Travel Technology - Good deal: Kingston 1GB Flash drive; $10 with free ship or $0 with Google Checkout

http://www.buy.com/prod/kingston-1gb-data-traveler-usb-2-0-flash-drive/q/loc/101/202743517.html

If anyone gets one and would like to get me one too, the free ship offer isn't good to where I am (but I'd be happy to pay you the $1.00 that mailing First Class would likely cost).

You have PM.

This one was a steal! Thanks OP. Question for anyone interested, or "in-the-know", what's the cheapest I might be able to get a larger Flash Drive. I've been doing a bunch of pricing @ CC.com and BB.com, as well as COMPUSA (in case everyone doesn't know, COMPUSA is going out of business like right now, so get over there and get some good deals if you can), but I was more interested in wondering if anyone knows of any good deals for a Flash Drive in the 8 or 16 or larger GB range. Thanks!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820189033

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820189036

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134508

And a whole bunch of others at less than $10. But, ok, buy.com has free shipping. :)

Just for fun, I put one in the cart at newegg, and the cheapest shipping option to Hawaii (UPS Ground) was more than $14. FedEx 2-day was $16.xx. You folks on the mainland have the $3.99 or $4.99 FedEx 3-day option. I recently bought a cheap (at the time) 2G drive at newegg, but I was buying some other stuff at the same time, so the difference in shipping was minimal.

Anyway, there's no reason to limit your search to just BB, CC, etc.

-David

:( new GCO customers only.

Thanks! I just ordered the flashdrive. Not bad for $6.79 with Google checkout.^

The flash drive arrived promptly with Google checkout..thanks OP. I'm running Vista Home Premium but I can't get the USB to install the drive. It says a driver is needed ,although the Kingston site says no driver is needed. Any advice on how to install? Kingston 1GB USB DataTraveler DT1/GBKR. Thanks in advance. If it isn't Vista compatable I will send it to FT'er who can use it.

USB flash drives shouldn't need any special third party drivers. The drivers are included in the OS. At least on XP, the drivers are typically installed automatically. Did Vista bring up some sort of dialog for the driver install? If there's an "install the drivers automatically" option, use that. If it asks about using "readyboost" say "no".

-David

USB flash drives shouldn't need any special third party drivers. The drivers are included in the OS. At least on XP, the drivers are typically installed automatically. Did Vista bring up some sort of dialog for the driver install? If there's an "install the drivers automatically" option, use that. If it asks about using "readyboost" say "no".

-David
Vista says " driver for this device not installed"..they gave me choices either to search online, search my OS or download from Kingston's site ( which was of no help). I read about "readyboost" on other forums , but never even had the option to say "no". Is is possible it's not Vista compatible?

2GB flash drives are available at $13.95 all-in right now:

http://www.datamemorysystems.com/usb_flash1.asp

http://dealnews.com/memory/prices/USB-Pen-Drives/37/2GB.html

Is is possible it's not Vista compatible?

Kingston's web site says it's compatible with XP, 2000, win 98 (with available drivers). It didn't say anything about Vista, but these things all enumerate the same way on the USB bus, and should be usable with generic drivers. In other words, they should just show up as a generic USB disk drive to the OS. On the buy.com web site, one of the comments said he was using it with Vista.

I suppose anything is possible, but it doesn't seem very likely since ease of use is generally the most important thing with USB flash drives and the way to do that is to just make it look like a generic USB flash drive. They would really have to go out of their way to make it look different than anybody elses USB flash drive.

Do you have another system that you can try it on to see if it works? Can you try it on a friends system? It could be defective, I suppose. If you have another USB port, did you try it in the other port. This is silly, but are you sure you plugged it all the way into the slot? Have you tried other USB devices in the same slots on this computer?

-David

Kingston's web site says it's compatible with XP, 2000, win 98 (with available drivers). It didn't say anything about Vista, but these things all enumerate the same way on the USB bus, and should be usable with generic drivers. In other words, they should just show up as a generic USB disk drive to the OS. On the buy.com web site, one of the comments said he was using it with Vista.

I suppose anything is possible, but it doesn't seem very likely since ease of use is generally the most important thing with USB flash drives and the way to do that is to just make it look like a generic USB flash drive. They would really have to go out of their way to make it look different than anybody elses USB flash drive.

Do you have another system that you can try it on to see if it works? Can you try it on a friends system? It could be defective, I suppose. If you have another USB port, did you try it in the other port. This is silly, but are you sure you plugged it all the way into the slot? Have you tried other USB devices in the same slots on this computer?

-David

I am running Vista Home Primium on a new Gateway 17" MX8738
Gateway® MX8738 Notebook


MSRP: $890


Product Tour Specifications:
Operating System
• Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
Processor
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Mobile Processor T2080
1.73GHz | 1MB L2 Cache | 533MHz FSB
Display
17" Widescreen Ultrabright™ WXGA TFT (1440x900)
Chipset
Intel® 943GML Chipset
Memory
1024MB DDR2 Memory (2 x 512MB), 667MHz
Expandable to 2GB 2 DDR2 Slots (Total) | 0 DDR2 Slots (Available)
Video
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with
Up to 224MB of Shared Video Memory
Audio
High-definition 2-channel
Built-in speakers
Hard Drive
160GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Optical Drive
8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD+/-RW with DVD-RAM
Digital Media Reader
4-in-1 Memory Card Reader
Secure Digital™ (SD), Multi Media Card™
(MMC), Memory Stick™ (MS), Memory Stick™ Pro, XD
Communications/Networking
56k ITU v.92 ready Fax/Modem (RJ-11 port)
10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
802.11 g Wireless LAN
Interfaces
4 - USB 2.0 ports
1 - IEEE 1394 port
1 - VGA connector
1 - S-Video connector
1 - RJ-45 Ethernet port
1 - RJ-11 modem port
1 - Headphone/audio out
1 - Microphone
1 - Kensington lock slot
1 - AC adapter connector
Pointing Device
Synaptics Touchpad with Vertical Scroll
Expansion Slot
PCMCIA - Type I or Type II
Battery Type
6-Cell 2400 mAh Lithium Ion
Case Design
Standard System Design
Dimensions (System)
1.24 - 1.42" (H) x 16.06" (W) x 10.89" (D)
Weight
7.37 lbs.
Warranty
1 Year Parts and Labor Limited Warranty6

Software Included:


• Operating System

• Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium


• Productivity Software:
- Microsoft® Works 8.5
- Microsoft® Money 2006
- Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007
(60-day complimentary trial period)1
- Adobe® Reader®


• Digital Media Software:
- CyberLink® DVD Solutions with 2-Channel Audio
- Microsoft® Windows Media Player
- Microsoft® Digital Image Starter Edition 2006
(includes 60-day Digital Image Standard trial)1
- Napster Music Service (30-day trial)


• Connectivity/Utilities:
- Microsoft® Internet Explorer
- AOL (90-day Complimentary Subscription)2
- Google™ Toolbar search bar
- Google™ Desktop search tool
- Gateway®Connect™
- NetZero Internet Access3


• GatewayShield™ Comprehensive Security:
- McAfee® Internet Security Suite™
(90-day complimentary subscription)4
- BigFix® - helps identify and solve problems
- Kensington Lock Slot (cable lock sold separately)
- LoJack® for Laptops BIOS Persistence Agent Enabled


• Game Software:
- Gateway Games Powered by WildTangent®
(pre-installed with 10 demo games with 60-minutes
of game play)5

It might be defective and I tried all 4 USB ports. Oh well...I'll try it on a friend's computer as you suggested.

The flash drive arrived promptly with Google checkout..thanks OP. I'm running Vista Home Premium but I can't get the USB to install the drive. It says a driver is needed ,although the Kingston site says no driver is needed. Any advice on how to install? Kingston 1GB USB DataTraveler DT1/GBKR. Thanks in advance. If it isn't Vista compatable I will send it to FT'er who can use it.

Vista does this every now and then. You may need to flush the driver cache to get Vista's plug and play working as normal.

http://tim.mackey.ie/VistaDriverProblemsFormacUSBHardDrive.aspx

It's a nasty bug but I only ever saw it once...

Good catch Scott. That sounds like the problem.

-David

Good catch Scott. That sounds like the problem.

-David

Not so much a "catch" as a "it happened to me too" kind of thing. Everything I'd plug in would ask for a driver, even stuff that worked the day before. I still don't know what caused it, and it never happened again, but it sure was annoying.

Not so much a "catch" as a "it happened to me too" kind of thing. Everything I'd plug in would ask for a driver, even stuff that worked the day before. I still don't know what caused it, and it never happened again, but it sure was annoying.

It sure is a nasty bug...I wonder Vista if will have a hot fix or at least an upgrade to solve their USB driver issues. Thanks for the "fix" ScottC. It did really solve the problem albeit quite a hassle (at least both my Brother laser printer and HP Photosmart had Vista updates on their sites).

Just ordered mine - thanks for the link!

I use a Mac, and will report back if i have any issues.