SnapperTalk

The USB key, flash drive, or thumbdrive as they are sometimes called, has become one of the most ubiquitous gadgets around. No wonder – it’s versatility enables it to be used for sharing files between virtually any computer on any operating system, backing up files, transferring photos, running applications directly from the disk, booting whole operating systems… the list is endless.
With so many different models out there, manufacturers try to differentiate their product from the next by having features such as: rugged enclosures, built-in MP3 players, fingerprint recognition, capacities up to 8GB, and extra-high-speed chip memory. Most these days utilise USB 2.0, but even so there are big speed differences between them, with the best equalling that of USB 2.0 hard drives. Two recent reviews compare the different high-speed models out there….

Ars Technica USB 2.0 Flash drive roundup
Tom’s Hardware high-speed USB Flash drive comparison

There’s also an older more general review of flash drives in this c|net article