Sony ups Micro Vault "Midi" storage to 8GB

Sony's boosting the storage capacity of its Micro Vault flash drives (again), with the USB sticks now reaching the magic 8GB mark -- territory previously reserved for Sony's larger, squarer Micro Vault Pro drives. Other than doubling up on gigabytes, the new drive remains the same as previous Micro Vault drives, featuring a retractable USB connector and Sony's pre-installed Virtual Expander software (Windows only), which promises to triple the storage capacity by compressing files that are transferred to the drive. No word yet on how much the voluminous new drive will cost, though it should be on store shelves sometime next month -- with 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, and 4GB models still available for the less demanding among us.

[Via Photography Blog]

[nerdtalker @ Oct 20th 2006 11:41PM]

Any details on transfer read/write speeds? I'll stick with my OCZ and Corsair stuff.

As much as the space is capacious, 2 GB and 4 GB is enough for me.

[tiuk @ Oct 20th 2006 11:53PM]

Retractable connector is pretty cool, don't think I've seen that on a flash drive before.

[DaKine @ Oct 21st 2006 12:01AM]

The SanDisk Cruzer Titanium has a retractable USB port.

[Rob @ Oct 21st 2006 12:02AM]

#2 ever heard of a little company called Sandisk? They make the Cruzer flashdrives and specifically the micro and titanium versions both have this feature and are a little smaller and cheaper but do not come in 8 gigs... yet.

[Chris @ Oct 21st 2006 10:05AM]

True. I like Those.

[SpoonDogSVT @ Oct 21st 2006 12:02AM]

If I remember correctly, the retractable USB connector was done on the Sandisk Cruzers first - first their Titanium line, then the rest of the models.

[lol @ Oct 21st 2006 2:11AM]

sony sucks.

[Danger Shark @ Oct 21st 2006 4:28AM]

I hate Sony, like, I really hate Sony, but I'll be damned if I'm not completely awed by this. As much as I hate to say it, bravo Sony, bravo. (I'll stick with my SanDisk though)

[tekdroid @ Oct 21st 2006 10:02AM]

it all comes down to bang-for-buck, doesn't it? So what is the bang for buck? I suspect very low. Why? It has the S logo on it.

But I guess those needing 8GB USB sticks aren't exactly in a position to demand reasonable prices; they can afford it.

[Mischa @ Oct 21st 2006 3:49PM]

Where does midi fit in to this one? Besides being able to store a boatload of songs on yer 8 gigs.

[nes @ Oct 21st 2006 5:27PM]

midi?

[James D. @ Oct 21st 2006 9:38PM]

The entry's title, "Sony ups Micro Vault Midi storage to 8GB"
I assume it was just a typo.

Also, that thing looks pretty hot for a humble flash drive, I kinda want one...

[Kevin @ Oct 21st 2006 10:44PM]

Wow... with the compression, that's more than my hard disk itself. (Yeah, this computer sucks.)

[TheGuyNextDoor @ Oct 22nd 2006 1:24PM]

Hmm. It's simple, looks quite stylish. Great capacity. Sticking points for me will be retail price (whatever that will be), and whether it can be put on a keychain.

Otherwise, nice one Sony.

[Finished Law School @ Oct 22nd 2006 7:47PM]

Does it include a root kit? Is it flammable?

[ML1986 @ Aug 9th 2007 3:02PM]

Love my 256 MB model tons! It's been through probably thousands of reformats and it still kicks donkey. (Gotta keep the content clean, y'know, or I would've said something else.)