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Bowler4Ever is a long-time regular in our live community. He has previously sent in some excellent top five lists. Here is a new one from him… which should help you when buying your next USB Flash Drive.

• Are you worried about durability of these drives? Don’t be! These drives are hard and sturdy, and they can even withstand small drops onto concrete or asphalt (been there, done that). Drops onto your wood floors from your desks are taken like cake by these tiny little tough sticks! Don’t worry, drop ‘em and they’ll still work!
• What are you using the drive for? If you’re simply storing very important documents for your workplace and nothing else, a 512mb stick will do just fine. For a Linux distro like Ubuntu, 1GB will work perfectly, as the Ubuntu distro is slightly under 700mb, the size of your typical CD. For a moderate amount of music or various installers, I recommend 2GB, as you never know how much music you’ll want to keep…ESPECIALLY if you’re trying to back up your iTunes library! For a large amount of music or home videos, 4GB is perfect, if not more than enough than you really need. 4GB is mainly for those who are complete media “junkies” and those who also compile installers on there as well.
• Go for the indicator display on the drive. Sometimes files are bigger than you think, and flash dries can sometimes fill up pretty quick, so you’ll want to have a good peek at how much space you have left.
• Go with brands that are well-known and trusted. If you know how to search for computer hardware/accessories, look for those drives that professionals know and trust or look at Consumer Reports. Always buy the best you can afford. (Remember, do your homework!!!!!)
• Look at the specs for the drive! Remember, you buy it and open it, some places will just say “Oh well, you opened it! Not our fault!” NOTE: Some drives do NOT support USB 2.0, so make sure if you still have USB 1.1, you check to make sure it will work in USB 2.0! For Linux users: Some brands are allowing Linux installers, so look for the penguin on the back of the box!
• Remember, whatever you do with the drive…keep it legal! These things were not made for illegal/pirating purposes. It’s foolish and dangerous!

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Buy USB Flash Drives

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Ever since I first laid eyes on USB… I’ve been enamored with USB devices. I probably have no less than 20 USB devices within arm’s reach at any given time. But, what happens if you have a USB printer, but you have two computers. How can you keep that one printer connected to two computers… if there is only one USB port on the printer?

Well, you can get a USB 2.0. The goal of the new serial bus is to broaden the range of external peripherals that can be used on a computer.

You can identify whether your PC has Hi-Speed USB or not relatively easy. Open Device Manager and expand the Universal Serial Bus section. There should be an “Enhanced” USB host controller present. USB 2.0 has a raw data rate at 480Mbps, and it is rated 40 times faster than its predecessor interface, USB 1.1, which tops at 12Mbps. Originally, USB 2.0 was intended to go only as fast as 240Mbps, but in October 1999, USB 2.0 Promoter Group pumped up the speed to 480Mbps.

Almost every conceivable peripheral has a USB 2.0 version ranging from a HDTV tuner, a micro hard drive to even video card / USB monitor. So, even if you buy a all-in-one HP multimedia PC with all the gizmos, you’ll still need something USB.

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USB Switch