Custom USB Suppliers

[Peter Rush]

Hi all - I know there's been a few threads about delivery on USB and I'm thinking of providing it as an option so I'd like to know about any supplier recommendations (UK mainly) - I've just had a quote for £285 for 25 'wood effect' 16GB drives which seems pretty steep to me (drives only - no presentation boxes). I only want to get a small number to start with as I want to gauge client takeup.

Any recommendations?

[Chris Harding]

Hi Pete

I have been searching for ages too! In fact all I really wanted was a 16GB drive in white with the words "Our Wedding" on it. I would have thought that there would have been a neat market for them??

How about a screen printer that can print onto supplied USB's ...maybe that would be cheaper?? The best I could achieve so far was a transparent DYMO label on a white thumb drive but it still looks tacky!

I want to start using Warehouse Video Services DVD covers in the UK to present my DVD's and I see they also have cases with space for a USB too....Have you used their cases? They look quite smart on the website!!!

Chris

[Dave Partington]

Peter,

Have a chat with Carl Barton @ Impress Promotions in Leeds. 0113 282 6532. I think one of his web sites is UsbExperts ( welcome to visit ).

I met Carl at a business networking meeting (it would be great if you could mention I told you about him!) and he was a genuinely great guy who would be happy to guide you in the right direction if he's not the right one for you.

[Peter Rush]

For DVDs I use these Chris

Maple Framing Ltd Deluxe Black Bonded Leather CD-DVD Presentation Folios

They're less than £12 and The bride and groom get one of these, and then 2 more DVDs in plain white Amaray cases with a printed inner.

I would like to deliver HD on a USB drive in a presentation box however so now shopping around for a reasonably priced supplier. For some reason nearly all the sites I've looked at have no prices - you have to fill an online form and 'a member of our sales team will get back to you' - TBH I'm never a fan of talking to salespeople :/

I'd like to offer USB Drive/Presentation Case option but it needs to be at a reasonable price. It would be a package extra and not included in the package price as my prices about as low as I can go - the current prices can't really absorb this kind of extra.

I'm finding even fairly basic pen drive presentation boxes are at least £10 so the cost alone of the drive and case would be at least £22

Pete

[Chris Harding]

Hi Pete

I was looking at these ones which are a combo DVD and USB case and with these you could probably dispense with a custom printed USB as it sits with the DVD disks.

Prestigious Disc & USB Combination Cases - Presentation Disc Cases

However they are nearly 20 quid!! but they do look rather nice! I was considering using the cases much the same as these just under 10 quid to present to the bride rather than the el-cheapo plastic case and sleeve.

Chris

[Peter Rush]

Chris if you select 16gb (which i think should be enough for a HD wedding) it shoots up to £30 - I like the idea of combined DVD and USB but I think you'll be stuck with their USB drives.

Pete

[Chris Harding]

Hi Pete

The way I read the website is they supply just the case (but can also supply the USB and disks only IF you want them)

I was looking at just getting the case and then buy your 16GB thumb drives from anywhere you like.

I normally supply MP4 files on the USB at 1280x720 so it will still play on laptops etc etc and for me an 8GB seems to be more than enough.

I have used novelty ones like this below so the bride doesn't confuse it with her other drives

Verbatim 8GB My Movies Novelty USB2.0 Flash Drive | Officeworks thumb drive

Chris

[Peter Rush]

I like that one Chris - nice!

I think I'll go with plain white USB drive and a very simple box/tissue arrangement until I can see if clients want it before embarking on a large multiple purchase - test the water first.

Pete

[Peter Riding]

Several album suppliers offer this now including Sim Imaging:

USB cases - Sim Imaging

I'm sure you'll bear in mind that USB sticks do not have a great reputation for reliability compared to DVDs from the usual suspects and no amount of wishful thinking is going to alter that :- )

Pete

[Danny O'Neill]

Flashbay did our USB sticks. We went with 8GB to hold all their films. Don't forget, you will most likely have to format the drive for FAT32 so you can guarantee it will work in all devices. This then limits your file size to 4GB.

[Craig McKenna]

I've just purchased a USB box and USB stick - custom made in the States from photoflashdrive.com.

I was really impressed with their customer services, as well as the quality of the boxes.

I've printed six photos from their day and placed it inside the box, with the personalised USB stick beneath it - as per their design.

I bought the Beetle Kill box.

Here's an example:

http://photoflashdrive.com/images/he...Kill_boxes.jpg

[Chris Harding]

That's very neat Craig... they look very well made.

Funny, I have never had a thumb drive bomb out on me, either my personal ones or supplied ones. I guess I'm just lucky??

Has any genius yet discovered a way to have a pop up menu on the USB so it works like a DVD? At the moment I just intelligently name the clips and add forward zeros so they show up in order and act as a sorta menu like "0001BridalPrep.mp4" and "0002LimoArrival.mp4" etc etc

Chris

[Peter Rush]

Originally Posted by Danny O'Neill

Flashbay did our USB sticks. We went with 8GB to hold all their films. Don't forget, you will most likely have to format the drive for FAT32 so you can guarantee it will work in all devices. This then limits your file size to 4GB.

OK so basically USB drives are no good for delivering H.264 HD movies as only FAT32 is usable? My master HD wedding files are all over 10GB. Well one option would be to export chapters separately but then how can they play the movie end-to-end? Plus it's adding a whole bunch of time to my workflow which would up the price.

Pete

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by Peter Rush

OK so basically USB drives are no good for delivering H.264 HD movies as only FAT32 is usable? My master HD wedding files are all over 10GB. Well one option would be to export chapters separately but then how can they play the movie end-to-end? Plus it's adding a whole bunch of time to my workflow which would up the price.

Pete

Most modern computers, anything from XP with a service pack or later, Linux and Mac OS from Snow Leopard (I think) can read ExFAT which means you can quite happily put your 10GB films on there.

Just found this on the web at GoPro...

Windows XP after you install the Microsoft update
Windows Vista with Service Pack 1
Windows 7
Windows 8
Mac OS 10.6.5 (OS X Snow Leopard)
Mac OS 10.7 (OS X Lion)
Mac OS 10.8 (OS X Mountain Lion)
Mac OS 10.9 (Mavericks)

[Craig McKenna]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

That's very neat Craig... they look very well made.

Funny, I have never had a thumb drive bomb out on me, either my personal ones or supplied ones. I guess I'm just lucky??

Has any genius yet discovered a way to have a pop up menu on the USB so it works like a DVD? At the moment I just intelligently name the clips and add forward zeros so they show up in order and act as a sorta menu like "0001BridalPrep.mp4" and "0002LimoArrival.mp4" etc etc

Chris

Thanks Chris!

I'd definitely recommend them, and I've carried a separate box around in my backpack and been purposefully rough with it to see if the box holds up - and it has - although the bag is well padded.

I can add to never having a flash drive bomb on me - although I buy the Kingston aluminium ones - or any that are the best reviewed at the time of purchase. You can usually tell when they're going - slow read and write times - that's when it's time to swap - as we all know - but it's when other people just keep going with it... almost waiting for it to die, but doing nothing about it in the meantime - baffling.

I have seen the plastic ones come apart - but for the most part, I've also seen them be recovered by specialist firms. Often these plastic ones have been coming apart for weeks, but the owners are too clumsy with them, or are admittedly foolish because they don't back up their data.

I see USB use every day. In my career, we rely on the sharing of planning and other materials through USB drives. Especially if the server is playing up.

Given that I see the misuse of them, warn the people who do so and otherwise raise my eyebrows at them, it's safe to say that I've seen them be a lot more rough with them than a bride would ever be with her valued USB drive. Despite this, I still know it's not safe and have already warned my friend to back his up when I deliver it today.

Chris - I numbered mine the same! Haha