# 4GB USB flash drive for $17 ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 2, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445 "2007-01-02T18:44:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/1 "2007-01-02T18:44:50Z")
I could have sworn that I saw a link to a 4GB USB flash drive for (I think) $17 somewhere last weekend, but I can’t find it now. Anybody familiar with this particular deal? I _thought_ it was a link on [digg.com](http://digg.com) or [reddit.com](http://reddit.com) , but I did searches and failed to come up with the link. It’s possible the link was removed because the sale is over, I suppose. My Google searches also were no help. ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/2 "2007-01-02T19:28:51Z")
It was probably on Digg. The sale is at Office Max. However, there seems to have been a bit of confusion. I definitely saw the 4Gb flash drive shown for $17, but later I saw the ad said it was the 1Gb drive not the 4Gb. I suspect someone screwed up & there are a whole lot of Digg-reading techies out there that either got the 4Gb at bargain price or will be upset when they get the 1Gb instead. (Office Max will probably stand behind the deal & take the hit on the cost.) ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/3 "2007-01-02T19:44:30Z")
Too bad if someone screwed up. That would have been a good deal. Nonetheless, I wanted to mention that I picked up a 2 gig USB drive for $20 at CompUSA the other day. This seems a good place to mention it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/4 "2007-01-02T22:15:17Z")
There are some scams around at the moment for cheap flash memory-based devices (including USB flash drives, MP3 and MP4 players) originating in China which have been hacked to report themselves as being 4GB in capacity, when in fact they are 1GB or less. It doesn’t actually sound like the OP’s case is one of these, but ebay is flooded with them at the moment, so it seems worth mentioning as a general caution. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/5 "2007-01-03T01:38:58Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] It was probably on Digg. The sale is at Office Max. However, there seems to have been a bit of confusion. I definitely saw the 4Gb flash drive shown for $17, but later I saw the ad said it was the 1Gb drive not the 4Gb. I suspect someone screwed up & there are a whole lot of Digg-reading techies out there that either got the 4Gb at bargain price or will be upset when they get the 1Gb instead. (Office Max will probably stand behind the deal & take the hit on the cost.) [/QUOTE] That was likely it, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/6 "2007-01-03T01:40:10Z")
[QUOTE=fishbicycle] Too bad if someone screwed up. That would have been a good deal. Nonetheless, I wanted to mention that I picked up a 2 gig USB drive for $20 at CompUSA the other day. This seems a good place to mention it. [/QUOTE] Cool, thanks. A coworker is looking for a USB flash drive, I’ll let him know about this one at CompUSA. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/7 "2007-01-03T03:03:57Z")
Microcenter had 2G on sale for $20 a couple weeks ago. I grabbed me a bunch. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/8 "2007-01-03T03:37:33Z")
Since the OP is answered, I am going to tack on another question here. Why has the price of flash memory fallen so drastically? I haven’t been charting, but it seems like all flash memory is 1/3-1/4 of the price that it was 6 months ago. ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/9 "2007-01-03T04:14:03Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Cool, thanks. A coworker is looking for a USB flash drive, I’ll let him know about this one at CompUSA. [/QUOTE] It looks like we got it on the last day of a sale. I was just going to give you the details on it. I went to the webpage, and it’s no longer $20 off, it’s back up to $39.99. I guess we lucked out! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/10 "2007-01-03T04:18:13Z")
No 4 gig units at 17 yet. Cheapest I've seen them anywhere (at retail) , even after rebates, is around 70 or so. It was likely a misprint or an error. Ifa 4 gig unit did pop up at $ 17 [this ste](http://www.resellerratings.com/) would have let me know. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2007, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/11 "2007-01-03T06:06:28Z")
[2GB USB Microdrive on Woot.com for $17.99 + $5 S/H](http://www.woot.com/) but won’t last that long, most likely. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/12 "2007-01-07T03:47:17Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] It was probably on Digg. The sale is at Office Max. However, there seems to have been a bit of confusion. I definitely saw the 4Gb flash drive shown for $17, but later I saw the ad said it was the 1Gb drive not the 4Gb. I suspect someone screwed up & there are a whole lot of Digg-reading techies out there that either got the 4Gb at bargain price or will be upset when they get the 1Gb instead. (Office Max will probably stand behind the deal & take the hit on the cost.) [/QUOTE] Turns out they are canceling the orders [http://www.digg.com/tech\_deals/Officemax\_4GB\_Flash\_Drive\_for\_17\_98\_OFFER\_CANCELLED](http://www.digg.com/tech_deals/Officemax_4GB_Flash_Drive_for_17_98_OFFER_CANCELLED) ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/13 "2007-01-07T03:52:27Z")
Too bad. I just got a 256 mg USB thingie for $15; it’s always nice to have more room (although the 256 is more than enough for all my text files). ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/4gb-usb-flash-drive-for-17/386445/14 "2007-01-07T04:02:29Z")
I figure the next one I get will be a 5Gb when the price hits about $20. That’ll be a convenient size to store a DVD image. Wouldn’t surprise me if that price point is reached this year sometime.