usb drives

We all know that flash drives are dirt-cheap nowadays, but most of them are designed to ride in your pocket or on your keychain. What if you forget the drive, or don't have your keys with you? What then?!

One item you almost always have with you: your wallet. Hence today's deal: Meritline has the 8GB Black Credit Card Shaped USB Flash Drive for $7.99 shipped. Regular price: $9.99. Savings: two dollars. Woo!

I know, it's barely a deal, but not every day needs to be about TVs, laptops, and other big-ticket items. And this, … Read more

A Wi-Fi-enabled USB drive seems like an odd idea, yet the Automatica serves an excellent purpose in the car. Inrete, maker of the Automatica, sets up the device to automatically update content such as music or podcasts.

There are some limitations, however; for example, the Automatica only works if you have a USB port in your car. It may be useful in some other settings, as well, but in a car seems the most likely.

The Automatica would make the most sense for drivers who park their cars within reach of a home Wi-Fi network. Every time the Automatica makes … Read more

I hate to use the term "sexy" to describe a gadget, but if the myIDkey isn't "sexy," at least it's "damn fine." It takes the concept of a USB drive that protects all your passwords and does it up right with voice-activated search, biometric fingerprint identification, and Bluetooth.

Making a USB password protection device sound exciting? That's pretty hot.

I'm not the only person who thinks myIDkey is worth a look. It just launched its Kickstarter project and already has pulled in more than $87,000 (and rising fast) toward its $150,000 goal. A $99 pledge gets you a myIDkey with two different protective sleeves.… Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which I answer Mac-related questions e-mailed in by our readers.

This week, readers wrote in with questions about a system not loading past the gray Apple screen, an external DVD player not working, how to switch to internal speakers with headphones attached, and trouble enabling X-Ray folder view in the Finder. I welcome views from readers, so if you have any suggestions or alternative approaches to these problems, please post them in the comments!

Question: System not loading past the gray Apple screen MacFixIt reader Greg asks:

Regular readers know that flash-drive prices have plummeted in the past year. But you know what all those dirt-cheap drives have had in common? A USB 2.0 interface.

What is this, 2001? USB 2.0 is over, man. It's the digital equivalent of the horse and buggy. And yet it's still pretty rare to find flash drives that support the newer, faster USB 3.0 spec.

That's why I'm jazzed about today's deal. While supplies last, Ice Monkey has the Super Talent ST3U32ST1K 32GB USB 3.0 flash drive for $19.99 shipped. Elsewhere … Read more

I know a lot of people don't care for rebates, but if you shift your perception a bit, they can seem like icing on the cake.

For example, Newegg has the Patriot PSF32GAUSB 32GB USB flash drive for $18.99 shipped. Right from the get-go, that's a great deal.

And here's the icing: a $10 mail-in rebate (PDF) brings your total cost down to $8.99, which is an unheard-of price for a 32GB drive. Heck, even a 16GB drive is a find at that price.

That rebate comes in the form of an American Express prepaid … Read more

Need a mammoth backup drive to connect to your router, Pogoplug, or PC? No, really, I mean mammoth, as in the highest capacity you can buy.

While supplies last, Newegg has the Toshiba Canvio Desk 3TB USB hard drive for $127.49 shipped. That's after applying coupon code EMCJNNF79 at checkout.

Update: This code is now producing a "not valid" message, and the info on Newegg's product page indicating it was valid until Oct. 6 is gone. I've reached out to Newegg to get some explanation for this and will update the post if and … Read more

Whether you use them in your everyday work flow, or dust them off on occasion, flash drives are perhaps one of the handiest, most underrated gadgets out there. Despite the cloud storage trend, many of us still rely on these doodads when we need to transfer data in a pinch.

And thanks to the InterWebs, there's a seemingly endless variety of unique flash drives to match your equally special personality.

But, what's better than forking over $20 to $30 on a low-capacity, overpriced flash drive? Making your own on the cheap. After sifting through the Web for DIYs, … Read more

Let's see if we can get through one day -- heck, one morning -- without the product selling out, shall we?

While supplies last, Best Buy has the SanDisk Cruzer 16GB USB flash drive for $7.99 shipped, plus sales tax in most states.

Update: This appears to have sold out online, and is now available in-store only. So much for lasting the morning.

Whoops, sorry, sold out. Nah, I'm kidding -- as of this writing, it's still in stock. But just in case, I've queued up three bonus deals for you below. Because that's … Read more