Neo-N
Herald
I wanted to buy a new 8Gb drive (I do that all the time
). Wanted it to be small, good looking and have good speeds.
After looking at quiet a few models, I narrowed down on the HP v220W 8GB drive as I have personally used a friends v220W and liked the form factor.
It was tiny, made of metal and had write speeds of 4MB/s (fairly decent). Came with a 2 year Warranty and it was available on Flipkart for 394/- Shipped.
Then I came across the PNY M1 Attache 8GB. It had the exact same design as the v220W, metal casing and write speed of 8MB/s.
Plus, it was available on Flipkart for 330/- Shipped. Only thing was that it came with a 1 year warranty (according to flipkart).
As PNY is not a very well known brand in India for Pendrives, I decided to do some research.
And the results shocked me!
1) All the HP drives being sold in India are manufactured by PNY. PNY is the OEM supplier to HP. HP has stated the same on it's website. Hence the similarity in designs.
2) PNY pendrives carry a 5 year Warranty that is handled directly by PNY India. I confirmed this with their Facebook representative. He went so far as to tell me that they would not even need a proof of purchase for RMA!!
3) PNY drives have higher write speeds than their HP counterparts. So, while the HP v220W gives 4MB/s, the PNY M1 Attache offers 8MB/s.
4) Almost all of PNY models are priced cheaper than their HP counterparts despite being technologically superior and having more warranty.
If I were to compare the PNY M1 Attache and the HP v220W against each other, I would say:
1) The HP comes with a glossy metal casing (fingerprint magnet). The PNY had a matte finish (no fingerprints).
2) As previously mentioned, the read speeds of the HP are ~ 4MB/s whereas the PNY gave me 7.93MB/s on CDM3.
3) Warranty! HP has 2 years whereas PNY has 5 years.
4) And obviously, the PNY drive is 64/- rupees cheaper than the HP drive!
The reason why I took all the trouble of typing this out is so that TE members may make a better informed choice when deciding to buy HP drives (as I see that the HP drives are gaining popularity these days!). I have seen many TE members recommending HP drives to fellow TEians and while HP is no doubt a good choice, the above facts definitely make PNY a wiser bet!
PNY is a very well known and popular brand in the US. And though it has not really clicked in the Indian market, I am sure that it'll be doing well in the near future.
As for me, I am enjoying the new drive...
After looking at quiet a few models, I narrowed down on the HP v220W 8GB drive as I have personally used a friends v220W and liked the form factor.
It was tiny, made of metal and had write speeds of 4MB/s (fairly decent). Came with a 2 year Warranty and it was available on Flipkart for 394/- Shipped.
Then I came across the PNY M1 Attache 8GB. It had the exact same design as the v220W, metal casing and write speed of 8MB/s.
Plus, it was available on Flipkart for 330/- Shipped. Only thing was that it came with a 1 year warranty (according to flipkart).
As PNY is not a very well known brand in India for Pendrives, I decided to do some research.
And the results shocked me!
1) All the HP drives being sold in India are manufactured by PNY. PNY is the OEM supplier to HP. HP has stated the same on it's website. Hence the similarity in designs.
2) PNY pendrives carry a 5 year Warranty that is handled directly by PNY India. I confirmed this with their Facebook representative. He went so far as to tell me that they would not even need a proof of purchase for RMA!!
3) PNY drives have higher write speeds than their HP counterparts. So, while the HP v220W gives 4MB/s, the PNY M1 Attache offers 8MB/s.
4) Almost all of PNY models are priced cheaper than their HP counterparts despite being technologically superior and having more warranty.
If I were to compare the PNY M1 Attache and the HP v220W against each other, I would say:
1) The HP comes with a glossy metal casing (fingerprint magnet). The PNY had a matte finish (no fingerprints).
2) As previously mentioned, the read speeds of the HP are ~ 4MB/s whereas the PNY gave me 7.93MB/s on CDM3.
3) Warranty! HP has 2 years whereas PNY has 5 years.
4) And obviously, the PNY drive is 64/- rupees cheaper than the HP drive!
The reason why I took all the trouble of typing this out is so that TE members may make a better informed choice when deciding to buy HP drives (as I see that the HP drives are gaining popularity these days!). I have seen many TE members recommending HP drives to fellow TEians and while HP is no doubt a good choice, the above facts definitely make PNY a wiser bet!
PNY is a very well known and popular brand in the US. And though it has not really clicked in the Indian market, I am sure that it'll be doing well in the near future.
As for me, I am enjoying the new drive...
