Like ice cream at Baskin Robbins, USB flash drives come in an endless array of flavors these days. And while the package it’s wrapped in is important from a comfort, convenience and fashion standpoint, there are some other factors that should be swaying your purchasing decisions.
Consumers snatch up some 150 million flash drives every year and there’s no end in sight to flash fever. No two are the same so you really need to know what’s under the hood if you want to make a smart buy.
Storage
As anyone knows in the computer industry, storage is everything. Sure, you can spring for a 1 gig drive for under $10 these days, but is that really enough space long term? The idea is to have a single flash drive that stores everything you need, not a dozen drives with a bit on each. Photos, music, video and even Word files can really suck a drive’s space dry pretty quickly. So buy as much as you can afford the first time.
Speed
Don’t bother with a USB drive that isn’t USB 2.0 compliant. The data exchange rate will frustrate you to no end. If you still have a computer that has first generation USB ports, 2.0 will still work fine. Another factor is the read/write speed of the data. Mysterious terms like “200 times faster” don’t mean anything. If speed is important to you, look for the speed in terms that are standards, such as megabytes per second (MB/sec).
Connection
There are endless options for this. You can get a Lanyard USB flash or one that fits on your key ring – the list is endless. Whatever you choose, be sure that the cap has a good fit, since you don’t want to lose your data while you’re out and about. Nothing’s worse than returning to the dorm, office or home, only to find that your drive got lost in transit, along with all your critical documents, passwords, etc. Invest in a quality piece that keeps the USB flash drive, safe and secure and the port dry and dust free and you’ll never be sorry.