USB flash drives have become ubiquitous, as you can now carry along multiple gigabytes of your digital data. But having all that data in a small package becomes a problem, as it's too easy to lose, and the pain of the loss increases as the drive holds more of your personal data.
There have been a whole variety of design approaches to packaging USB drives, from tiny slivers of plastic to deliberately bigger and heavier cases, or as fashion accessories to wear as a necklace or a bracelet.
But LaCie has just introduced a new approach -- a USB key designed as, well, a key -- and rugged enough to just carry along on your keychain. There are three different models in this new line, each with keyed-up names:
- The LaCie itsaKey (middle) looks like a car key, with a tough nickel surface. It's available with 4 GB for $14.99, or 8 GB for $23.99.
- The LaCie iamaKey (top) is thinner but still a solid metal design, with a gold USB connector with protective edges, water and scratch resistant. It's available with 4 GB for $17.99, or 8 GB for $27.99. Both feature fast transfer rates: read up to 30 MB/s, and write up to 10 MB/s.
- The LaCie PassKey (bottom) is a microSD USB reader and drive. Just insert a microSD/SDHC card from underneath the head to use it as a USB drive. It's $9.99.
Or if you're not the key ring type, you can carry your data along with your loose change with the LaCie CurrenKey USB drive. It has a metal dice-cast construction, just twist to reveal the USB connector. It's available with 4 GB in bronze for $19.99, 8 GB in silver for $29.99.
See my Portable Storage Gallery for details and comparisons on flash memory cards, USB drives, and hard disk storage.
Find the LaCie CurrenKey on Amazon.com