For those of us who must use workstations with limited program capability a thumb or flash drive can become a necessity.

What should you look for in a thumb drive? How much space do you need? These are the kinds of questions you should think about before going shopping. First of all let’s look at your needs. Are you a rough traveler? Do you tend to throw stuff in your bag? If you tend to be a little rougher on your peripherals, look for something that’s shockproof and if you shop around you might even find one that’s water resistant. No matter what you’re carrying on your drive look for something that won’t corrupt your data or shatter if you’re not entirely gentle. How much space is enough? You can find flash drives anywhere from 512 mb to 4 gb. If you don’t need more storage there’s no need to spend the extra money for 4 gb when you maybe only need one. Generally speaking, you’re looking at spending anywhere from 14.00 on up to 150.00 dollars or so depending on your needs. These days, you can find many applications that are available in portable versions. From Word processing programs to Photoshop, you can carry around a few programs that don’t make registry changes, don’t need installation and won’t get you in trouble with the IT department. You can also keep your music handy, documents, homework in case you don’t have a laptop or don’t want to take your laptop anywhere. Surprisingly, picking yourself up another peripheral might make your life a little easier. Work on projects away from home, write that paper that’s due tomorrow, and keep yourself entertained with music. All in all, a flash drive is a good little investment in portability. As with any peripheral or data storage, always make sure to back up your data in a separate place just in case.