for $110" it's not hard to write.
- INTPenis 1y agoDoesn't stick out as much, no, but almost useless when a usb port is positioned above another usb port.
- mindcrash 1y agoThis is a successor to the USB 3.2 Ultra Fit (which is also available up to 1TB in size) - https://shop.sandisk.com/en-us/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-ultra-fit-usb-3-1?sku=SDCZ430-032G-G46 https://shop.sandisk.com/en-us/products/usb-flash-drives/san... Also note, which I accidentally found when messing with filesystems Samsung created a filesystem called F2FS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F2FS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F2FS) which apparently has been supported in the Linux kernel and GRUB for ages (2012 and 2019 respectively) and seemingly works great with any kind of flash storage (but mostly external flash storage, because why run F2FS if you can run BTRFS on your NVMe SSD :) ) Going to experiment with it a bit soon, because this IMO is a much nice format than thumb drives which stick out... yes you guessed it.