What is the point of U3?

Any other tech-related topics

Do you use the U3 capabilities of your drive?

Yes, all the time, it's cool.
2
7%
Yes, sometimes.
5
19%
No, never.
9
33%
No, can you tell me how to get rid of the damn thing.
2
7%
My drive doesn't have U3, but I'd like it to.
0
No votes
My drive doesn't have U3 and I have no interest in it whatsoever.
9
33%
 
Total votes: 27

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djoledj
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 10:47 am

Well....

#16 Post by djoledj »

I wouldn't say it's the best APP ever... :)

But it's a great one... ;)

Just kidin'

Be good....

LzBy1
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:03 pm
Location: USA

U3... working... maybe?

#17 Post by LzBy1 »

As for the usefulness of U3, the only real advantage there is to it is that it offers a "system partition" for the application files and prevents access to the drive storage without a password. That's where the usefulness stops. Pstart is a lot better at locating portable applications. If you like the idea of a starter that resembles U3 (for whatever reason) there is PortableApps.com Menu... it look and works almost the same without the password protection or eject functionality. The problem with that software either add programs using paf.exe installers or it automatically detects .exe files in the portableapps folder, this unfortunately includes the .exe's that aren't the application itself. U3's problem is... you can't add applications at all.

Another huge headache... not with U3 itself, but with SanDisk U3 drives is that some of the devices do not support vista. They are the only company that hasn't addressed this issue. According to them, they should release a patch (Note that this patch must be installed on the PC in order for the drive to work at all, not just U3) sometime in the 3rd or 4th quarter of this year. Very specific. I'm glad the guys down there at SanDisk are on top of things.jk

Anyway, the point of all of that was simply to say, before you go out and get an U3 device... consider:
1)you can only use U3 compatible applications
2)check your devices model number to see if its firmware is compatable with all OS's
3)check out other alternatives ("PortableApps.com Menu",Pstart)
4)Pstart is a lot better
5)although U3 is free the drives are, it could be cheaper to get a normal drive

User avatar
Local
Posts: 238
Joined: Fri Aug 03, 2007 3:48 am

#18 Post by Local »

In defence of u3.

People will buy this thing because people just like being told what to do.

I mean most of us here have been messing around on the net or inside pc's and would like to know what's going on in there.

In general people just like to be told something though and take it as read.
"Windows Vista is the next generation of computing"
"U3 lets you run apps portably"
"Eating meat is bad for you?"

The main thing I don't understand is why all the these people who are too lazy to even bother finding out what a portable app is want to run their apps portably anyway?

I can only imagine that all of these people are going to be using is IE, MS office, Outlook and maybe media player.

Btw, I never liked Pstart =P
I'm stuck on Qsel.
Best launcher I've tried

LzBy1
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:03 pm
Location: USA

I agree

#19 Post by LzBy1 »

I agree with Local. The average consumer is easy influenced by marketing. That's what marketing is designed to do.

Unfortunately, these general consumers don't take the time to educate themselves on products before making an investment. This is why companies like Dell make so much money, they have people call in saying that they need a computer just to run word on it and they end up purchasing a $2000 PC because Dell told them it would run slow if it didn't have 4 gigs of memory and a 15 year warranty.

This is the same reason why the majority of internet users use IE, because it came installed on their PC and they don't take them time to learn about other options. Most of them probably couldn't tell you what a web browser is despite the fact that they use it on a daily basis.

People buy what they are told to because it's easier. It's a lot easier to go down to BestBuy and buy a $60 SanDisk 2GB U3 drive (that won't work with Vista might I add) then to do the research. Consumers are under the impression that because it's expensive it must be good. At one time you could get a Kensington 4 gig flash drive on amazon for $12. Now tell me, which is the better deal?

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Zach Thibeau
Posts: 251
Joined: Tue Nov 28, 2006 3:26 pm
Contact:

#20 Post by Zach Thibeau »

U3 is being discontinued after next year

123456
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:54 pm

#21 Post by 123456 »

I kind of like the idea that U3 emulates a CD drive to enable autorun. I managed to hack it so PStart would autorun instead of U3.

Ingvarfa
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Jan 21, 2007 3:24 am

#22 Post by Ingvarfa »

First experience to usb flash was U3, i like it for when start it i have password simple.

I have now Portable apps and pstart, 2 launch, but no password to start it,
if i dropped my mail is open.

Now i search program that start usb white password.
no remorausbdisk, no truecrypt, comes white my crossair voyager.
only password to start drive.

So .... bad english but have use computer sine 1980 ....

JimB
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:27 am
Location: Belgium

#23 Post by JimB »

Well I paid for U3 so I'm gonna use it. I think P3 is not as cool as U3. I like the PW protected partition.

Maybe if there was an U3 like app that looked like U3 but in fact isn't and with a larger program list > 8 programs only visible for U3 that's not enough, I would use it.

And now that someomeone mentioned U3 will be discontinued I'm considering to move over to a U3 like app with the advantage of P3.

harrietjames
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2008 8:06 pm

#24 Post by harrietjames »

Hi Everyone,

The biggest advantage of U3 for me in that the U3 drive somehow gets past the needing admin access at work to use the usb port, but my other drives don't work. Then I can run my portable software.

moonmoon
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Aug 20, 2007 4:50 am
Location: Chillum,Maryland
Contact:

#25 Post by moonmoon »

well~ :?

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Ameri-CAIN
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:11 am
Location: Orange County, California

#26 Post by Ameri-CAIN »

U3 is pretty nice. If only someone could emulate a freeware program to do the same thing, without the cryptic app installation behavior! You can now run PStart from U3 and set PStart to auto launch when you run U3. So now I get the encryption capabilities of U3 with the convenience of making my non U3 apps (which is about 98%) available on drive insertion. Sure I could do a little work and configure encryption on my drive, and come up with a Virtual CDRom to launch PStart, but with U3 I don't have to. Its not about being told what to buy, Mr. "It doesn't even work on Vista". Talk about being told what to buy, and you are already using Vista. Its about what is easier to configure and use. My U3 configuration comes with the default apps, Challenger Encryption, (I've tried the portable version of Challenger and the U3 version but the U3 version just seems to run cleaner), and PStart for most of my portable apps. Is U3 used to sell San Disk drives? Yes. Is it the Anti Christ of Portable apps? Maybe, with its cryptic app installations and being a pain in the @$$ to find the application directory on the drive. But the biggest question is, is it easy to use? Yes, and that is the Bottom Line! As for the future of U3, the following is taken from wikipedia...

"Sandisk and Microsoft have recently announced a partnership to develop a new line of portable USB-based hardware. This series, currently unnamed, is expected to replace U3 by the end of 2008, making the U3 format obsolete."

There are a lot of portable app launchers that have good features, there just isn't one with all the good features.

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Fluffy
Posts: 457
Joined: Sat Apr 15, 2006 6:37 pm

#27 Post by Fluffy »

Ameri-CAIN wrote:"Sandisk and Microsoft have recently announced a partnership to develop a new line of portable USB-based hardware. This series, currently unnamed, is expected to replace U3 by the end of 2008, making the U3 format obsolete."
Let's hope that it's not Vista only, though I'm guessing it will tie into Vista pretty heavily.

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