Everybody needs a USB drive - so grab this SanDisk model for a fiver
The power of convenience.
If being around computers for the last 15 years has taught me anything, it's the importance of USB drives. Everybody needs one at some point, regardless of whether you're transferring important files over from one machine to another, installing a new OS or recovering your data. With SSDs getting ever bigger, prices have become quite competitive in the flash drive space - and you can now get a 32GB drive for a fiver or a higher-capacity drive for just a few quid more. Here are the three best USB drive deals available right now.
- SanDisk Ultra Flair 32 GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive for £5 from Amazon (was £8)
- SanDisk Ultra Flair 64 GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive for £9 from Amazon (was £16)
- SanDisk 128GB Ultra USB 3.0 Flash Drive for £13 from Amazon (was £16)
The first two of these drives are SanDisk Ultra Flair models, which offer transfer speeds of up to 150MB/s, which is solid enough for day to day use, and also come in a nice blue and silver colourway. 32GB for a fiver is excellent value, and you can get double the capacity for £9.
The third and largest drive on show today is my personal pick, and one I'm going to grab while this deal is still on. The SanDisk 128GB Ultra offers speeds of up to 130MB/s, not quite as fast as the Ultra Flair, but you again get double the capacity for only £4 extra. To give you an idea of those transfer speeds, SanDisk provides the example that this Ultra drive should be able to transfer a 1.2GB MPEG-4 video file over USB 3.0 in under 40 seconds. Having this extra capacity means that you actually have more space than some early SSDs, making it a good choice for backing up data from old laptops and the like - or just keeping a decent collection of video downloads for you to watch on your smart TV.
You might be someone who has a lot of spare USB sticks knocking around that were given out for free; I know I certainly have. The problem with those drives though is that their capacities are more than likely in the single digits - my old favourite Kingston one is only 8GB. Getting one of the SanDisks one presented here saves you the hassle of plugging and unplugging tonnes of USB sticks in the hunt for one that's of a good size. Keep it by you at all times, and you certainly won't go wrong.
Usually, my deals articles focus on great reductions on top rated and, more often than not, expensive hardware, but it's nice to be brought back down to earth with this excellent set of USB stick deals.