It might seem like a silly question, but does anyone know of decent USB2 Memory Sticks/Memory cards which are proven to work with windows Vista's ReadyBoost feature.

• Q: What perf do you need on your device?
  A: 2.5MB/sec throughput for 4K random reads and 1.75MB/sec throughput for 512K random writes

• Q: My device says 12MB/sec (or 133x or something else) on the package but windows says that it isn't fast enough to use as a ReadyBoost device... why?
  A: Two possible reasons:
• The numbers measure sequential performance and we measure random. We've seen devices that have great sequential perf, but horrible random
• The performance isn't consistantly fast across the entire device. Some devices have 128M of lightning fast flash and the rest of the device is really slow. This is fine for some applications but not ReadyBoost.

Although many memory sticks datasheets specify rates that easily exceed this, some flash memory manufacturers have been shifty and only made the first 128MB of high speed flash, and the rest lower speed, which immediately rules out manufacturers like Transcend that pull a dodgy one on customers.

This thread is not for discussion of readyboost.

*Start* Discussion of Vista ReadyBoost technology **
Flash is faster than HD's in regards to access times - overall only for small amounts of data - aka 4KB blocks.
HD's are faster for large / sequential reads.
*End* Discussion of Vista ReadyBoost technology **


So has anyone tried USB2 Flash sticks with Vista readyboost?
Please post negative experiences also.

Haven't bought one yet!
My brand new little lappie has a slow 2.5" HD - approx 25MB/s sustained ....
I see can see the benefits of an instantaneous access time and 12MB/s sustained read flash card right there

Results of readyboost seem to be pretty variable in tests, dependent on memory and workload.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...2017821,00.asp - and some variable results from the drives, notably, that the OCZ Rally2 is NOT compatible - though a dual channel drive and faster than most single channel, it is very slow for a dual, probably reflecting poor latency and relying on dual channels rather than superior flash chips for overall throughput.

The Sony Microvault Tiny, IS compatible, unusual as the physically smaller units often tend to have inferior results. I'd say this is an excellent choice to tuck in usb port, just make sure you don't lose it, it's TINY!

Holy crap! Like most sony products, grossly overpriced