Pocket an 8GB flash drive for $16.99 shipped
It's time to retire that old 512MB USB drive. For a mere $17, you can pocket an 8GB replacement from Kingston or Transcend. Newegg's deal is a bit better than Buy.com's.
More and more these days, I find myself reaching for my flash drive. Whether it's to copy a few files from one PC to another or rescue an ailing system with emergency tools, the little guys are incredibly handy.
Of course, the higher the drive's storage capacity, the more you can do with it. Buy.com has a Kingston 8GB DataTraveler drive for $16.99 shipped. No rebates; that's your out-the-door price.
The drive includes a loop for attaching to a keychain (my preferred method of transport) and promises "secure cap storage," though in my experience, flash drive caps go missing within 6.3 seconds of unboxing.
Kingston backs the DataTraveler with a five-year warranty. I'm kind of surprised that it's not a lifetime policy, but, hey, do these things ever really go bad?
Just in case Buy.com sells out, Newegg has a similar deal: the Transcend JetFlash 8GB flash drive for $13.99 (plus $2.99 for shipping). And as it happens, this one has a lifetime warranty. Soooo...um, forget the DataTraveler and get the JetFlash instead. My bad. Yes, I'm suffering from too much vacation.