If you want a USB key drive, avoid Dane-Elec

I've had more than my fair share of USB key drives over the years. Unfortunately, because of the way the downtown computer stores do things, they only seem to have drives with both the qualities of useful size (1+ GB) and decent manufacture about one third of the time. So the last time I had to replace a (stolen) key drive, I was stuck with one from Dane-Elec.

In the beginning, a Dane-Elec drive is pretty good. Mine has 2GB of storage, and while I've brought it near capacity a few times, for the most part it stays only about half full. But for someone who has to keep pretty much their entire electronic life on one of these, the short life of these drives means that Dane-Elec is certainly not hardware worth relying on. Both Kingston key drives I had before this one lasted much longer before problems such as file system and sector corruption began happening (actually, the second one was stolen before that started, but I still had it about as long as this Dane-Elec).

Dane-Elec may be a big manufacturer of flash memory in Europe, but that doesn't mean that it's any good. Compare American car manufacturers back in the 70s and 80s. Even if it means having to pay more than you're comfortable with, find yourself a more reputable manufacturer for USB key drives. Or get a portable hard drive; there are some that can get all their power from the bus itself as opposed to needing a power outlet.