USB Flash Drives Offer An Ideal Portable Backup Solution

The USB flash memory drive has to rate as one of the greatest inventions of the new Millenium. They're light, compact, portable, fast and very easy to use. Another added bonus is that they're cheap. USB flash drives can be purchased for as little as $25. These drives are also known as USB pen drives.

USB flash drives are what is known as solid state storage. This means they have no moving parts. These USB flash memory drives are basically a small amount of erasable (flash) memory stored in a device about the about the size of a small cigarette lighter with a USB interface integrated directly into the drive itself. Large files can be transferred to or from these little drives in a matter of seconds.

Pluses And Minuses

The biggest plus point of the USB flash drive is that because it has no moving parts it is highly unlikely that it will ever break down on you.

Are these disadvantages? The only single disadvantage (and it's not really a disadvantage) is that USB flash drives are limited in the amount of data they can store. Currently they're limited to 8GB. This is a decent amount of data storage but then USB flash memory drives were never designed to take over from DVD or external hard drive storage.

Where the flash USB memory stick really comes into its own is for storing and transporting files that would take several dozen floppy disks to copy but don't require the use of a blank CD or DVD. This is perfect for somebody who travels a lot for work and wants to take just their important documents or files with them. They'd also still have some space left for a few MP3s to keep them entertained too!

The USB interface on these drives means that they're also MAC compatible from a connection point of view. This saves interface headaches for all involved.

So if you're looking for a portable hard drive that fits in the palm of your hand you need to get yourself a USB flash memory drive. No self-respecting computer user, geek or business person should be without one.

A small portable hard drive that fits in your shirt pocket - several times over. Every self-respecting computer user should own one.