Sunday, February 17, 2013

The Quest for the Best USB Drive Begins...

The best USB drive I owned was a SanDisk Cruzer Titanium 8GB I picked up at an electronics store for $70 around 5 years ago. Unlike a lot of the USB drives I've owned over the years it has not been lost or destroyed and still sees regular use today.
My Old SanDisk Cruzer Titanium 8GB

There are a few reasons why it was my favourite:
  • Its shiny! 
  • More rugged than its plastic counterparts.
  • Large capacity (for its time anyways).
  • Its size/weight made it harder to misplace.
  • No cap to search for or lose.

It was, however, not entirely perfect:
  • It would be easily crushed if subjected to any significant load (i.e., a car running over it).
  • Not dust or water proof.
  • Still somewhat light and easy to lose.

Being an inventor and engineer at heart I one day was thinking how to go about making the "best" USB drive. Now "best" is of course subjective and depends on the application so for this product I was thinking about the following features:
  • Rugged (i.e., crush resistant)
  • Water proof
  • Prevent losing the cap
  • Not super expensive
  • Shiny!

 And so began my quest for the best USB drive I could make.