Buffalo Turbo Charges Flash Drives for Last Time Before USB 3.0

Buffalo hasn't given up in the race for the fastest flash drive. This time around, their UK division released a new line of Super High Speed thumbdrive - designated Type-R - that offers actual performance of up to 38MB/s. It however still takes 7 minutes to fill up the top-of-the-line 16GB drive. Even the Compact Retractable (Type-S) can hit 24MB/s, thanks to Turbo USB, which reportedly improves read speed by up to 22%. The quality of the SLC and the USB controller must also taken into account as well, but you are paying 170 pounds for a speedy 16GB drive that is only a few more MB/s faster than the much more affordable alternatives. We'll put our money on USB 3.0 instead.

• Super High Speed (Type-R) 1GB RUF2-R1GS-S £20.40
• Super High Speed (Type-R) 2GB RUF2-R2GS-S £28.10
• Super High Speed (Type-R) 4GB RUF2-R4GS-S £46.80
• Super High Speed (Type-R) 8GB RUF2-R8GS-S £85.10
• Super High Speed (Type-R) 16GB RUF2-R16GS-S £170.20

• High Speed (Type-S) 1GB RUF2-S1GS-WH £12.30
• High Speed (Type-S) 2GB RUF2-S2GS-WH £21.30
• High Speed (Type-S) 4GB RUF2-S4GS-WH £40.80

• Compact Retractable (Type-J) 1GB RUF2-J1GS-BK £6.00
• Compact Retractable (Type-J) 2GB RUF2-J2GS-BK £8.50
• Compact Retractable (Type-J) 4GB RUF2-J4GS-BK £13.60
• Compact Retractable (Type-J) 8GB RUF2-J8GS-BK £25.50