Key-shaped USB drive solves my portable data dilemma
I promise this is the last time you'll hear about my keys.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)When my colleague Dong Ngo introduced us to the LaCie key-shaped USB drive back in March, the timing could not have been better, as I had just ended yet another frustrating relationship with a keychain-based USB key.
I've gotten into the habit of keeping a USB drive attached to my keys in the past year. Moving into a new laptop on the average of twice a week, I got tired of re-downloading all the software I'd want on a just-unboxed laptop, and decided to create a package of must-have install files, including FireFox, AVG Free, Open Office, etc.
The problem was that every USB key I attached to my keychain would fall off in a matter of months or even weeks as the keyring holes on the end would fray and break. I hooked up the USB key with the biggest, heartiest keyring attachment I could find--in this case a 4GB PNY Attache. You can see the eventual results in the photo here.
Here's what a couple of months riding around in my pocket did to this poor USB key.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)Apparently a lot of other people had the same idea I did, because while Amazon stocked the LaCie iamaKey USB Flash Drive, its shipping time was estimated as, "Usually ships within 1-2 months." Fortunately, the key only took about three weeks to arrive.
I've just loaded all my install files onto the 8GB drive, and attached it to my keyring. So far it shows no signs of wear and tear--although if I manage to somehow break this one, the problem might have been me, and not my plastic USB keys, all along.
Sorry plastic USB keys, I've moved on.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)On Sale Now: $30.43 - $31.98
View the latest prices for LaCie IamaKey USB flash drive (8GB)
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
I have some old square, think it's 3 and 1/2 inch disks, remember those? I only bought a USB memory stick 2 years ago because I returned to college and was forced to buy one. But they are so small, I keep almost losing them, or leaving them in a computer. Is there anywhere I can buy large ones, or do they only come in 'small' and 'microscopic' sizes?
- by Dhanya_Chokunni April 30, 2009 1:49 PM PDT
- As things get smaller and smaller, the chances to lose them are becoming higher...... I lose my keys often, I lost my USB stick also recently....
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