What Makes USB Flash Drives so Attractive to Users?

USB flash drives vs. other storage

Flash memory is revolutionary technology of external storage.

The technology is much more sophisticated than the one of floppy disks, Zip disks, miniCD, miniDVD, CD-R/CD-RW and DVD-RW discs. Besides, these means of storage can be easily damaged by dust, physical impact or magnetic fields. All of the above have a much smaller storage capacity than the USB flash drives. Of course in the up-to-4Gb storage category, the USB flash drive can be replaced by CD and DVD discs, but the point is that they are very fragile. The Double-sided DVDs can store up to 8Gb which is very convenient, but they still are more fragile than a USB drive.

To write the data the flash memory technology sends an electronic signal to the memory circuit. Still, it is very easy to use and it is safer for data preserving than the other means of storage. It is enough to simply drag and drop files to the USB flash drives.

Another great advantages of USB drives are provided password security or data encryption. Both serve to protect your data.

Some of up-to-date USB drives are provided with U3 capability. This means the user can load and run some compatible software directly from the drive. In this case, your data is not written on the host PC, and once the the USB flash drive is unplugged the data remains only on the drive. However, you should optimize the software to use U3 capacity.

If U3 capability is not needed, reconfigure the drive or uninstall the U3 function.

All USB flash drives are connected to USB ports. If you have a USB 2.0 port on your PC, you have a transfer speeds of about 30Mbps. If it's USB 1.1 port speeds will be much slower.

Best USB Flash Drive Standards

1. Some of the commonly used USB flash drives are:

Corsair Flash Voyager ( capacity: 512Mb, 1Gb , 2Gb, 4Gb and 8Gb);

Cruzer Mini (works with Windows and Mac computers, and doesn't need any drivers).

SanDisk USB drives (256Mb, 512Mb, 1Gb, 2Gb and 4Gb), comes with Data Security software only for Windows.

Kingston DataTraveler series (used with PC and Mac computers). A innovation is the Kingston

Traveler II series (includes security software, capacity: 256Mb, 512Mb, 1Gb and 2Gb).

PNY Attaché (capacity: 256Mb, 512Mb, 1Gb, 2Gb and 4Gb). The drive is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac OS.

Transcend JetFlash 110 (capacity: from 128Mb to 4Gb), has a retractable USB connector.

Lexar JumpDrive Mercury (capacity: 1Gb, 2Gb ), has an external storage meter that shows the free space on the drive. The Lexar JumpDrive Secure II (capacity: 1Gb, 2Gb), used with both Windows XP and Apple OS X.

2. There are also USB flash drives with fingerprint readers:

SanDisk Cruzer Profile, (capacity: 512Mb and 1Gb), works with Windows, Mac and Linux systems. The fingerprint reader is attached to the USB key with a small cable. The two halves are connected by the cable, and if the cable is damaged or severed, the data is lost.

The Lexar JumpDrive TouchGuard (capacity: 256Mb). The fingerprint reader is built on top of the drive itself. A flap protects the fingerprint reader when it is not used.

The Kanguru Bio Drive (capacity: 1Gb), works only with Windows. The biometric reader is built on the body of the drive.

3. Here are some of the most appreciated U3 USB flash drives:

SanDisk Cruzer Titanium (capacity: 1Gb, 2Gb), is appreciated for its durability and its U3, anti-virus softwares. The SanDisk Cruzer Micro series (capacity: from 512Mb to 4Gb) does not have the crush-resistant casing.

U3-capable Kingston DataTraveler Elite (capacity: 512Mb, 1Gb), works with a security software.
Memorex U3 Smart Mini TravelDrive (capacity: 256Mb, 512Mb, 1Gb and 2Gb). Is equipped with an aluminum chassis, lanyard hole, LED status light and a grip pad. Memorex plans a TravelDrive Mega with a capacity of 6Gb and 8Gb.

Verbatim Store 'n' Go U3 Smart Drive (capacity: 1Gb, 2Gb and 4Gb). It includes several U3 software utilities and a launchpad for controlling them.

Todays market of USB flash drives offers a wide range of devices to fit all tastes. Tomorrow market of USB flash drives promises to increase the capacity of storage and to add utilities. This means that users with various requirements will get additional options for their data storage. The fact is that we are among the users and we are the lucky ones!