ADATA Superior Series 16GB S102 USB 3.0 Flash Drive (Titanium Gray) Model AS102-16G-RGY ADATA Superior Series 16GB S102 USB 3.0 Flash Drive (Titanium Gray) Model AS102-16G-RGY

Pros: Rugged, high-quality construction

Durable materials

Cons: Really, there were none.

Other Thoughts: I was going to skip writing this review because there are so many others that speak highly of this drive, but some of the lower ratings left the reader with an erroneous impression that I thought, to be fair to the product and not allow it to get trashed by those lacking knowledge, that I go ahead and post this.

Let me start with this concept:

ALL Solid State Drives (SSDs) - regardless if they are flash drives or hard drive substitutes - have a short-term (about 1 - 2 years depending on usage), limited lifetime, and die without any warning whatsoever.

It's critical that you never forget that.

The reason this happens is because all SSDs have a limited number of times the memory cells can charge and discharge. When it hits that number, it dies - immediately - without any warning to the user.

What it means to you is that:

1) You are not going to find any SSD device that you should expect more than 1 year of life. If you get more - good for you! But 1-year is the typical time it takes for an SSD to die.

2) NEVER use an SSD for critical data storage unless

A) you are running a once, or twice, a day backup on that data (if you are running a boiler room with lots of data, you will need hourly or even mirroring); or

B) you are moving data from one point to another and a copy of that data exists somewhere else too so you can re-copy it if your SSD fails, before, or during, transfer.

3) NEVER use an SSD for long-term storage. Use a DVD for generational storage (over 20-years), or a conventional HDD for middle term (3 - 5 years) storage.

4) Don't buy way more capacity than you really need. If you are constantly charging/discharging one area of the drive with data, and the rest is not used, the cycles will pile up on that area, and while the rest of the drive is perfectly good, that area will crash the drive.

You want to spread your data out across the SSD so there is a "balanced" utilization of the cells.

5) NEVER defrag your SSD. These devices run so quickly (speed of light!) that defraging them does nothing but eat up the limited number of charges available on the drive and shorten its life.

6) If you count on your flash drive SSD for your job (IT tech, data transfer, program installations, etc.) ALWAYS have two SSDs, synched up with each other. This is a corollary to number 7, which is,

7) Alternate usage of your two flash drive SSDs daily. Again, this is to keep from piling up charge cycles on one of them.

8) Don't leave the flash drive plugged in if you aren't using it. Your system will access it regularly and waste charge cycles.

With all that as a foundation, I'd like to suggest that the most likely cause of early failure was caused by very rough treatment of the drive, or it was left in the USB port when not being used - thus shortening its life significantly.

That is not to say there are not junk drives out there - I've run across them myself. If you see a drive with three or fewer eggs, avoid

Pros: I have gotten quite a bit of use out of this drive, and it has served me well since I got it. This drive has gone through more wear and tear than most flash drives over the period of a year. It's been dropped more times than I can count, stepped on, and went through a washing machine AND a dryer 3 times. It still worked perfectly after all that, and only after a year of abuse did the outer case finally come off. The drive itself still works fine, and I use it as additional memory for my Wii U, since now that it's a circuit board with a USB port attached to it I want to use it in a place where it won't need to be unplugged.

Cons: The write speed isn't amazing, but for a $25 3.0 flash drive that I bought a year ago, I certainly can't complain. Well, I guess I just did. :P

Other Thoughts: This flash drive is not just incredibly durable on the outside but on the inside too, and this flash drive was well worth it's price.

Pros: Fast. Slim design.

Cons: Easy to loose cap. Like other users it worked for a year and died. Customer service made me troubleshoot and fill out a form. Never heard from them. Just threw it out and bought another brand.

Other Thoughts: Had good experience with Patriot Xporter and CORSAIR Flash Voyager.

Pros: This is a very good product.

Cons: This is the only one I have ever used, so can't compare to others.

Pros: Good Price

Cons: Have none - yet

Pros: Fast data transfer rate, durable aluminum enclosure, affordable, lanyard/key-chain attachment, and a protective cap.

This little drive can take one hell of a beating.

Cons: The protective cap has a tendency to get lost. If you attach a lanyard to the thumb drive you are then not able to place the cap on the other end for safe storage. Although I still manage to find the cap eventually. Also, there is no activity light.

Other Thoughts: I have had this thumb drive for over 2 years now. I have taken it many places. I have even put it through the washing machine accidentally and it still works as well as it did when I first bought it. Also, it still looks brand new.

Pros: When it worked it was fast I believe. Never benchmarked it or anything. Nice having 16GB, well 14.7GB, well 13.4GB after it was formatted -_-

Cons: Like another reviewer said, it worked for about a year, then... I used it in my car connected to the stereo, out of direct sunlight, and if the temp was a little on the warm side the thing would stop working or being recognized. Once the weather cooled it stopped doing that so often but then recently the stereo wouldn't read it at all, kept saying NA device. I took it to the computer and it says it's not formatted and needs to be. So suddenly after only a year the drive wipes itself and I lose everything on it. Lucky I have back ups.

Other Thoughts: None of my other drives gave me any problems doing the same job I used this for, even in the heat. I have an ~ 8 year old 8GB sandisk cruzer that performed the same function until I got the adata and has since been used about every other day for video transfer and watching and such and has never given me issues to this day, "they just don't make em like they used to".

Pros: Used it with no complaints.

Cons: None. Would like attached cap but not worth an egg off.

Pros: This is one of the fastest flash drives I own, it's very reliable, and feels solid.

Cons: It does have a cap that can be difficult to keep track of sometimes.

Other Thoughts: I bought it when USB 3.0 was somewhat new and so I paid a little more than it probably is now, it's still worth it.

Pros: Worked for 1 year

Cons: Worker for 1 year

Other Thoughts: Not happy with the product.