Floppy replacement
Written: Dec 19 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: High capacity, cheap, compact
Cons: Fragile loop, USB cap easy to lose
The Bottom Line: Small, cheap and unobtrusive way to carry vital files with you everyday.
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| majid's Full Review: Lexar Media PD128-231 JumpDrive 128MB portable USB... |
USB Flash drives are becoming popular now that newer operating systems like Windows 2000, XP, Mac OS X and Linux support them "out of the box" without having to install cumbersome drivers. With large capacities like this 128MB model, they eliminate the need to carry stacks of floppies, and are much more compact than CD-Rs. Indeed, most of them are meant to be used on key rings. Companies like Dell or IBM are now supplying them with laptop computers in lieu of floppy drives (unfortunately, very few PCs support booting off such drives, so unlike floppies or CDs, they are not usable as emergency diagnostic tools for PC techs).
I use mine to keep copies of basic utility programs like Zip, an SSH client, as well as PDF scanned copies of my driver's license, invoices for my electronics and cameras, and other vital information.
The Lexar Media JumpDrive is a decent and fairly affordable model (I paid $70 for mine from J&R). It has a transparent polycarbonate body and a cap with a clip to protect the USB connector (similar to a ballpoint pen cap). Unfortunately, this cap sometimes slips off and is easy to lose if you are not careful.
Normally, I would keep mine on a key chain ring, but the loop meant for this purpose broke so now I carry it by itself in my pocket. A metallic loop and casing would have been more durable (but then again, these devices get obsolete as flash capacities increase, so they should probably be viewed as semi-disposable).
One last caveat: some computers have USB ports only in the rear, with minimal clearance for the connector, the slightly bulbous shape of the JumpDrive might prevent it from fitting in. It would have been nice of Lexar to supply a short USB extension cord to connect the JumpDrive to tight spaces.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
majid
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Member: Fazal Majid
Location: San Francisco
Reviews written: 53
Trusted by: 5 members
About Me:
I'm the CTO of an Internet startup
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