usb flashdrive thingie naked
April 7, 2006 4:45 PM Subscribe
My spiffy little USB flashdrive thingy is coming apart, coming loose from its plastic casing. The metal parallelepiped inside is easier to slip into my wallet and looks cooler, IMO, but I'm wondering what sort of damage all the plastic protected it from. Question:¿will it harm my USB flashdrive thingy to go about naked in the world?
"It could be the victim of static electricity if you do that," rather.
posted by cellphone at 4:52 PM on April 7, 2006
posted by cellphone at 4:52 PM on April 7, 2006
It depends whether there's anything supporting the USB connector and anything stopping you twisting the circuit board. The latter seems the most likely way to do in your flash drive (or in my experience, any portable electronics).
posted by cillit bang at 5:05 PM on April 7, 2006
posted by cillit bang at 5:05 PM on April 7, 2006
A couple of coats of clear fingernail polish will work, too.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:48 PM on April 7, 2006
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:48 PM on April 7, 2006
"The metal parallelepiped inside is easier to slip into my wallet"
If you were putting the flash drive into your wallet before, that could explain why it has broken apart. Continued wear of that sort would probably destroy the drive before too long.
posted by stopgap at 5:55 PM on April 7, 2006
If you were putting the flash drive into your wallet before, that could explain why it has broken apart. Continued wear of that sort would probably destroy the drive before too long.
posted by stopgap at 5:55 PM on April 7, 2006
The longer it is, the more flexion it undergoes, and the more damage it will take from being carried in your wallet. If it's short, and strongly-made, it could last nearly indefinitely. But that external plastic housing was there to prevent the interior from getting flexed, so presumably it was stronger than the inside is.
This is why I like the Secure Digital cards... I keep readers on machines that don't have them built in, and just keep a card in my wallet. They're about the size of a postage stamp, and about as thick as a nickel, and appear to take no damage whatsoever from a wallet. I've had a card in mine for years without a problem.
posted by Malor at 6:06 PM on April 7, 2006
This is why I like the Secure Digital cards... I keep readers on machines that don't have them built in, and just keep a card in my wallet. They're about the size of a postage stamp, and about as thick as a nickel, and appear to take no damage whatsoever from a wallet. I've had a card in mine for years without a problem.
posted by Malor at 6:06 PM on April 7, 2006
Oh, and you can get 2 GIGABYTE SD cards for about $75 now. Fast ones, too.
posted by Malor at 6:07 PM on April 7, 2006
posted by Malor at 6:07 PM on April 7, 2006
I wouldn't worry about it.
Some guy's flash drive's case cracked so he embedded the actual flash memory and electronics in lucite.
I have an intellistick that I've kept in my pocket. Three years running and running on strong.
<knocks wood>
posted by PurplePorpoise at 7:03 PM on April 7, 2006
Some guy's flash drive's case cracked so he embedded the actual flash memory and electronics in lucite.
I have an intellistick that I've kept in my pocket. Three years running and running on strong.
<knocks wood>
posted by PurplePorpoise at 7:03 PM on April 7, 2006
You can now get Secure Digital cards with built in USB. I had one of the tiny USB drives the size and thickness of a SD card, but the wallet proved too much for it after a while.
These look wicked cool, though.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 10:40 PM on April 7, 2006
These look wicked cool, though.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 10:40 PM on April 7, 2006
I have the 1gb verseion of this. It's TINY (that connector is the middle bit of a USB connector!), and the company also does a 2gb version.
posted by armoured-ant at 5:23 AM on April 8, 2006
posted by armoured-ant at 5:23 AM on April 8, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cellphone at 4:51 PM on April 7, 2006