Hotsolder - Electronics & Other Geeky Pursuits: You Can Take It With You (Your Data, That Is)

I use a lot of different computers, and sadly most of them run Windows. However, I recently purchased a 8GB pocket-sized USB 2.0 hard drive from Memorex. I had been carrying around a 1GB flash device, and had found a few good "portable" applications (applications that will run entirely from a flash drive). But the 8GB lets you carry everything.

This isn't a flash drive, by the way. It is a real rotating hard disk (a tiny one though). It was the smallest one I could find. I hook it to my keychain (and yeah, its a little large compared to a regular USB drive, but not so large that you can't do it). I was worried the "leather" case might not hold up to holding it on a carbiner, but it has done nicely for about 6 months.

Sure these are a bit more expensive than a 1GB flash drive (I paid around $150 for mine, and they are usually less now days), but keep it mind that this holds 8 times the data and does not wear out with repeated writes like a flash memory.

I currently have the following on my drive:

A "menu" (pstart)
Firefox
Thunderbird (reads IMAP mail from my main server)
Gaim
Open Office
The Gimp
NVU
Foxit PDF
VLC (for viewing videos)
An HP41C emulator
Cygwin
Cryptainer (makes encrypted drives)
A tiddlywiki for keeping notes
My home page
Lots of documents, videos, mp3s, bookmark URLs, etc.
Puppy Linux

Try getting all that on a flash drive!

Special Features:

High capacity Mini HDD portable storage
Pivoting USB Connector provides ease in connectivity to any available USB Port
High capacity storage in a small form factor of less than 2 inches square (1.75" x 1.96" x 0.56")
USB Connection for universal compatibility
No external power supply required
Brushed aluminum style metallic finish
Cross-platform compatible- works with Windows and Mac

You can find travel drives here. The best portable apps are Firefox and Thunderbird from www.portableapps.com and you can also find a large list at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_portable_applications or others at my bookmarks: del.icio.us/wd5gnr/usbapps.

Labels: gadgets, PC