USB flash drives have evolved incredibly in the last few years. While the advent of online storage, the reduced cost of external drives may have lessened the need for flash drives, they still are indispensable. We will never forget how they have also completely revolutionized the way in which we approach data storage and use our computers. Not too many years ago the only reliable way of transferring data was by copying it onto a disk. Who does that anymore?! You were limited in how much data you could carry. Disks were bulky and unreliable and you were forced to rely on the operating system and software of the destination computer to get access to the data.
These days you can download huge amounts of data on to USB flash drives such as the Kingston Data Traveller. One can carry movies, whole music collections, photos and data. Another change is that you can now carry a whole suite of software with you such as Open office and the like. That means that whatever computer you find yourself sitting at, you can open all of your own applications and work on your own data. I’ve found that some of the best USB flash drives include the SanDisk Cruzer Micro. This is my favourite because it is relatively fast, really compact and so far in my experience it has been utterly reliable. I have a variety of these flash drives ranging from the 4 gig version all the way up to the 16GB version. They also come in much bigger sizes, but I’ve found that the 16gig one seems to offer the best ratio of storage space to price. I also like the fact that it has U3 software installed. This allows you to run a whole lot of applications including open office as well as ones such as password keepers. A lot of people do not like U3 and erase. Whichever camp you fall into, you have to agree that it offers a lot of people a lot of convenience.
My eye was however recently drawn to a newer drive. This is the huge Kingston Data Traveller 256 GB. I was just blown away by the storage space that this offers since it is more than most small hard drives. I know that I am always filling up my flash drives and wishing I had more space. If you are in a data intensive business you really can cram a whole lot of stuff onto one of these and keep it in a tiny pocket sized package. That, in my mind, makes it another of the best USB flash drives that you can get out there.
In a jam, sometime the best flash drive is simply the one you have at the time, maybe hanging on your keychain, or tucked away in the back of your desk. Never be caught without your little USB friend.