OCZ RALLY2 Flash Drives

[HoppaLong]

About two years ago I purchased four Rally2 sticks. They're fast

and reliable. I have a workshop, so I built a case that could hold

up to eight Rally2's, with a slot for each removable cap. I haven't

lost any, but I know that keeps a lot of folks from buying an OCZ

drive.

A couple of days ago I decided to buy two 16GB Rally2's. The 2008

price was around $34.00. When a new product is marketed, the

msrp (manufacturers suggested retail price) is always high. The

price usually declines rapidly over the following months or years.

Not so with the Rally2! The average price has doubled. The lowest

price I could find was $52.99 from Buy.com. I really don't like these

guys. eBay has listings much higher, which is strange since eBay

prices are usually lower than online retailers that have to pay big

bucks to maintain their massive websites.

I'm assuming that OCZ uses a chip foundry in China to make the

innards of their flash drives. The dual channel architecture is unique

to this device. Maybe the supply cannot keep up with demand.

That would explain the big price jump.

Why don't I just buy another brand? In my business, I never know

what version of Windows I'll need. I've got four versions of Windows,

(including 98) and two Linux distros on my home and office computers.

The OCZ drivers, (which are needed for 98) work perfectly. SanDisk

also has 98 drivers, but I don't like the idea of installing another set

of flash drivers. That's why I want to stay with OCZ.

This is the first time I've seen two year old computer hardware double

in price. Is there a logical explanation?

[puntoMX]

At that time, 2 years back, you bought them for cheap indeed, almost for the cost price if not less. Memory makers had HUGE overstock in any kind of memories so they had to push the stock for low prices.

About 9 months ago, things changed as stock was almost getting out, and it was time for them to set the prices at normal costs, thus selling them for the prices you see now. In general, you pay 80 to 100% over the price it would cost 1 year ago.

[re8]

At that time, 2 years back, you bought them for cheap indeed, almost for the cost price if not less. Memory makers had HUGE overstock in any kind of memories so they had to push the stock for low prices...

That, plus memory manufactures are always looking for ways to raise prices (as do everyone else). I remember reading (maybe on Tom's Hardware) that when supply is wonky sometimes memory manufactures will produce at a loss since it was cheaper than spend the $1million to dismantle the factory.

Also, sometimes you'll see deep crazy sales at the start of a new product line; I remember when the i3 & i5 laptops came out in January, there were some crazy low prices at sales & decent prices overall. They may be testing the waters or just trying to help make those CPUs popular. Then in March-April prices crept up. There were still good sales, but only every two weeks or so.

An Intel X25-M might be a good choice for SSD also: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-flash-trim,2593-12.html