this post was submitted on 15 May 2024
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Yes, they are cheap, but they wear out so fast that they aren't even worth that little money you put into them.
Yes, flash memory has limited writes, but what are you doing with your USB drives that they fail? I have at least one from 2005 that still works fine.
The only pendrive that lasted longer than 2 years for me is a 1gb lexar pendrive that is so old that I don't remember where it comes from, but from google I know that they were sold between 2006-12. I use them for installers, and sometimes to give legally obtained movies to my dad. I might be unlucky, but I had a pendrive that only lasted 2 writes.
They wear out if you write data on them, reading doesnt matter. if you just need them for install, you just write once and you can install the same arch on millions of computers
The key to make those cheap drives last a bit longer is by keeping as much free space as possible. For extra shitty drives, just leave half of its space alone (though they might die on their own no matter what you do).
It's true that you're often playing the lottery with them, that's why I just buy a few at a time. Like right now in the US, you can buy 16GB USBs for $4. The last three I've bought have lasted over 5 years each, thankfully. But I've had ones that have been bad right out of the package. That's why I just buy from places that have at least 30-day return policies.