[wlug] USB sticks - best brand?

Just wondering whether anyone has opinions about a 'good' brand of USB stick. Having a wee spell of trying to run live Linux from these. Someone reckoned Sandisk is where it's at. This seems to be an area where the consumer is not offered much useful information, or perhaps I just haven't found that info. These gadgets have some flash memory and a controller chip I believe and that's about it, but maybe some of these components are somehow superior to others? Any thoughts? Good and cheap, can I have both?