5 Things To Consider For When Purchasing a USB Flash Drive
A USB flash drive is a portable storage device that works by transferring data from the USB port of your device to the memory chip inside the flash drive.
There are 5 important things to consider when purchasing a USB flash drive:
- Storage capacity
- Storage quality
- The connector
- Transfer speed
- Warranty
The rest of this article will go over each of these key aspects and the variations that you may see in USB flash drives. That way when you are making your purchase, you know what to look for in a flash drive.
1. Storage Capacity
The very first thing that you’ll want to consider when purchasing a USB flash drive is the storage capacity. Most flash drives have a storage capacity ranging from 64 MB to 128 GB. However, you can find drives significantly smaller and larger than that.
To know how much storage you’ll need you should think about the types of documents that you’ll be storing on the flash drive. If you are typically just saving PDFs and need somewhere to keep them that’s not on your personal computer, a smaller model might do the trick.
However, if you’re planning on saving videos or images to the flash drive you’ll want to consider purchasing a flash drive with a larger storage capacity. That way you’ll be able to go a long while without purchasing a new flash drive and you’ll be able to keep all your files together.
Remember, the more storage there is on the flash drive, the more expensive it will be. That is why freebie flash drives that were given out by companies typically have very low storage space.
2. Storage Quality
After figuring out how much storage you need and which flash drives fit those criteria, you’ll want to think about storage quality.
Not all flash drives are created equally and each will be made with a different memory chip. If the memory chip is cheaper then the memory quality will not be as high.
If you are only saving documents to the flash drive and are not worried about their quality going down slightly, then this aspect does not matter as much.
Where it really comes into play is with videos or photos. If the storage quality does not match the quality of the photo then the photo will lose its quality which cannot be restored from the copy saved on the device. Therefore, if you are planning on using a flash drive to save photos it is best to invest in one that utilizes a high-quality memory chip.
3. Connector
Before you purchase a flash drive you need to make sure that the connector of the flash drive is compatible with your computer’s USB port.
For many years, computers have been fitted with a standard, rectangular USB port and that’s the only type of connector that USB flash drives were sold with. However, now some companies are moving toward using USB-C ports.
If your computer is fitted with one of these ports then you will need to make sure that you purchase a USB flash drive that is fitted with a USB-C connector. If you do not purchase the correct type, you will be unable to connect the flash drive to your computer without a converter.
Nowadays, some flash drives are being sold with dual connectors that way they can connect to both a regular USB port and a USB-C port. This is a good option if you are frequently using the USB flash drive with different computers and aren’t sure what ports you’ll be using.
4. Transfer Speed
Still considering the port, the next thing that you’ll want to consider before purchasing your new USB flash drive is the transfer speed.
Like with the other factors, if you are only transferring small projects you likely won’t notice too big of a difference. However, transfer speed becomes very important when you start working on larger projects, such as graphic design projects or videos.
There are two main generations of USB, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. Generally speaking, USB 3.0 can transfer data significantly faster than USB 2.0. So, if you are looking for speed then make sure you purchase a flash drive that is up to the USB 3.0 standard.
However, the generation of the USB isn’t the only thing you need to look at. You’ll also need to look at the speed of the port you’re transferring the data from. Even if you have a USB 3.0, the data will still transfer at the rate of 2.0 if the port of the computer is 2.0.
Outside of the port and connector, the rest of the components of the flash drive will also affect the speed. If the memory chip of the USB flash drive is cheap then you will also deal with slow transfer times.
A poor fit with the port and connector can also slow down transfer speed as there isn’t a secure enough connection to transfer files at maximum speed.
5. Warranty
The last aspect that you’ll want to consider before you make your purchase is whether or not the company offers a warranty.
Since flash drives are a relatively inexpensive piece of equipment, this isn’t as important if you’re only purchasing one. After all, you can always go out and purchase another without worrying about wasting a significant amount of money.
However, if you are placing a large order for your company, you’ll want to make sure that they offer a good replacement warranty in case some or all of the products are defective.
Key Takeaways
A flash drive is a small, external memory drive that allows you to save information from the main device and store it separately. They are very useful devices if you have to work on different computer systems and want to have all of your necessary information in the same place.
To pick your USB flash drive there are five main things that you’ll want to consider. You’ll want to consider the storage capacity, storage quality, connector, transfer speed, and warranty offered by the company.
