The popularity of USB flash drives – also called thumb drives, pen drives, jumpdrives, USB keys – does not solely come from its convenient size and the amount of data it can store but also in its ease of use. It is very simple to operate and use a USB flash drive provided that the netbook you connect it to has all the installed drivers that support the device. However, if the computer does not have an existing driver, USB flash drive installer software is also very easy to install and operate.
It is supported by all the operating system like Windows, Mac OS X, UNIX, Linux etc and takes power from the USB port of the netbook itself and hence, there is no requirement for batteries.
As a netbook user you should carry a USB flash thumb drive with you, because small systems tend to feature hardware compromises, and a go-anywhere USB flash drive can compensate. You can keep it loaded with countless applications and the same saved preferences that you keep on your primary computer. Having applications in your pocket means that you can work from anywhere without a lot of annoying downloading and installation.
The types of USB flash drives currently on the market are numerous and have fallen radically in price, even as capacity on them has risen smartly. You may think that all USB flash thumb drives are the same and therefore buy the cheapest one from Ebay or a stall at your local computer market. They are cheap for a reason – it’s because they’re made from low quality parts and are much more likely to fail.
USB flash thumb drives are available in capacities of of 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. It is important to judge what capacity of the flash thumb drives you want. If you are going to use the flash drives for simple documents, spread sheets or PDF, then you can go for the 4 or 8 GB pen. However, if you want to save songs, pictures, videos etc, then you definitely require more capacity.
Due to the limitation of USB 2.0 transfer speed, capacities larger than 64GB won’t be useful in real life until the widespread implementation of USB 3.0 which is supposed to be 10 times faster than USB 2.0 and can upload and download simultaneously (USB 2.0 can only do one or the other).
Desirable Features in a Flash Thumb Drive
- Very light – so you take it with you at all times
- Thin drives – fat drives make it hard to plug into adjacent USB slots of netbook which are often very close together
- Durable body – plastic is much more likely to break if dropped, stepped or sat on
- Branded name for Reliability – avoid cheap no-name drives or drives given away at a conference
- Quick to mount and stop
- Activity light indication – useful to show when the drive is being written to and avoid pulling a USB drive out of a computer when it’s light is flashing because you might lose data
- Easy to format and enable encryption to protect your data
- Retractable USB connector that doesn’t need a cap – detachable cap are useless, sooner or later you will lose the cap
- Less scum-ware and needless applications
- Lanyard loop – If you like to hang your USB drive around your neck
- Rear bar to connect a lanyard or keychain
- Lanyard or Keychain attachment bar not too easily broken
Netbooks may be cheap, but USB flash thumb storage devices are even cheaper and are certainly worth the money as they can prevent data loss. How about checking out our list of flash thumb drives to get you started? You are sure to find one that suits you needs in terms of the design, capacity and price.
4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
Kingston DataTraveler I 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (DTI/4GB)
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Kingston DataTraveler 101 – 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive DT101C/4GB (Cyan)
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SanDisk Cruzer Micro 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ6-4096-A11)
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HP v100w 4 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (P-FD4GBHP100-EF)
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8GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
Kingston DataTraveler I – 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (DTI/8GB)
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Kingston DataTraveler 101 – 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Memory DT101C/8GB (Cyan)
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HP v100w 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (P-FD8GBHP100-EF)
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SanDisk Cruzer Micro 8GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
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Lexar JumpDrive TwistTurn 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (LJDTT8GBASBNA)
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Crucial Technology Gizmo 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (JDOD8GB-730)
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Patriot X-Porter Mini 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (PSF8GMUSB)
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Super Talent Pico-C 8 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive STU8GPCS (Silver)
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16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
Kingston DataTraveler I – 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (DTI/16GB)
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Kingston DataTraveler 101 – 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive DT101C/16GB (Cyan)
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SanDisk Cruzer 16 GB Cruzer USB 2.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ36-016G-A11)
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SanDisk Cruzer Micro 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ6-016G-A11)
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Corsair Flash Voyager 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive CMFUSB2.0-16GB
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32 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
Kingston DataTraveler I – 32 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (DTI/32GB)
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SanDisk Cruzer 32 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (SDCZ36-032G-A11)
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Corsair 32 GB Flash Voyager GTR USB 2.0 Flash Drive (CMFVYA32GBGT2)
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USB Flash Thumb Drives Video Review
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