USB Flash Drive Overview

Despite the different brands and names you've heard for USB flash drives – JumpDrives™, Pocket drives™, Pen drives™, and Thumb drives™ – they all pretty much operate the same way. The difference is mostly in price, capacity, design, functions and features (for example, some have built-in MP3 players). What's really important, though, is what they share: They're all pluggable, portable, and powerful!

USB flash drives share some other characteristics, too.

• USB flash drives weigh about the same as a car key – in fact, some USB flash drives are so lightweight that hypothetically it could take 14 ants to carry one!
  
• USB flash drives are about the size of a stick of gum.
  
• USB flash drives currently can hold up to two gigs of data – that's over 650 three-minute songs (33 hours) recorded as MP3s or about three times the content of a standard compact disc.
  
• If you share a computer, USB flash drives are a great way to store personal information – use them instead of the computer's hard drive.
  According to some manufacturer's specifications, USB flash drives can maintain data for 10 years – in that same period you’ll probably have to replace your computer’s hard drive three times.