Necessity is the mother of invention; USB flash drives are popular today because they’re faster, easier to use, and more convenient than almost any other method. The following comparisons detail the differences between USB Flash Drive and CD/DVD technology.
|
CD |
Scratches easily and becomes unusable |
|
Flash Drive |
Sturdy and reusable |
|
CD |
Content cannot be changed easily; if at all |
|
Flash Drive |
Content can be added or deleted at any time |
|
CD |
CD‐R and DVD‐R can only be written to once |
|
Flash Drive |
Flash Drives can be loaded with content over and over again |
|
CD |
RW varieties provide up to 1,000 erase/write cycles |
|
Flash Drive |
Can last for more than 500,000 erase/write cycles |
|
CD |
Burning or ripping a CD is slower than a Flash Drive |
|
Flash Drive |
Transfer speeds are quicker – simply drag and drop files |
|
CD |
Not all CDs are compatible with all computers |
|
Flash Drive |
Compatible with any computing device that has a USB port |
|
CD |
Not all computers have CD Rom drives (i.e. work computers, new netbooks) |
|
Flash Drive |
Virtually all computers have USB port/s, including the new netbooks |
|
CD |
Files are not easily transportable (while the CD itself is not big, the hassle of burning a CD, taking it home, making changes and re‐burning are cumbersome.) |
|
Flash Drive |
Easily take the flash drive from computer to computer |
Other benefits of USB Flash Drives:
- Small & portable
- Large capacities available (up to 32GB)
- Add partitions to keep a portion of your data ‘locked’
- Add layers of encryption for security
