SanDisk ships first licensed Xbox 360 USB flash drive
By Darren Murph 
posted May 5th 2010 2:07PM
posted May 5th 2010 2:07PM
SanDisk Ships Licensed Xbox 360 USB Flash Drive
Pre-configured USB Drive Delivers Best Experience On Xbox 360 Console
MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), the global leader in flash memory cards, today announced that it is shipping the Xbox 360® USB Flash Drive by SanDisk for the Microsoft Xbox 360 gaming and entertainment console. The new drive makes it easier than ever for gamers to take their gamertags, saved game progress, map packs, Arcade game downloads and bonus content with them for fast and convenient access on another Xbox 360 console†.
"The Xbox 360 USB Flash Drive by SanDisk provides a great solution for gamers who need portable storage for their Xbox 360 content. It's plug and play simple."
The Xbox 360 USB Flash Drive by SanDisk delivers the best experience on the Xbox 360 console. Pre-configured for seamless plug and play action, the drive eliminates the need to format storage or download an initial software update for an Xbox 360 console. For gamers looking to get in on the fun or for those with existing accounts who want to extend their play, a one-month Xbox LIVE Gold membership is included with purchase of the drive††.
"Xbox LIVE contains a world of content for gamers to explore and download, including full-length games, movies and music," said Shuki Nir, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Retail, SanDisk. "The Xbox 360 USB Flash Drive by SanDisk is specifically engineered to deliver a great user experience and maximum compatibility with the console, offering gamers greater freedom and flexibility in how they store, manage and enjoy their favorite files."
"SanDisk has a proven track record of creating high-quality storage solutions," said Ilan Spillinger, Vice President, Xbox Hardware and Technology, Microsoft. "The Xbox 360 USB Flash Drive by SanDisk provides a great solution for gamers who need portable storage for their Xbox 360 content. It's plug and play simple."
Pricing and Availability
The Xbox 360 USB Flash Drive by SanDisk is available now on SanDisk.com and at major retailers. The drive is available in 8 gigabyte (GB)1 and 16GB capacities, carrying suggested retail prices of $34.99 and $69.99, respectively.
@Addyct Fan. For awhile, a couple years now. Always been my favorite, will always be my favorite.
@BrokeNCYDE
huh, small world... My best friend is their Tour manager.
Look, a product that I don't need to purchase whatsoever.
I can only see this for people who don't already own a hard drive for the 360 or constantly moving between consoles.
I'm going to see some benchmarks before I even think about droping that kind of cash on a freaken USB stick. RedVsBlue did some tests of flash and hard drive based stuff on the 360 and the flashdrive's performance was horrible.
Well, let this Engadget article forever end the common complaint that Apple-branded devices are the "only" overpriced devices out there.
@DigDug If most Sony products weren't enough to stop the complaints this certainly won't be.
OH, THIS IS HORSESH!T.
I just tried to format a partition of the Lacie iamaKey that i keep on my key ring, and it wont let me use it because it "failed the data loss test"
It's a perfectly good 2.0 flash drive, why wouldnt they let me use it?
this is how they will get ignorant people to buy this overpriced piece of junk, by claiming that Flash drives they already own wont work for some stupid reason.
@Addyct
Or your flash drive is a POS.
@Vidikron
You're an idiot...
@Addyct
LOL.. wow! What I said was perfectly reasonable. But, hey, if you want to be an ass, FU too.
@Vidikron
You're right, apologies, I'm just a bit pissed right now because my perfect dream of being able to bring my LIVE data around with me everywhere is blown to smithereens.
but for the record, it is most certainly not a POS.
@Addyct
I'd be worried though about failing a "data loss" test. I don't know what the 360 does to actually test that, but I'd be hesitant to put anything important on there.
FWIW, I think the 360 must have some pretty strict standards. I put my Patriot USB flash drive in my 360 and it failed the speed test. It let me use the drive, but warned me that I might experience performance issues (i.e. don't install any games to this drive).
@Addyct That is probably because your USB drive probably doesn't perform fast enough. You see, this is the thing. People are bashing this by saying they can get a regular 16GB flash drive for pennies. If you actually look at the market, finding a USB flash drive that actually performs well is hard, and those ones are not cheap. The cheap flash drives are usually slow. Best bet is to find a flash drive that is Readyboost certified.
What happens with competition? M$ sends cease and desist letters to the competitors and then raises the price.
Product price fail.
What next, a Microsoft "authorized" 500GB pocket drive for $499.00? Actually, that might be too cheap since it appears the are charging roughly $4.50 per GB for these.
I'll take my P-Touch and make a cheapo XBOX 360 label on my DataTraveler USB key.
Wonder if SanDisk will start understanding what more competition means. They sure haven't grasped the idea so far.
They should at least license a halo head or some crazy thing to make it look cool.
So you think MS is behind the pricing on a Sandisk device. Really this price doesn't sense. 16 gig - $70 60gig hd - $99 250gig hd - $130. This is what it should be 250gig - $99 60gb - $40 16gb thumb - $35 (its solid state and portable) and the 8gb - $20. It's all about demand. We all realize we don't need to spend that much on a thumb drive.
This is laughable. Good job Microsoft, awesome job finally allowing the use of a technology that is a decade old and then try to pawn off a branded stick. what a joke.
God, this just pisses me off.
Great, get back at me when they support something higher then 16GB.
It will fit in the xbox port. I have 4 pendrives and none fit -- the faceplate blocks every one. I guess the official ones wont have that problem.
@lippenhoffer Huh? I have 2 USB flash drives connected just fine on the front USB ports of my 360. Buy a USB stick that is simply and slim, not some fancy fat ones.
waste of money too fuck xbox
Jesus, this looks (and most likely performs) exactly the same as the Cruzer Micro Skin I picked up for half the price. No thanks.