Friday, March 18, 2005

Grand Master Flash Drives

Two weeks ago, my brain must have been in a fog. I'm normally very careful when leaving class to remember to take key items with me: Backpack, books, cell phone and flash drive. I must have spaced out, because I gathered everything up except for my flash drive. I left it plugged in to one of the Macs in the computer lab. Lucky for me, it was recovered and I got it back. I would have been in a world of hurt, had it not been recovered.

Some of you may not know what a flash drive is, others are thinking "Who cares they are cheap and replaceable". Quite the contrary, although affordable now, they have a sincerely valuable function to everyone who has a computer and needs portable file storage. The flash drives operate out of your USB port and transmit information faster than if you had to save to a CD Rom, and they are more user friendly than let's say a Zip Disk (which requires carrying a large disk and finding the Zip Drive).

But, I value my flashdrive, because it does for me now what 3.5" floppies did before I bought this laptop that did not have a flipping floppy drive. The flash drive can hold all kinds of files just like the harddrive of a computer. The amount of items held varies by space.

Flash drives come in all sizes: 64 MB, 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB, 1 Gig and I've even seen 2 Gig's popping up. Obviously the more memory, the higher the price.

Yes, the prices have dropped remarkably. I paid $70.00 for my PNY Attaché 128MB USB 2.0 Drive, now available, much to my chagrin, for $20.00 at Best Buy. I checked with PNY and then a few retailers and it is still cheaper to buy these products from a retail store.

Flash drive options have expanded to MP3 players/recorders, FM radio and digital cameras, but is that enough anymore?

I was reading my March issue of JANE magazine and saw something different ... I was instantly intrigued, Flash drives in the shape of a swiss army knife and sushi. So, I had to investigate.

Each of these flash drives (except for Swiss Army's "Swiss Memory") have a singular purpose. There's nothing extra special about them other than their looks. I recommend them just for the sheer fact that they are "different" and quirky.

First off, there is the swissmemory flight series by Swiss Army , which includes: LED mini light, keyring and retractable ballpoint pen.


And then there is the regular swissmemory series (costs $70.00 more). This model holds the standard: flash drive, retractable mini ball point pen, keyring and LED mini light, but also has a nail file, blade, screw driver and scissors. I don't reccomend flying with this model, because it is considered a weapon. The price is not bad considering all that you are getting. "To me, all that is missing is a stapler, but I don't know where they could have fit that."





I was pleased with these models and was able to locate them in the Swiss Army display case at Macy's, Strawbridges, and at Sears Hardware (which is located just up the street from Rowan on Delsea Drive).

Okay so the utilitarian that lives in my brain got the better of me and said, "Sushi Flash Drives? I don't think so!" So, I took a step back from the goofiness of it all. Being that I couldn't see it up close and personal (Dyanamism doesn't sell retail), I decided this is something that unless someone "gives" it to you... Do not buy!

The Sushi Drive comes in 32 MB and 128 MB drives and is priced "per piece" just like in a restaurant and will be shipped over night in dry ice (to give that sushi effect). Being that this is kinda interesting, I decided to go ahead and give the specs:

  • 32 MB, $59.00 - The (small sushi) Kappa Maki (Green/Black) and Tuna Maki (Red/Black)
  • 128 MB, $99.00 - Salmon, Uzura Natto (Yellow/Black), Tobikko (Large Orange bubbles), Ebi (Shrimp), Futomaki (Large Roll), Maguro (Red Tuna), Uni (Sea Urchin) (Black/Yellow), Ikura (Salmon Roe) (Small Orange/Black),

Here is a photo from www.dynamism.com displaying these interesting looking flash drives.


posted by Jaime @ 11:36 AM 0 comments