I’m after a 16GB one, something reasonably compact I can put on a keyring (so needs a suitable hole). Just for general use, so don’t need want to pay for the ultimate in speed, but don’t want something too slow. For reference the one I’ve just broken was an HP v260w which I liked the size of (though could clearly do with something a little more sturdy), like this:

Any suggestions for something good value, and/or suggestions of where to buy from?

It’s not what I’d call key ring sized so maybe not suitable, but I’ve got one of these and it’s very tough. Goes in my jersey pocket to/from work on the bike, weatherproof, childproof, the only fault is that it could be a bit smaller.

A bit too big for me I think, and I probably don’t need something quite that rugged – mine didn’t get abused all that much, but clearly was fairly flimsy (I suspect a bit of metal rather than all-plastic might have been enough to survive what I did to it). Thanks for the suggestion though.

I found a Kingston SE9 which looks great to put on a keyring, but lots of comments about it being really slow (I do at least need the capability to boot as a live-USB, as well as not wanting to wait for ages when transferring stuff) 🙁

i’d avoid THESE KINSGSTON ONES as we’ve had 3 or 4 DoA.

I use these but only for basic storage. Never found them to be slow but I don’t boot from them so can’t comment on its suitability for that.

Make sure it’s USB 3, (assuming your machine is usb 3…)

Not really noticed slowness on my Kingston SE9. I have usb3 ports but it is usb 2.

It looks great and is nice and solid (have snapped USB connectors off in the past) and it cost about £8.

I also have a Sandisk cruzer fit (the tiny one) which I leave in as a backup drive but I wish I had just bought an SD card as backup as it would have been completely flush. Although being able to leave an SD card in my laptop all the time is handy for those times at clients when you need to transfer files but have left your normal pendrive somewhere.

Novatech?

This?

I’ve been using one of these for years, no performance issues and the perfect form factor… They have a few options within the same design and top out at 32GB. Not the cheapest but baring in mind I’ve not lost, broken or changed it in over four years makes it pretty good value IMO.

Lacie USB Key