Making a Choice Between Large Versus Small Capacity USB Flash Drives

We’ve all been there—you have a few or more gigs of digital data and you need to figure out where to store it. The question is, do you invest in a larger capacity USB flash drive or multiple smaller drives? Size does matter to an extent in these circumstances except that there’s not a universal answer. Before you take the purchase plunge, here are a few key factors that could affect your decision.
- A large capacity custom flash drive will give you more space for your money. Generally, more storage translates into a significant price decrease that can be seen with the addition of every gig. For example, a 1GB drive may cost you $6 while an 8GB drive can be bought for just two dollars more.
- Consider your storage plans. If you will need to hold some extremely large files (1GB or 2GB apiece) a smaller flash drive may not have the room or speed performance of a larger drive. What’s more is that you may not want to divide one project into multiple parts for smaller USB flash drives because it could just create unnecessary prep work for you.
- Think about separating work and play. One advantage to having several smaller flash drives as opposed to a more than 8GB USB drive is that you can designate roles to each device to better organize your files. After all, who would want to mix family vacation photos alongside your corporate PowerPoint presentation?
- Check its specs. A few larger capacity flash drives use 3-bit MLC NAND chips. While these allow more storage per cell, some have been known to be less than reliable compared to sturdier SLC counterparts. A higher risk of data loss is the last thing you need with a large document, video or library of pictures.
- Back it up. Premium USB has always taken steps to strongly reiterate the importance of backing up all of your data. Multiple small capacity USB flash drives may give some extra reassurance—not putting all of your eggs in one basket so to speak. However, should you choose an 8GB, 16GB, 32GB flash drive or higher, consider also investing in another form of backup, be it extra custom USB drives or CDs and DVDs. There are countless storage combinations; the end result is up to your needs.
Which flash drive storage method do you prefer? One larger USB flash drive or a bunch of smaller ones?