Flash Drive Speed vs Size

Hi, Christmas is coming up, and i'm getting the treat of a new flash drive.
Now, I've been using a 2GB PNY Attache, works nice, sometimes I got apps that I put on my iPod 80GB

Ok, now, I don't always carry my iPod cord with me, and it does get filled (no not THAT much music, I do movies, cause I like watching Christmas Vacation on my 1 hour school bus ride) and, well I'm running out of space on the 2GB, I like to maintain enough space considering I go to a trade school, and i'm part of Information Technology.
Anyway, I've searched, no help, I don't think I NEED a 16GB flash drive nor do I really want it, my family's not made of money, and I need a Backup drive, so that leads me to the fact - No suggesting of Portable USB Hard Drives, too much money, I like flash drives cause they're small etc. etc.
So really i'm just wondering though, does the size of the drive affect it's read/write speeds, no websites have ever really told me, cause they never compare on level platforms. And Can anyone suggest a nice 4GB or 8GB flash drive, that lasts, and preferably has a hole or something I can use to hook it on a lanyard type thing.

Thanks in advanced.

(in unrelated questions, what happened to Chris's portable apps launcher?)