All Flash Memory

The Bottom Line: The inexpensive price of the Patriot Warp V.2 helps it stand out among solid-state hard drives, but its performance shows few significant benefits over normal hard disks. You'd be better off buying a fast 7,200rpm laptop hard drive or selling your firstborn to invest in the Intel X-25M SSD.

The Bottom Line: We're not totally persuaded by the EarthDrive thumbdrive's green credentials, but at least its makers are trying.

Specs: 2 GB

The Bottom Line: SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus boasts an innovative set of features, fast data transfers, and a complimentary six-month online backup subscription, but we're put off by the subsequent annual service fee and the expensive retail price, especially when other drives at equal capacity cost much less.

Specs: 4 GB

The Bottom Line: The SanDisk Sansa TakeTV delivers plug-and-play simplicity for watching downloaded videos on your TV.

The Bottom Line: The well-designed and inexpensive SanDisk Cruzer Micro comes with great software, but it's marred by its incredibly slow write speeds.

Specs: 2 GB

The Bottom Line: The simple Gizmo Overdrive stores your documents without getting in the way.

Specs: 1 GB

The Bottom Line: The JumpDrive Mercury provides a handy feature we have yet to see on a thumbdrive: an external capacity meter that lets you know at a glance how much space is left on your drive.

Specs: Flash, USB Drive, 1 GB

The Bottom Line: The JumpDrive Mercury provides a handy feature we have yet to see on a thumbdrive: an external capacity meter that lets you know at a glance how much space is left on your drive.

Specs: Flash, USB Drive, 2 GB

The Bottom Line: Kanguru's Flash Drive Max is the largest-capacity flash thumbdrive available, but it costs more than many computers. Since most people use thumbdrives to transport relatively small amounts of data, this drive is overkill.

Specs: 32 GB

The Bottom Line: While the SanDisk Cruzer Mini isn't a speed demon, it is a good, basic thumbdrive that won't break the bank.

Specs: Flash, 512 MB