When the Fire TV received support for external USB storage, Amazon designated a handful of drives as officially compatible with the Fire TV. One of those drives, the PNY Turbo USB 3.0 flash drive, which is my personal drive of choice, has just gone on sale at an all time low price. The 128GB drive is $29.99, the 64GB drive is $19.99, and the 32GB drive is $10.99. These are the lowest prices these drives have ever been. The PNY Turbo drives are a great balance of performance and value. While the Fire TV will work with a wide variety of drives, it nice to use one that’s been officially acknowledged by Amazon as being Fire TV compatible. You can use these drives to free up some of the Fire TV’s 8GB internal storage by moving large apps and games, if they support it, to the external drive, and you can even move Kodi’s data to them.
@AFTVnews
Thanks for sharing this deal! Also offered by Walmart & Bestbuy. I’ve been using a 16gb Sandisk usb 2.0 drive so looking for an upgrade. Reviews seem a bit average for 128gb. maybe 64gb and 32gb would be better to test&trial.
But I may just pass on this & go for a more reliable sandisk extreme usb 32gb flash drive when I find a good price. Will the sandisk extreme usb3.0 be a little faster across the firetv usb 2.0 port?
I am in the market for 4 drives for my AFTV’s but the fail reviews on this drives give me pause…
What size are u using AFTVN ?
Seems this one only makes sense for the 128gb drive (cost vs. risk vs. Size) ($30).
For the smaller ones it seems the SanDisk Ultra Fit’s are more reliable just for a few ($4) bucks more. The 64gb is at $23.99. The 32gb SanDisk Ultra Fit is @ $6.90 right now.
Any more feedback on this would be appreciated…
Actually the 32gb SanDisk Ultra Fit is $12 with free shipping. Might still be worth it for the peace of mind.
I have several 64GB versions of this PNY drive and haven’t had any issues. At the time, the 64GB was a better value, but I would get the 128GB now.
Welcome back, btw. I haven’t seen you comment in a while.
Thanks for the Welcome back. I definitely check your site multiple times a day. Thanks for all your great work.
From time to time I just stay quietly leaning on the back of the room. But I am definitely always here.
Also, the FTV’s are so great. That after cutting the cord last Sept. I’ve been watching a ton of content thru my FTV’s these last few months.
Can’t go wrong with a Kodi/Netflix/YouTube app setup.
Can anyone confirm of the Fire TV Stick recognizes USB storage if you plug it into its USB?
AFTVN confirmed it does not. But maybe it needs to be re-tested again since there has been a bunch of fw updates since he test it…
Good idea. I’ll give the Fire TV Stick’s USB port another go next week with the latest firmware to see if anything has changed.
There was another feature that was added to the TV, but not the Stick for some reason. I think it had to do with the new functionality of holding Home for the quick menu or something. Maybe the advanced Bluetooth pairing menu.
http://www.aftvnews.com/fire-tv-stick-will-not-accept-a-usb-keyboard-or-mouse/
At first glance that 128 GB seems like an amazing deal (might get one) but you can buy a 1 tb external for under 100 bucks so I’m not sure???
I wouldn’t use it for AFTV since I’ve got ultra extreme but this would be pretty good for time machine or PC backups.
USB Flash Drive = Built in official support for expanded storage & very easy to setup.
1TB External Drive = 3rd party apps or scripts to setup.
And a lot more expansive when you have multiple FTV’s..
Unless you’re talking about a 1TB SSD, I’m not sure that wouldn’t slow down the loading process.
I would NEVER EVER EVER BUY a PNY storage device.
I have owned two and they both failed miserably.
Have had zero issue with Samsung, Lexar, Toshiba, Kingston, Transcend, Sony or SanDisk.
Do not buy this PNY usb drive!
I had this usb drive(64GB) for about 7 months. Then it just died.
I didn’t eject it everytime I power off my Fire TV. Maybe it’s the reason I dont know.
I’ve had enough failed SanDisk MicroSDs over the years, I’d never buy one again. So far, my various Samsung and PNY things are still kicking.
Now that USB storage is supported officially, does it make use of the USB 3.0 speed? If so, what’s a good cheap USB 3.0 hub that someone’s used with their AFTV?
firetv only takes advantage of usb 2.0 speed of drive, so speed is limited to bus speed of usb flash drive. All drives may vary in speed across usb 2.0. I was wondering if sandisk usb 3.0 extreme vs ultra makes difference in bus speed. I’m assuming probably not much a difference across firetv’s usb 2.0.
A cheap 2.0 stick can be really bad. A cheap 3.0 stick can only be so bad. By getting a 3.0 stick, you’re pretty much ensuring the best possible performance of the 2.0 port. Or at least resonable performance. And they’re pretty cheap not. My 32GB was 12 USD.
Thanks. I passed on pny, and will probably pick up a sandisk 32gb or 64gb ultra from Bestbuy @$12.99 or $20+.
considering one of these:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-ultra-32gb-micro-usb-usb-3-0-flash-drive-black/3530864.p?id=1219586873516&skuId=3530864
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-ultra-64gb-usb-3-0-flash-drive-black/9211078.p?id=1219002583931&skuId=9211078
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/sandisk-ultra-dual-64gb-micro-usb-usb-3-0-type-a-flash-drive-black/7016092.p?id=1219667727604&skuId=7016092
This is the one I use:
http://www.frys.com/product/8395357
With this hub:
http://aluratek.com/usb-3-0-superspeed-hub-attached-cable-black
http://aluratek.com/usb-3-0-superspeed-hub-attached-cable-black I got this for 10 USD on sale at Fry’s.
It’s just incredible to me how cheap flash storage has become. I remember when 128 GB flash drives were being demoed by industry leaders and when they would eventually go on sale, were going to retail for several hundred dollars. Yes, I know, progression happens everywhere…
Really wish we could unlock the Fire TV Stick to use the USB port.
I understand the concern over the quality of these units. If you’re still in the market, Newegg has the Corsair 128GB on sale for $30 and free shipping through August 3. URL:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233566&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IGNEFL072815&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL072815&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL072815-_-EMC-072815-P-_-USBFlashDrives-_-20233566-S0O