The Verbatim FlashDisc

Simple, Easy and Cost Effective


There was time when I would take a project I was working on at home and would copy it to a “floppy” to take to work the next day. Of course the days of the 5.25 floppy are long gone and I am thankful of that. I had disk after disk after disk stored in several plastic boxes. The 5.25-inch diskettes were available in capacities of 360kb (low-density) and 1.2MB (high-density). They were called “floppy” because they did just that…they “flopped”. There was no hard shell like the next generation of 3.5 inch disks.

I was so happy when the 3.5 inch disk arrived because it was smaller, I could easily slip it in my shirt pocket and it stored so much more. It was a terrific change that was highly accepted throughout the community for a variety of reasons but my guess is that the sizes of 720kb low-density and the 1.44MB high density capacity had a great deal to do with it as well as the fact that it had a hard shell covering the “floppy” inside.

The “floppy” stayed around for quite a while, often still giving those last gasps of breath as CD’s and the USB thumb drives started to take their place. You can rarely find a computer today on a store shelf that has a floppy drive but some folks still use them.

I had to laugh a few weeks ago when I got a call from my wife while she was out visiting her family on the west coast. Her niece had stopped over and had a floppy with some pictures on it that she wanted to show everyone. They couldn’t find where the disk would go on the laptop so they gave me a call. “Where does it go?” was the question….and the reply was just as simple: “in the trash” …. (Jokingly of course).

Today we find ourselves using a variety of memory cards, USB drives, and CDs to store files to either archive or carry from place to place but with the cost of these devices it has almost become prohibitive to place a file on a “thumb drive” and say “here, take this file”. Of course, CDs are relatively inexpensive but frankly they are more trouble than what they are worth for a single file. So what can you do when you want to give someone a file, a PowerPoint presentation or even a few choice photos of that great vacation you just took?

Verbatim has come up with a solution that solves that dilemma!

They have introduced a small FlashDisc that allows you to share photos, files, MP3 songs with anyone and you can do it easily and inexpensively.

I have to admit that when I first heard of these FlashDiscs, I said to myself “Who would ever buy them and what purpose would they serve?” Well, I quickly changed my tune after my wife had called the other day because it brought to mind that there are tons of folks that like to share single files all the time and with floppies being pretty much out of existence, what better way to do it than with a small, inexpensive FlashDisc.

What is cool is that they are USB 2.0 compatible (USB 1.1 Compliant), color coded for easy organization and have a writable surface for labeling what is stored on the FlashDisc. Probably for most folks, 16MB of storage is more than ample for that presentation or a few high resolution photos that you want to share and the real key is to be able to share them QUICKLY and that is what you can do with the FlashDisc.

A circular media-like disc design with a tough plastic exterior that has a removable portion revealing the USB plug for simple, plug and play operation. The device is rewriteable so files can be erased and the FlashDisc can be used again and again.

So how do they work? Perfectly! Using the same technology as the USB Flash Drive, the FlashDisc doesn't require any software. I plugged one into my USB port, it was quickly recognized and I was off and running selecting the files I wanted and dropping them on the folder of the FlashDisc. The write speed was excellent and now I can share a file with someone and not have to be concerned about how I will give it to them.

This will be one of those items that you will keep in your computer essentials bag, a few stored in your desk drawer at work and of course, you will have a few lying around on your desktop at home. What did I particularly like? The fact that they were USB 2.0 compatible, were Plug n Play Operation and a cost effective means for sharing files.

The cost is $19.99 for a 3-pack of discs

You can learn more here at Verbatim