The page announcing the portableapps.com companion USB https://portableapps.com/news/2011-12-08_-_portableapps.com_companion_wo... states the following read/write values:
USB 3.0: up to 85 MB/s read and 44 MB/s write
USB 2.0: up to 37 MB/s read and 28 MB/s write
That looks like a great USB, and may be one of the best out there. Combined with all its other features and the support portableapps.com aspect, it is almost worth its price. But the read/write speeds on the CustomUSB store at http://store.customusb.com/shop/portableapps-com-companion-usb-flash-dri... lists different values:
Tested 3.0 Port: up to 85 MB/s read and 21 MB/s write
Tested 2.0 Port: up to 37 MB/s read and 11 MB/s write
These write speeds are considerably lower, and are not nearly as good as those advertised in the announcement forum. They are also not top-notch, and not worth the price.
Which numbers are correct? Did some hardware get changed in this batch which drastically lowered the write speed? That doesn't really make any sense. Is this a mistake? Which numbers are correct?
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We were unable to continue to source SLC chips due to the small quantities of our part orders, so we were forced to switch to MLC chips. As a result, we cut the price of the drives in half. You'll note that the drives in the announcement were $39.95 for the 8GB one with the faster write speeds. It's now $19.95 for the same drive, still with the laser etching, gift tin, lifetime warranty, etc. Also note that these are real, measured speeds. Not 'advertised' speeds, which are usually fake.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
In that case, I'll stick with my old 16 GB OCZ Rally 2 for now. When I do get USB 3.0 ports, I'll probably buy a better USB somewhere else. I will miss some of the features offered here, but truthfully the write speed is much more important than that last gigabyte.
I will be careful to check benchmarked numbers rather than advertised numbers for comparison, though.
Thanks!
There are lots of different drives out there. We'll never be able to compete on the deals available on retail drives online if you watch deal sites where you can buy a 32GB USB3 drive for $23 (though that drive will be plastic, not have a lifetime warranty, have simple plastic packaging, etc). The OCZ Rally 2 is a decent drive with about the same write speed on a USB2 port as the Companion (though it will be quite a bit slower than the companion on a USB3 port to write and much slower to read on both). Our goal with the Companion was to have a relatively inexpensive USB3 drive with some high-end features (really nice gift/storage tin, lifetime warranty, solid metal case, personalized at no additional cost, etc) that would let users show their support for PortableApps.com.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Argh. I also just noticed that the drive speeds listed on CustomUSB's page aren't correct. I get 17MB/s writes on USB2 on my old desktop, alone. I'll have them sorted today.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Its good to know the 2nd batch of drives are not as bad as advertised there now.
Ok, we've gotten it sorted and have the correct speeds. The page should be finalized shortly. The benchmarked speeds of the new drive are as follows:
Tested 3.0 Port: up to 85 MB/s read and 24 MB/s write
Tested 2.0 Port: up to 37 MB/s read and 17 MB/s write
UPDATE: They've been fixed on the site.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!