USB flash drives have replaced floppy and 3.5-in. discs as an easy way to move and back up data (just ask Edward Snowden). But since they’ve been introduced, like any new technology, they have been accompanied by rumors and myths. Experts at Premium USB, a company that manufactures and designs USB drives, have taken the time to dispel some of the more prevalent myths.

Myth #1: The USB connectors on flash drive are fragile. Not even close. Connectors on USBs are made of metal and resists damage or bending. The rest of the USB drive, however, is not. So while it is possible to break or damage the connectors, it’s more likely you’ll damage the other components, many of which are made of plastic.

Myth #2: Magnets can damage or erase USB Drives. USB drives cannot be harmed or altered by magnetic fields. The drives are not built from magnetic materials. So magnets pose no danger to any flash memory including SSDs, SD cards, and external hard drives—even traditional hard drives are immune. In fact, hard drives use powerful magnets to move the head.

Myth #3: USBs are ruined when dunked in water. Only if they are powered up; simply putting a flash drive into water does not hurt it. But if one of your drives does get wet, put it in a jar of uncooked rice or silica gel for a day. Later, make sure it is dry, then plug it in. There’s a good chance it will still be working and will not have lost any data.

Myth #4: Unplugging a USB without “safely removing the hardware” damages the drive. Only if the drive is being accessed or used when it’s yanked out, which also can severely damage your computer.

Myth #5: When a USB breaks, the data is lost forever. Not necessarily, but it’s a good news/bad news situation. Unlike a CD or DVD, when a USB breaks, the data is not 100% lost. USBs have been blown up with explosives and the data has survived. Unfortunately, most of us lack the skill and equipment needed to get the data out of damaged drives. There are programs that will help retrieve deleted or missing data from a flash drive and professional computer forensics companies that specialize in data retrieval, but neither option is free.

Blog 7 Factors to Consider When Choosing Promotional USB Flash Drives

Businesses of all sizes today are looking for unique and cost effective ways to promote their businesses.

In recent years, logo-branded USB flash drives have been popular and effective promotional tools for many businesses. Due to their popularity, the number of suppliers selling them have also grown dramatically.

USB flash drives come in all shapes, sizes, storage capacities, styles, and quality level. Before you rush out and do a bulk purchase of branded USB flash drives, you should consider and assess these factors to help you make the best choice for your promotional needs:

(1) Quality

Quality of the products is the most important factor when choosing USB flash drives for your promotion. The marketplace is awashed with suppliers providing low quality products, with many completely unfit for data storage.

Low quality USB flash drive products are usually made by manufacturers in China who cut corners or follow unscrupulous manufacturing practices in order to lower costs.

Giving away low quality promotional products will lead to disappointing customer experience and is a sure way to hurt your company’s brand image. To ensure you get the best quality, here are the criteria to consider when assessing suppliers’quality performance:

• Quality of Memory Chip (inside the USB Flash Drive) - Memory comes in different grades, varying in read and write speeds and data-retention capabilities. For the best quality, ensure that the supplier only use new, grade-A memory from established component suppliers such as Samsung, Hynix, Intel, and Micron. Beware of suppliers who offer you really low price. They could be using low quality and low speed or recycled components.
• Metal vs Plastic Loop for keyring attachment - A metal loop on the end of the USB Flash Drive is preferable over a plastic loop if you intend to attach the USB Flash Drive to a bunch of keys. A plastic loop is prone to breakage after moderate use.
• The fit of the cap - Many models have loose and badly fitting caps, which can be annoying.
• Print Quality – A standard quality control scratch test can determine the quality of the print. If the print flakes off, it’s a sure sign of bad print quality.
• ISO 9001:2015 Certification – The ISO 9001:2015 is a standard for quality management. Suppliers who have the ISO 9001:2015 certification have shown to offer products with higher quality and reliability.

(2) Quick Turn Around Time

If you need to reliably get your custom USB drives in a short period of time, consider suppliers that have their own manufacturing facilities. Some suppliers use 3rd party manufacturers so order fulfillment is out of their control. Suppliers who have their own manufacturing facilities could usually guarantee a turnaround time of 7 days or less from formal order confirmation to delivery.

(3) Variety of Styles

USB flash products come in different flavors to suit your taste and marketing purpose:Swivels and Sliders, USB Cards, Pens, Lanyards, and Wristbands are some of the popular options.

(4) Logo Printing & Engraving Options

Logo printing and engraving can be done in various ways including Screen Printing, Photo Printing and Laser Engraving. Each method is better suited for certain product types and materials.

(5) Storage Capacity

USB flash devices have incredible storage capacities! The amount of storage space can range from 64MB to a whopping 32GB or more! To have an idea of how much storage space you need, consider this: an MP3 music file occupies around 4-8MB. A printable photo image file is around 2-3 MB. A Music Video occupies about 50-100MB, depending on the compression method used.

When selecting the storage capacity for your promotional USB, be sure to take into consideration the amount of files you intend to preload into the drives and the extra memory space you want to allocate for personal use by the recipients. You should allocate at least 1GB of free memory space for your recipients.

Note: 1024MB = 1GB.

(6) Data Services and Solutions

The following data services and solutions can be provided by most suppliers: Data preloading, USB Auto Run, USB File Lock/Dual Zone, Volume Label.

• Data Preloading – Having your marketing content preloaded onto the USB Drives is a powerful benefit of using USB Flash Drives for marketing promotions. Here are some common types of files that can be preloaded for you: presentations, product catalogs, PDF brochures, software, videos, etc. can be preloaded for you.
• USB Auto Run – Auto Run feature allows your preloaded data, such as a presentation, to launch automatically when the user plugs the custom USB Flash Drive it into a computer.
• USB File Lock - If you want to prevent your data from accidental deletion, then the File Lock Feature is great to have.

(7) Accessories

USB accessories are great complements to the products and can add that little extra pizzazz to your promotion. Accessories include packaging and boxes, lanyard neckstraps, key chains, and much more.

By carefully considering the above factors, you will have enough information to choose a reliable promotional USB drive supplier that can meet your expectations and needs.

Among the many suppliers that offer promotional USB flash drive products, Flashbay is one of the few USB flash drive suppliers that meet the above 7 quality and service criteria.